AkzoNobel appoints Rajiv Rajgopal to head Decorative Paints South Asia

AkzoNobel has announced key organizational structure and leadership announcements for its decorative paints business in the region, effective January 1, 2024, said Sightsinplus.

India is now the regional headquarters of AkzoNobel’s decorative paints business in the newly formed South Asia region. Mr. Rajiv Rajgopal has been appointed as the new Business Unit (BU) Director – Decorative Paints, South Asia region.

He will continue his responsibilities as the Chairman and Managing Director, of Akzo Nobel India Limited. Mr. Rohit G Totla (Rohit Totla) has been appointed as the Sales and Marketing Director for AkzoNobel’s decorative paints business in India.

In this new role, he will be responsible for the growth of AkzoNobel’s decorative paints business in India. This is further to his recent appointment as an Wholetime Director in the Board of Directors of Akzo Nobel India Ltd.

We remind, AkzoNobel’s Coil and Extrusion Coatings business has signed a strategic agreement with the hi-tech specialists to develop a pioneering process that uses electron beams to cure coatings on metal substrates, said the company. E-beam technology is a fast-growing scientific field and could offer significant advantages over conventional thermal curing methods, such as lower energy consumption, increased productivity with higher quality and reduced environmental impact. The process itself cures coatings by using a directed stream of electrons to deliver the energy required to form the final film.

mrchub.com

Marubeni Corporation, Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., and Oriental Petrochemical Taiwan Co., Ltd. are pleased to announce that they have agreed to establish a supply chain for biomass Purified Terephthalic Acid produced from biomass naphtha, said the company.

Production of biomass PTA is planned to begin in 2024 in Taiwan, the first time it will be produced there.

Idemitsu Kosan will produce biomass PX from biomass naphtha using the mass balance method*3. It will then be converted to biomass PTA by OPTC, a PTA manufacturer under the Far Eastern New Century Group (a PET manufacturing company in Taiwan). Marubeni will be coordinating the management of the supply chain's establishment as well as the marketing of the biomass products.

PET resin, the raw material for PET bottles, is composed of approximately 70% PTA and 30% ethylene glycol. Therefore, by using biomass PTA and biomass ethylene glycol, 100% biomass-derived PET resin can be produced. While biomass ethylene glycol has become increasingly popular, replacing petroleum-derived PTA with biomass-derived PTA has been a challenge.

Biomass naphtha, the raw material for biomass products, is manufactured from raw materials derived from renewable materials such as plants, and can thus reduce CO2 emissions compared to naphtha derived from petroleum. The biomass PX manufactured by Idemitsu Kosan obtained the international certification “ISCC PLUS Certification”*4, which manages and ensures the supply chain of products made from sustainable raw materials such as biomass and allows the application of the mass balance method. OPTC will also obtain “ISCC PLUS Certification” in 2024.

Through this newly established supply chain, the three companies will contribute to CO2 reduction in the plastics industry and the swifter realization of a low-carbon society.

We remind, Marubeni Corporation (hereinafter, “Marubeni”), through its wholly-owned Singapore-based subsidiary Marubeni Growth Capital Asia Pte. Ltd. (hereinafter, “MGCA”) has invested in PT One-ject Indonesia (hereinafter, “Oneject”), a leading manufacturer of medical consumables in Indonesia.

mrchub.com

Austrian oil and gas company OMV on Wednesday said it is examining the impact of seizure of its shares in the Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field and reserves its rights, after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered that its stake be transferred.

According to current information, the Russian President has signed a decree regarding the Yuzhno-Russkoye field. According to this decree, OMV's shareholdings and its interests in the gas field are to be transferred to new Russian companies. Those companies would be ultimately held by the insurance company JSC SOGAZ and Gazprom. The proceeds from the transfer of the OMV interest to JSC SOGAZ are to be paid into a special account.

OMV already decided in March 2022 that Russia is no longer a core region and that it will no longer make investments there. OMV has a 24.99% stake in the West Siberian Yuzhno Russkoye gas field, which was almost completely value adjusted in 2022. No further negative effects on the results are factually to be expected. With regard to this investment, a review was initiated at that point in time in which all options were examined, including the possibility of a sale and an exit.

In addition, the consolidation method for the Russian business was changed as of March 1, 2022. This stipulates that the operating results, cash flows and production volumes in Russia will no longer be included in the group report.

In 2022, OMV adjusted the value of its Russian business by a total of 2.46 billion euros. This value adjustment includes the 24.99% stake in Yuzhno Russkoje, as well as the receivables from Nord Stream 2 AG.

OMV is currently reviewing the presidential decree and may take further steps to preserve its rights.

We remind, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co is closing in on a deal with Austria's OMV to combine two entities in which the companies own stakes to create a chemicals giant, two people with knowledge of the talks said to Reuters. In July OMV said it had entered into talks to merge petrochemicals group Borealis - which is owned by OMV and ADNOC in a 75:25 split - and Borouge, which is 54:36 owned by ADNOC and Borealis.

mrchub.com

India is expected to remain on top in Asia for demand of petrochemical in 2024 given its strong economic growth and resilient industrial production, said Exportgenius.

However, the greater demand is unlikely ro bring much relief to domestic producers struggling with pressure on margins as prices of key chemicals in bulk are expected to remain suppressed due to ample supplies and new capacities coming on stream. According to a report, India’s market for chemical commodities is predicted to grow at around 7% in 2023 and 8% in 2024.

The robust demand of India’s chemical products is being driven by a sharp flow of economic activities after the country emerged from COVID-19 lockdowns. While India’s domestic chemicals demand is expected to stay strong in 2024, price expectations will not be very robust as the market struggles to find the right balance. This is due to new production capacities on stream in the country and in the rest of Asia, weak global demand, changing trade flows and volatile upstream prices.

India’s import of polyolefins – the largest chunk of its petrochemical import market surged significantly in 2023, crossed USD 200 million mark in first half of the year itself. This led by higher demand and increased imports from China, where downstream demand scenario stood weak. India’s imports of polyolefins from the world totalled USD 159 million in 2020, that increased to USD 360 million in 2022.

We remind, Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL) has approved a project to add petrochemical production capacity at its 7.8-million tonne/year (tpy) refinery at Bina, Madya Pradesh, India. At a meeting of the company’s board on May 15, BPCL approved an investment of 490 billion rupees (nearly $6 billion) for an ethylene cracker project at the Bina refinery that, alongside a cracker, would include the addition of other downstream petrochemical plants as well as an expansion of the refinery, the operator said in separate regulatory filings to BSE Ltd. and the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.

mrchub.com

North American chemical rail traffic rose month on month and year on year, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) said on Wednesday.

For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 486,787 carloads and intermodal units, up 24.2 percent compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week ending December 23 were 230,946 carloads, up 23.7 percent compared with the same week in 2022, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 255,841 containers and trailers, up 24.7 percent compared to 2022.

All of the 10 carload commodity groups posted an increase compared with the same week in 2022. They included coal, up 16,458 carloads, to 66,730; motor vehicles and parts, up 4,936 carloads, to 16,287; and grain, up 4,475 carloads, to 21,237.

For the first 51 weeks of 2023, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 11,519,813 carloads, up 0.6 percent from the same point last year; and 12,478,616 intermodal units, down 5.0 percent from last year. Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 51 weeks of 2023 was 23,998,429 carloads and intermodal units, a decrease of 2.4 percent compared to last year.

North American rail volume for the week ending December 23, 2023, on 12 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 340,069 carloads, up 21.4 percent compared with the same week last year, and 337,542 intermodal units, up 25.3 percent compared with last year. Total combined weekly rail traffic in North America was 677,611 carloads and intermodal units, up 23.3 percent. North American rail volume for the first 51 weeks of 2023 was 33,580,237 carloads and intermodal units, down 2.2 percent compared with 2022.

Canadian railroads reported 93,678 carloads for the week, up 23.1 percent, and 70,358 intermodal units, up 33.5 percent compared with the same week in 2022. For the first 51 weeks of 2023, Canadian railroads reported cumulative rail traffic volume of 8,168,179 carloads, containers and trailers, down 2.5 percent.

We remind, North American chemical rail traffic rose for a sixth consecutive week, with railcar loadings for the week ended 16 December rising 8.8% year on year to 48,215. Increases in the US and Canada more than offset a decline in Mexico.

mrchub.com