EQUATE announced August MEG India contract price

Global monoethylene glycol (MEG) producer EQUATE has nominated its August 2023 MEG India Contract Price (ICP) at USD472/tonne CFR (cost & freight) India Main Ports, said the company.

The August nomination was USD17/tonne higher than the July number.

We remind, EQUATE has nominated its June 2023 MEG India Contract Price (ICP) at USD501/tonne CFR (cost & freight) India Main Ports. The June nomination was USD7/tonne lower than the May number.

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Texas is suing Shell and is seeking more than USD1 million, alleging a fire at the oil giant’s Houston-area petrochemical plant damaged the environment, said WSJ.

The May 5 fire at the plant in the suburb of Deer Park resulted in nine workers being treated at and released from a hospital.

The lawsuit, filed Aug. 7 in Travis County by the Texas attorney general’s office, alleges air and water contamination and violations of state laws at the plant, including those of the Clean Air Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act and the Water Code.

A Shell spokesperson said the company is aware of the lawsuit but does not comment on pending litigation. “The Deer Park chemicals facility remains in a recovery phase as we continue to investigate the cause of the fire and rebuild the damaged portion of the plant,” spokesperson Natalie Gunnell said.

The lawsuit contends that heavy black smoke contaminated the environment and that millions of gallons of water used to cool the areas and extinguish the flames were later discharged unlawfully into a lake, a stormwater pond and a wastewater treatment facility, making its way into the Houston Ship Channel.

“This is a lawsuit to enforce Texas laws enacted to safeguard the state’s air resources, human health and the environment against pollution and to protect the quality of water in the state,” it said. The fire started during routine maintenance work when oils and gases ignited, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at the time.

We remind, Shell (London) has agreed to pay nearly USD 10 mn (EUR 9.3 mn) for breaking emissions rules at its Monaca polyethylene complex in the US state of Pennsylvania, according to the office of governor Josh Shapiro, which said the resin maker had formally acknowledged the violations.

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BASF is set to double its production capacity for water-soluble dispersants based on acrylic acid at its Dilovasi, Turkey location with the introduction of a new production plant, said the company.

This investment aims to support BASF’s customers in the detergent, cleaning and chemical processing industry across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The additional capacities are expected to be fully operational by the third quarter of 2023.

In 2020, BASF had already taken steps to enhance flexibility and expand its production plant for water-soluble dispersants and other functional additives at the Ludwigshafen site. Soeren Hildebrandt, Senior Vice President Home Care, I&I and Industrial Formulators Europe at BASF, commented: "Through this additional investment at our Dilovasi site, we are addressing the rising demand for these products for modern formulations. The capacity expansion will especially benefit our European customers, supporting them in their growth while providing them with even more flexible and reliable supply options."

These water-soluble dispersants and functional additives are marketed by BASF’s Care Chemicals operating division under the brand Sokalan® and have a wide range of applications. Sokalan® PA and Sokalan® CP grades facilitate dirt removal, disperse dissolved dirt in water and prevent lime deposits on laundry, dishes and in washing machines and dishwashers. Additionally, they find use in various technical processes to prevent fouling. The latest class of products in the Sokalan® range is represented by Sokalan® NR grades, which are highly effective mineral dispersing agents because of their narrow molecular weight distribution and are optimized for the hydrophilization of pulp fibers.

We remind, BASF, Huntsman and their Chinese partners in the joint venture Shanghai Lianheng Isocyanate Co (SLIC) complete the planned separation of their joint MDI production in Caojing. The two MDI (diphenylmethane diisocyanate) plants at the Caojing site in China will be operated independently by the two companies in the future. Huntsman, together with Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical, and BASF, together with Shanghai Hua Yi (Group company) and Sinopec Shanghai Gaoqiao Petrochemical, will each take over one of the MDI plants.

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The European recycling rates remained at about 27% in 2022 to 813,266 tonnes of PVC wastes in EU-27, Norway, Switzerland and the UK, said Amiplastics.

In 2021, Europe recycled 810,775 tonnes of PVC wastes. Recycling of profiles grew to around 15% to 408,000 tonnes while pipes and fittings recycling grew by 12% to about 50,000 tonnes in 2022.

The organisation is committed to recycle 900,000 tonnes/y of PVC by 2025 and 1 M tonnes/y by 2030.

We remind, Olin shut the 835,000 metric tons per year unit July 12, citing equipment failures, according to its chief customer, US polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer Shintech. Olin announced in June that the VCM plant had been restarted but was running at reduced rates.

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thyssenkrupp Uhde and Orica have successfully completed the Kooragang Island Decarbonization Project in Newcastle, Australia with the successful commissioning of thyssenkrupp Uhde’s effective EnviNOx technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at Orica’s three on-site nitric acid plants, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

For this project, thyssenkrupp Uhde provided the proprietary equipment, including the reactor vessels and the catalysts. Orica is one of the world’s leading mining and infrastructure solution providers with a global manufacturing capability.

With the EnviNOx technology it is anticipated that this project will eliminate approximately 567,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents from the site per year which equals the annual emissions from 50,000 Australian homes. This reduction in greenhouse gas emissions corresponds to 48% of the site’s total greenhouse gas emissions and 11% of all chemical industry emissions in Australia.

Dr. Cord Landsmann, CEO thyssenkrupp Uhde: “With our proven EnviNOx technology, we at thyssenkrupp Uhde are making a significant contribution to the elimination of greenhouse gas emissions, thus improving the sustainability of manufacturing and reducing the carbon footprint of industries. We are committed to a more sustainable future and therefore support our customers in achieving their sustainability goals using our proven technologies across the value chain.”

In acknowledging a significant decarbonization milestone, Orica Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Sanjeev Gandhi said: “This project clearly demonstrates that with the right policy settings and corporate commitments, emissions reduction is possible in hard-to-abate industries of our economy. We will continue to invest across our operations, to ensure Australian manufactured products remain competitive as the world transitions to a lower carbon economy.”

We remind, BASF and thyssenkrupp Uhde announced their cooperation in the marketing and further development of catalyst and process design for thyssenkrupp Uhde’s leading EnviNOx technology for N2O and NOx abatement. BASF will supply its high-performance catalysts to thyssenkrupp Uhde, enabling their customers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions even more effectively. EnviNOx reliably removes more than 99% of all N2O and NOx emissions, as at BASF’s site in Ludwigshafen, where a new unit successfully started up in the second half of 2022.

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