The Russian packaging industry amid sanctions

The Russian packaging industry is facing a unique set of challenges in the wake of Western sanctions, as per Packaging-gateway.

Unlike previous crises characterised by universal trends such as decreased demand and reduced purchasing power, the current situation in the Russian packaging market presents distinct hurdles.

Against the backdrop of these sanctions, the industry grapples with packaging shortages, including PET packaging, aluminium caps, moisture-resistant paper labels, and critical additives for production.

Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, numerous companies have divested or sold their packaging operations in Russia. These include Heineken, Mondi, and Smurfit Kappa.

These pressures are compounded by regulatory scrutiny, which is focusing on restraining prices not only for polymers but also for packaging and products themselves.

In the global landscape, approximately 3.9bn tons of food are produced annually, with roughly one-third of it going to waste. Packaging plays a crucial role in minimising these losses.

Despite efforts to protect the environment and enhance ecological sustainability, the global packaging industry is booming. According to research from Horvath & Partner AG, a Swiss consulting company, the sales of packaging products are expected to grow from $770bn in 2021 to $1tn by 2025.

Most packaging materials for the food industry worldwide are derived from non-renewable resources, primarily polyolefin-class polymers like polyethylene and polypropylene. Polymer packaging, both flexible and rigid, constitutes a significant share of the market both internationally and in Russia.

Over 60% of flexible packaging on the global market is used in the food industry. Experts predict that the global flexible packaging market will exceed $250 billion by 2024.

According to a survey by the Flexible Packaging Association in the United States, 83% of brands currently use some form of flexible packaging. Additionally, 26% of brands have increased their use of flexible packaging in the last five years, with another 31% intending to do so in the near future.

Flexible packaging for food products is prevalent both in foreign countries and in Russia.

We remind, Russia is shipping its first crude oil cargo to Brazil, as it seeks to diversify its list of buyers, which has been drastically limited by U.S. and EU sanctions, LSEG data showed and traders said. Russia has been heavily relying on India and China as main buyers of its crude after European embargo and price cap policies were imposed in December last year after Russia's action in Ukraine that Moscow calls a special military operation.

mrchub.com

Evonik is launching the first product from its new range of next generation of TEGO® RC solutions: TEGO® RC 2000 LCF, said the company.

Made using recycled silicone feedstocks, the new release coating can be cured using either the less energy intensive UV LED or traditional UV Arc lamps, helping label producers lower their carbon footprint to meet growing sustainability ambitions.

According to the FINAT RADAR 2023 report, published by the European Association for the Self-Adhesive Label Industry, 81% of the members surveyed, are seeing more demand for environmentally friendly label products.

“With strong consumer demand, sustainability is increasingly at the top of the agenda throughout the entire labeling value chain,” says Chris Ogle, Global Segment Manager Release Coatings, Interface & Performance business line. “We’re focused on developing and bringing innovative solutions to market that enable our customers to meet their sustainability targets. Our latest product helps them to reduce energy consumption by adopting UV LED, and with the introduction of recycled feedstocks we’re making a major step forward in shrinking the overall footprint, without sacrificing product performance.”

Evonik’s new single component, ready to use release coating delivers easy to controlled release performance, very good curing and anchorage properties, as well as excellent aging stability with the industry’s leading pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) and temperature sensitive substrates.

Evonik showcases the new TEGO® RC 2000 LCF and its entire release coatings portfolio for label and linerless label applications during Label Expo Europe 2023 in Brussels, from 11 – 14 September, 2023 at booth #3C66.

We remind, Evonik Tasnee Marketing Company has signed an Export Credit Insurance (ECI) Policy with the Saudi Export-Import Bank (EXIM Bank), which allows the company to secure payments on international exports, and enables it to cover the risks of non-payment of the same value of products and services issued to international buyers.

mrchub.com

With two Starlinger “recoStar” PET bottle-to-bottle recycling lines, Piedmont-based Dentis Recycling Italy S.r.l. expanded its product portfolio and now offers food-grade rPET pellets in addition to hot-washed PET bottle flakes, said Plasticker.

The Starlinger "recoStar" PET 330 HC iV+ bottle-to-bottle recycling lines produce bottle-grade rPET and have a production capacity of up to 3.3 tons per hour each.

In 2021, the Italian recycler of post-consumer PET bottles initiated a new project to extend its rPET production capacity and purchased two Starlinger “recoStar” PET 330 HC iV+ recycling systems. The new lines were commissioned in summer 2022 and are recycling used PET bottles into high-quality rPET pellets that Dentis sells under the new brand name “Repeter”. With a combined production capacity of 6.6 tons per hour, the total yearly output of the lines amounts to 50,000 tons of bottle-grade rPET pellets.

Dentis will recycle this year a total of 80,000 tons of post-consumer PET bottles collected through the Italian collection systems operated by Corepla and Coripet. After completion of the capacity extension in 2024, the potential recycling capacity of the Piedmont site will amount to approximately 130,000 tons of post-consumer PET bottles per year.

We remind, LANXESS has launched a more sustainable solution for its plasticizer Mesamoll, said Specialchem.
The phthalate-free, well-gelling and exceptionally saponification-resistant plasticizer can be applied to a wide range of polymers, such as PVC, PUR and rubber.

mrchub.com

The gasoline-producing FCC at Marathon Petroleum's 593,000 bpd Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, remained shut on Friday, people familiar with plant operations said Reuters.

Investigators from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as early as Friday are expected to begin probing a fire on Thursday night that shut the 140,000-bpd FCC, the sources said. No injuries were reported from the fire. A Marathon spokesperson did not reply to a request for immediate comment.

The fire broke out in the FCC's regenerator, which removes carbon from the fine powder catalyst that converts gas oil into unfinished gasoline. Removing the carbon extends the life and efficiency of the catalyst.

On Thursday, a power plant supplying the refinery sustained a leak in a steam boiler. Texas City residents were warned about noise from the leak on the high-pressure line. The leak was repaired on Thursday afternoon, sources told Reuters. The Galveston Bay Refinery is the fourth largest by capacity in the United States.

In a May 15 fire on a reformer at the refinery, a Marathon employee was killed and two contract workers were injured. Marathon is repairing the reformer. The repairs are expected to be completed by the end of the third quarter of this year. A contract worker was also killed in March at the site when he was electrocuted.

An Aug. 25 fire at Marathon's Garyville, Louisiana refinery led to an evacuation order for residents within two miles of the refinery. Two giant storage tanks burned to the ground and two minor injuries were reported.

The Garyville refinery is the third largest in the United States. The reformer converts refining byproducts into octane-boosting components added to unfinished gasoline to make premium grades.

Marathon is the largest U.S. refiner. Its 13 refineries have a combined capacity of 2.9 million bpd, or 16% of national capacity.
mrchub.com

Brazilian state-run oil firm Petrobras will make a scheduled maintenance stoppage at its Gabriel Passos Refinery (Regap) in Minas Gerais state, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The unit, which has the capacity to process 150,000 barrels of oil per day, has two refining trains (units) and each of them is expected to stop for around a month, one of the sources said, adding the first stoppage will be next week and the other in October.

Regap processes fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, among other products. Its output supplies a large part of Minas Gerais state and, occasionally, its neighbor Espirito Santo.

Maintenance shutdowns are carried out periodically, in compliance with regulatory standards.

Petrobras did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

We remind, Petrobras remains eager to repurchase a refinery from Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala despite antitrust barriers, and a new biofuels partnership could open the door to future talks. Petrobras on Monday announced a memorandum of understanding with Mubadala for potential investment in a biofuel refinery under development in Bahia state by Mubadala-owned Acelen.

mrchub.com