Sabic introduced multiple new materials for advancing additive manufacturing

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sabic, a global leader in the chemical industry, has launched its new LEXAN EXL AMHI240F filament, a unique product for fused deposition modeling that delivers high impact performance and low-temperature ductility, as per the company's press release.

The company is also introducing to the European market a product family of eight reinforced compounds for large format additive manufacturing. Further illustrating its emphasis on disruptive technologies, Sabic has highlighted several other distinctive solutions for additive manufacturing.

"Expansion of additive manufacturing depends on the availability of high-performance materials that can help optimize processing and promote application innovation," said Stephanie Gathman, director, Emerging Applications, SABIC. "Sabic is creating a range of new materials for different additive manufacturing processes, and supporting customers with our extensive expertise and resources for testing, design and application development. The breadth of technologies we are highlighting here at Formnext attest to our strategic efforts to help the industry take full advantage of additive manufacturing’s great potential."

Sabic’s LEXAN EXL AMHI240F filament is based on LEXAN EXL polycarbonate (PC) copolymer and delivers high toughness and high strength for potential use in demanding applications in the aerospace, consumer electronics and automotive industries. Available for use in Stratasys Fortus Classic printers, the material processes at standard Stratasys print settings for PC. It may also be appropriate for other printers with sufficient temperature capability and an open-format architecture.

The company also is making available to European customers a portfolio of six filaments for fused deposition modeling. They are based on Sabic’s industry-leading ULTEM polyetherimide (PEI) resin, CYCOLAC acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin and LEXAN PC resin, and offer the same composition as the company’s injection molding grades. Available for use in Stratasys Fortus Classic printers, these products target a broad range of customer requirements, and offer greater choice to the industrial filament market.

Sabic’s family of eight high-performance THERMOCOMP AM compounds, also new to the European market, addresses the unique requirements of large format additive manufacturing. Reinforced with carbon or glass fibers for added strength, the new compounds are based on four amorphous resins: ABS, polyphenylene ether (PPE), PC and PEI. They exhibit good creep behavior, reduced deformation under constant pressure and lower shrinkage compared to crystalline resins. They are excellent candidate materials for applications in the tooling, aerospace, automotive and defense industries.

Besides, Sabic is working on innovations beyond its current portfolio of fused deposition modeling filaments and reinforced compounds for large format additive manufacturing. The company has developed several disruptive material solutions that offer improved performance versus currently available products:

- Polycarbonate materials for selective laser sintering (SLS): SABIC is developing a technology to enable laser sintering of PC materials with good mechanical properties and part densities above 96 percent. These powders may provide an alternative to polyamide 12 (PA 12) and can be processed using commercially available printers.
- Polycarbonate and ULTEM PEI filaments: Made with SABIC’s healthcare-grade resins, these filaments enable printed parts with excellent mechanical performance, sterilization compatibility and biocompatibility.
- EXTEM thermoplastic polyimide (TPI) filaments for fused deposition modeling: These filaments represent Sabic’s ongoing focus on developing differentiated, high-temperature solutions for additive manufacturing. The materials are a great alternative consideration for applications requiring higher temperature performance than ULTEM polyetherimide (PEI) filaments.

As MRC reported before, in October 2016, Sabic announced that it had developed next generation low density polyethylene (LDPE) foram grades. The first product of a new generation of LDPE foam grades from SABIC was designed to increase production efficiency at the foam manufacturer.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the worldпїЅs top petrochemical companies. The company is among the worldпїЅs market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has announced global price increases for selected pigments, as per the company's press release.

The price increases, which come into effect for delivery as of January 15th, 2018 or as soon as contracts allow, will affect dioxazine violet and diarylide pigments:

- Prices for PV 23 (dioxazine violet) and PO 34 will be increased by 15%;
- Prices for PY 83 will increase by 14%, prices for PY 12, PY 13, PY 14, PY 174 and PY 176 will increase by 5%.

The price increases are driven by higher raw material prices (e.g. Carbazole, Hydroquinone, DCB and certain coupling agents) triggered by higher environmental, health and safety costs and lack of availability, e.g. due to the stronger enforcement of environmental and safety regulations in China.

As MRC informed before, in June 2016, Clariant inaugurated its new production plant for water-based pigment preparations in Mexico. The new plant located in Santa Clara doubles Clariant’s Mexico annual production capacity for water-based pigment preparations and enhances its ability to serve customers across North and Latin America.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints. Clariant India has local masterbatch production activities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari (Gujarat) and Vashere (Maharashtra) sites in India.
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MOSCOW (MRC) — US refiners and pipeline companies are likely to embark on a capital spending spree in the next year, fueled by a provision in the recently-passed US tax bill that rewards investment in new projects, said energy industry lobbyists and analysts, said Hydracarbonprocessing.

On Wednesday, Congress gave final approval to the biggest overhaul of the US tax code in 30 years, the first major legislative victory for President Donald Trump since he took office.

The bill contains a bonus depreciation provision that allows all companies to immediately write off the full costs of capital improvements, instead of depreciating the new asset over time. The immediate expensing of capital costs will make less financially-attractive projects more viable and free up capital for stock buybacks and increased dividends. The benefit begins to phase out in 2023, which means companies could look to advance projects to take advantage.

"Every major refining company has a list of projects they want to get approved that are ranked by profitability and risk," said Charles Kemp, vice president of Houston-based energy consultancy Baker & O'Brien Inc. The bill, he said, will motivate companies to look further down those lists, "and noticeably increase capital budgets."

The US energy industry has emerged as one of the winners of the historic tax package passed this week. The S&P Oil and Gas Refining Marketing Index is up 27% this year, and hit a record this week on optimism over the bill's passage. In addition to lower corporate rates, the net effect of the immediate write-off provision will boost the present value of capital investments by roughly 4% to 10%, Kemp said. That essentially makes projects more profitable, more quickly.

Moving up projects could be advantageous for refiners and pipeline operators such as Valero and Energy Transfer Partners, as they spend billions yearly to expand plants and build pipelines to move increasing volumes of petroleum.
All refining and pipeline companies contacted by Reuters declined to comment on the implications of the tax package, though some expressed support for the reform in general.

Refiners have already started evaluating capital projects to determine whether marginal ones have become profitable and whether any can be advanced into the 5-yr window, said two refining lobbyists based in Washington D.C., who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak for their respective companies.

"The US energy industry has spent billions in the past few years, but there's still a lot of room for growth," said one lobbyist. "We have a lot of north and south pipelines, but not a lot east and west. And there's a lot of demand for exports, so we will see a real uptick in capital investment to meet that demand."

US exports of crude oil and refined products have increased by 15% so far in 2017 when compared with 2016, and companies are looking to add to terminals on the Gulf Coast as US crude oil production nears an all-time record of 10 MMbpd. Numerous large investments in export of liquefied natural gas are also in the works, and cheap natural gas prices have spurred USD85 B in US petrochemical investments since 2010, according to multiple studies.

ExxonMobil Corp, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, had already planned to invest USD20 B through 2022 to expand its chemical and oil refining plants on the Gulf Coast.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japanese refiners Idemitsu Kosan and Showa Shell Sekiyu said on Friday they expect to cost cuts by USD71 MM in the first year of their business alliance that started last April, reported Reuters.

That comes after Japan’s second- and fourth-biggest refiners said on Wednesday they would form an office next spring with a staff of about 300 to manage crude oil purchases, refining and sales, seeking to cut costs by USD266 MM over 3 yr.

Their integration has been bitterly opposed by Idemitsu’s founding family.

As MRC wrote before, in May 2017, Japanese oil refiners Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd and Showa Shell Sekiyu KK signed a deal to form a business alliance ahead of Idemitsu's stalled merger with Showa Shell. Under the deal, the companies will cooperate more closely on crude purchases and transportation as well as production plans. Idemitsu Kosan completed the purchase of just under a third of Showa Shell last December, but the goal of a full merger of the two companies has been delayed due to opposition from Idemitsu's founding family.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.

Idemitsu Kosan is a Japanese petroleum company. It owns and operates oil platforms, refineries and produces and sells petroleum, oils and petrochemical products. The company runs two petrochemical plants in Chiba and Tokuyama. The two naphtha crackers can produce up to 997,000 tonnes of ethylene per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil prices dipped on Friday but stayed near their highest levels since 2015 on pledges from OPEC leader Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC Russia that any exit from crude output cuts would be gradual, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Market liquidity was drying up on Friday as traders closed positions ahead of the Christmas and New Year breaks. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were down 24 cents at USD64.66/bbl at 1158 GMT, after ending Thursday at $64.90, its highest close since June 2015.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at USD58.05/bbl, down 31 cents. WTI has also been touching values not seen since mid-2015 over the past two months. Oil prices have recovered in the past year on the back of oil production cuts by OPEC, Russia and other producers, helping reduce the global inventory overhang.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak told Reuters OPEC and Russia would exit cuts smoothly, possibly extending curbs in some form to avoid creating any new surplus. "There is a consensus among the (oil) ministers that we should avoid oversupply on the market when exiting the deal," Novak said, comments that will calm investor worries that Moscow wants a speedy exit.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said it was premature to discuss changes to the pact on supply cuts as market rebalancing was unlikely to happen until the second half of 2018. The OPEC-led pact to withhold supplies started in January this year. The producer group and its allies agreed to extend the cuts cover all of 2018 from their March expiry. The supply restraint has reduced oil inventories and helped push up Brent by more than 45% since June this year.
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