Denka reopens polychloroprene rubber plant in Japan following accident

Denka has resumed production of chloroprene rubber at its Omi Plant at Itoigawa in Japan’s Niigata prefecture, the company said.

Production was suspended following an accident on 14 June that involved a pipe bursting, killing one worker.

A final report on the accident is expected to be ready in January 2024, Denka said.

Capacity details were not disclosed.

We remind, Denka SCGC Advanced Materials has awarded Toyo Engineering an engineering and procurement contract for its planned 11,000 tonne/year acetylene black facility at Map Ta Phut in Thailand’s Rayong province. Construction is expected to be completed in H1 2026, Toyo said in a statement on Monday. The value of the contract was not disclosed. Denka SCGC Advanced Materials is a joint venture between Japan’s Denka and Thailand’s SCG Chemicals.

mrchub.com

SK Ecoplant Co., a South Korean construction engineering and waste management firm under SK Group, is accelerating a plan to set up a major green energy production facility in the Middle East in partnership with Korea South-East Power Co., said Kedglobal.

SK Ecoplant on Friday announced it signed an MOU with Korea South-East Power, a major Korean electricity producer, to jointly produce green hydrogen and green ammonia in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Under the agreement, SK Ecoplant will lead a feasibility study on building green hydrogen and green ammonia production infrastructure in an industrial park within the free economic zone of Abu Dhabi, the UAE’s capital.

Korea South-East Power will provide necessary project support as it reviews whether to import green hydrogen and green ammonia from the UAE and Oman to produce electricity from its conventional power plants in Korea.

SK Ecoplant aims to produce 50,000 tons of green hydrogen and 250,000 tons of green ammonia annually with electricity generated at a solar power plant in the industrial park.

In July, SK Ecoplant discussed with a local UAE company tapping the country's potential green hydrogen and green ammonia business using renewable energy. It also signed an MOU with another local company that operates the port and terminals in the Abu Dhabi Free Zone Industrial Park.

mrchub.com

Samyang Corporation, a chemical/food business subsidiary of Samyang Group (CEO Ho-sung Kang), recently announced that nine types of their recycled fishing net plastic (nylon) material, "TRIECO 4D," have acquired global certification for ocean plastic recycling, "ECV Ocean Plastic (2809-3)," from the international testing and certification agency, UL Solutions, said the company.

The ECV Ocean Plastic certification verifies the properties of recycled ocean waste plastic by confirming its mineral content, characteristics, and the proportion of recycled material. This certification system was created by UL Solutions to prevent "Greenwashing" (falsely promoting something as eco-friendly) and tracks a product's entire cycle, including collection and transportation of raw materials. Certification is only possible after undergoing strict on-site inspections of every process.

The nine certified TRIECO 4D products of Samyang Corporation use discarded fishing nets from Korea coastal fisheries, which are high quality due to their short replacement cycles, overcoming the limitations of weakened properties in recycled plastics with Samyang Corporation's compounding (mixing additives to improve properties) technology.

Currently, they are being developed not only for automotive interior and exterior parts but also for structural components of vehicles, having met the material property standards required by several domestic and international automotive companies.

We remind, Samyang, a chemical and food affiliate of the Samyang Group, has designed the PC as an engineered plastic that is transparent, impact- and heat-resistant. The new offering can be used as a material for interior and exterior uses in cars, home appliances, soundproof walls, and medical device parts.

mrchub.com

Idemitsu Advanced Materials (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., a subsidiary of Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd. (Tokyo), has newly constructed a second SPS (syndiotactic polystyrene) production plant in Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia, and launched commercial operation in November 2023, said Chemenonline.

The production capacity of this plant is 9,000 tons per year, and with the second SPS production plant in operation, the production scale of SPS resin, a proprietary material, will be doubled. The new two-location system with the first SPS production plant at the Chiba Complex has realized a more stable production and supply system.

SPS resin is an engineering plastic that the company succeeded in synthesizing for the first time in the world in 1985 and achieved global-first commercialization in 1997. It has the characteristics of outstanding heat resistance (melting point 270°C), hot water resistance, electrical insulation, and radio wave permeability. SPS resin is widely used in automotive parts including those for electric vehicles, home appliances, and daily-use products such as tableware and microwave oven cooking containers, and the demand is expanding.

Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, where the second SPS production plant has been constructed, is one of Idemitsu Kosan’s key manufacturing sites for petrochemical products. The construction of the plant has been promoted because it is located in Southeast Asia, where demand is expected to grow, and it is possible to procure SM (styrene monomer), the raw material for SPS, from Idemitsu SM (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (President: Yuki Arao), a subsidiary of Idemitsu, which is located next to the SPS plant. The copmany will optimize supply by establishing a two-location system with the first SPS production plant, and strengthen efforts to expand sales.

We remind, Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd. has decided to withdraw from the Bisphenol A business, said the company.
Bisphenol A is an organic compound synthesized from phenol and acetone, and is used as a raw material for polycarbonate resin, epoxy resin, flame retardant resin, etc. In 1991, Idemitsu commercialized Bisphenol A at the Chiba Complex with its own technology, and for more than 30 years since then, it has been developing the Bisphenol A business by striving for safe and stable operation and improvement of quality.

mrchub.com

LyondellBasell, a global leader in the chemical manufacturing industry, signed two power purchase agreements (PPA) in the U.S. increasing its total procured renewable electricity to 1,366 megawatts (MW), said Smartenergydecisions.

The latest PPAs represent 89% of the chemical company’s goal to procure a minimum of 50% of its electricity from renewable sources.

"We are taking decisive steps to reduce our scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions and power purchase agreements are a critical lever towards meeting our targets," said Chris Cain, LyondellBasell Senior Vice President for Net Zero Transition Strategy, in a statement. "These two new agreements help us accelerate the development of clean energy and shift to use of low carbon energy at our sites."

The company signed a long-term PPA for 125 MW of renewable electricity sourced from TotalEnergies' Brazoria Solar project in Brazoria County, Texas. The 15-year agreement is expected to generate approximately 300,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of solar power annually.

The project is expected to start operations at the end of 2025. This is the company's second PPA with TotalEnergies.

LyondellBasell also signed a long-term PPA with Industrial Sun to supply 50 MW of renewable electricity from Industrial Sun's Industrial Bravo solar project in Matagorda County, Texas, to the LyondellBasell Matagorda Complex. This facility produces high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic resins used to manufacture various consumer products.

The project is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2026.

We remind, The European Union (EU) Innovation Fund has selected LyondellBasell Industries NV’s advanced recycling project at Wesseling, Germany, to receive a €40 million grant, said the company. The fully-electrified, industrial-scale plant, which will demonstrate the company’s MoReTec recycling technology, is one of 41 projects selected for grants during the Innovation Fund’s “Third Call for Large Scale Projects,” the company announced on Dec. 13.

mrchub.com