AMERICAS
Sekisui Plastics USA introduces a new grade of Piocelan®foam resin
Sekisui Plastics USA has launched a new grade of moldable Piocelan®foam resin, Piocelan T. The new material is a hybrid of polystyrene and polyolefins using Sekisui Plastics’ proprietary hybrid foam technology. Compared to previous grades that lack sufficient heat resistance for some automotive applications, Piocelan T delivers excellent heat resistance and improved physical and non-flammable properties. Due to a slight difference in processing technique between Piocelan T and previous Piocelan grades, the company has upgraded all necessary processes at its resin production site in Tennessee.
Comments: Polyolefin foams are the most commonly used foams in automotive applications. Moldable expandable polystyrene beads are used widely as bumper cores in automotive applications and have wide acceptance. Sekisui is one of the largest PO foams manufacturers in the world and has manufacturing locations in Japan, Europe, and North America. Sekisui’s Piocelan®foam is developed using the company’s proprietary polystyrene-polyolefin hybrid technology. Piocelan®offers the stiffness and low-density foaming characteristics of EPS, as well as shock resistance, and abrasion resistance of EPP. The new heat-resistant grade is targeted at applications such as trunk spacers, cushions, and other moldable automotive applications.
Dynasol to strengthen its position in the tire market
Spain-based Repsol and Mexico-headquartered Group Kuo have extended their cooperative agreement in the synthetic rubber business through their JV Dynasol. Under the new agreement, both companies will put more synthetic rubber assets into Dyansol, thereby expanding Dynasol’s capacity to more than 50 KTA. Repsol will contribute its chemicals accelerators business General Química, while Group KUO will provide Dynasol with its emulsion rubber and nitrile rubber business in Mexico and China.
Comments: Dynasol is focusing on high-performance tire markets including green tires that have low rolling resistance. These tires are mostly made from synthetic rubber, over 70% of the synthetic rubber demand is currently in tires. Dynasol has operations in Mexico and Spain and will be opening a new manufacturing facility in China later this year. The new agreement will make Dynasol a major player in the high-end tire market.
Inteplast to expand itscast film capacity
Inteplast will invest USD 15 million to add two new stretch film production lines at the Charlotte and Phoenix facilities, which are expected to be operational by the end of this year. This investment will bring Inteplast’s overall stretch film capacity from 118 KTA to 145 KTA.
Comments: The stretch film is one of the largest and fastest-growing PE film applications, with over 70% produced using the cast extrusion process. Metallocene LLDPE has made significant inroads into the market as a coextruded component in multilayer structures. The North American market is somewhat of an oligopoly, with six producers controlling over 80% of the market, with few changes to production technology in the past decade (unlike Europe, where significant innovations have occurred). Inteplast Group is the owner of the largest single-production stretch film site in the United State. Interplasthas expanded aggressively over the past five years, doubling capacity through internal additions and acquisitions to take advantage of the growing market.
Borealis increases its Polypropylene compounding capacity in Brazil
Borealis has completed the expansion of its polypropylene compounding production at its Itatiba plant in Brazil. The expansion allows Borealis to increase its PP compounding capacity by 10 KTA to 70 KTA.
Comments: In recent years, Brazil has emerged as one of the bigger markets for polyolefin producers. Borealis Brasil SA, an a80:20 joint venture between Borealis and Braskem, is a compounding business catering to the automotive and home appliances market. The new expansion of its production facility to 70KT is huge and will give BorealisBrasil SA the capability to cater to varied markets. The new expansion includes the installation of two extrusion compounding lines, a new warehouse, and two storehouses.
Dow Chemical takes over Univation Technology LLC
Dow has acquired ExxonMobil’s stake in Univation Technology, making Univation become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dow. Univation Technology is the licensor of UNIPOLTM PE technology and a developer of PE catalysts.
Comments: In the past few years, Dow has been proactively restructuring its performance plastic unit through a series of investments and divestments, such as unloading the PP business to Braskem, selling licensing business of UNIPOL PP Technology to Grace, as well as taking over Univation Technology LLC, a 50:50 JV between ExxonMobil and Dow Chemical. The acquisition of Univation Technology is in line with Dow’s strategies to further strengthen its businesses with strong competitive positions. Currently, 25% of polyethylene worldwide is manufactured via UNIPOLTMPE technology.
EUROPE
BASF to purchase Lanxess’ new technology for polyisobutene manufacturing
BASF has signed an agreement with Germany-based Lanxess regarding acquiring intellectual properties for a new technology for producing high molecular weight polyisobutene (HM PIB). Under the manufacturing agreement, Lanxess will exclusively HM PIB for BASF, and BASF will market the new product under the name of Oppanol N.
Comments: Polyisobutene (PIB) is used in a wide variety of applications because of its gas impermeability, thermal stability, and flexibility. High molecular weight polyisobutene is used in applications such as adhesives, sealants, roofing membranes, and chewing grandmothers. The PIB market is highly consolidated with leading producers accounting for the majority of the market share. BASF, ExxonMobil, Lanxess, and TPC Group are some of the leading PIB global producers. This agreement will ensure supply security for high molecular weight PIB and in turn, strengthen BASF’s position in this market.
Repsol to set up a new mLLDPE facility in Spain
Repsol plans to build a new facility for metallocene linear low-density polyethylene (mLLDPE) using Chevron Philips Chemical’s technology at its Petrochemical Complex in Tarragona, Spain. As the new mLLDPE is designed to share some critical facilities and equipment with the existing HDPE unit, Repsol will shut down its HDPE plant in Tarragona for three months being split into two separate phases of one and a half months. The new mLLDPE unit will begin construction in June.
Comments: Repsol is building a metallocene LLDPE plant in part to take advantage of the growing PE film market, which uses mLLDPE for increased clarity and tensile strength at reduced film thickness. Repsol has recently made several strategic decisions to focus on value-added products in the food and medical packaging markets. Repsol makes logical sense as the first licensee of CPChem’s mLLDPE technology, already using CPChem’s MarTECH SL loop slurry technology for HDPE production at the Tarragona site.
ASIA PACIFIC
W.R. Grace licenses UNIPOLTMPP technology to Yunnan Yuntianhua Petrochemical
Yunnan Yuntianhua PetroChemical, a new subsidiary of province-owned Yunnan Yuntianhua Group, has chosen Grace’s UNIPOLTM PP technology for its new polypropylene unit in Anning, Yunnan province, China. The facility is scheduled to come on stream in 2017 and will have a production capacity of 15 KTA with propylene secured from PetroChina Yunnan refinery.
Comments: W.R. Grace has a long-standing reputation as a catalyst technology developer in the polyolefin industry. The company purchased Dow’s UNIPOLTMPP licensing and catalysts technology business in 2013. UNIPOLTMPP process holds a strong second position globally and accounts for the majority of newly announced PP capacity in China. UNIPOLTMPP’s long-standing customer base with its established position in the high-growth region of China coupled with Grace’s reputation as a catalyst technology provider will significantly strengthen the company’s position in PP technology licensing in the short term.
Hanwha completes acquisition of Samsung’s petrochemical sector
Hanwha has acquired Samsung’s stake both in Samsung Total and Samsung General, both of which officially become subsidiaries of Hanwha Group as well as renamed to Hanwha Total and Hanwha General respectively.
Comments: Both Samsung and Hanwha Group are the largest business conglomerates across multiple industries in South Korea. In the past few years, Samsung Group has adjusted its strategies to increase focus on businesses with competitive positions, such as electronics, finance& Service, and heavy equipment industry; while Hanwha Group has sought opportunities to strengthen its position in the petrochemical industry. The acquisition of Samsung’s petrochemical units makes Hanwha the largest petrochemical player by sales volume in South Korea’s domestic market, followed by Lotte Chemical and LG Chem. After the merger, Hanwha becomes Korea’s dominant EVA producer with a combined EVA/LDPE swing capacity of 605 KTA (Based on CMR data). Therefore, the Korean government approved the deal on the condition of not raising product prices for three years to prevent the EVA market from being monopolized by Hanwha.
Sinopec, Taiwan petrochemical consortium eye 2018 for Gulei petrochemical complex
Sinopec and a Taiwan consortium led by Ho Tung Chemical, USI Group, Asia Polymer, and Dragon Aromatics have formed a 50:50 joint venture to set up a vertically-integrated petrochemical complex in Gulei, Fujun province, China. The first phase of this complex includes a 16,000 KTA refinery, 1,200 KTA ethylene production units, and 800 KTA para-xylene (PX), which are scheduled to begin construction later this year and are slated for completion in 2018.
Comments: Under the 13th Five-Year Plan, Gulei, Fujun along with six other locations (Changxing Island, Caofeidian, Lianyungang, Caojing, Ningbo, and Huizhou)have been selected to develop a vertically-integrated petrochemical cluster with national support. China currently is facing an oversupply of petrochemical commodities, but still highly relies on imports for high-end products. China plans to restructure its petrochemical industry by enhancing vertical integration and upgrading obsolete capacity while moving domestic production toward high-adding-value markets. On the other side, Taiwanese petrochemical producers seek opportunities for business expansion outside of Taiwan, since Taiwan’s restrictions on the petrochemical industry become even stricter especially after the mass chemical explosion in Kaohsiung happened in 2014.
Formosa to begin operation of its new synthetic rubber facility in China
Formosa Synthetic Rubber Corporation has begun trial production at its new butyl rubber (IIR) facility in Ningbo, China, which is scheduled for full operation in June. The IIR plant is estimated to cost over USD 270 million and has a production capacity of 50 KTA. In the meanwhile, Formosa is also planning to set up one 85 KTA high cis-butadiene rubber (HCBR) plant and one 50 KTA halo butyl rubber (HIIR) facility at its Ningbo Petrochemical complex, both of which are scheduled to begin construction later this year.
Comments: Formosa Synthetic Rubber Corporation, a part of Taiwan-based petrochemical player Formosa Plastic Group (FPG)established in 2009, is trying to capitalize on China’s growing demand for synthetic rubber. The IIR plant will be Formosa’s first synthetic rubber production unit in its corporate history and the starting point for Formosa to enhance vertical integration toward synthetic rubbers and to expand its downstream product portfolio toward C4 and C5 derivatives. Unlike IIR which is facing oversupply in China, HIIR and HCBR are high-value-added synthetic rubber and still heavily rely on imports. Both Formosa’s planned HCBR and HIIR facilities are scheduled for operation in 2017. Once these two units come on stream, Formosa will be able to move its synthetic rubbers toward high-value-added applications.
Hsoyung to begin commercial production at its new PDH unit
Hyosung’s new 300 KTA propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit at its Ulsan site, in Korea, is slated to begin commercial operation in October 2015. The company currently has a PDH unit at the same site with a capacity of 200 KTA, all of which supply its polypropylene production.
Comments: Propylene supply in South Korea has remained quite tight over the past few years. SK Chem and Hyosung have both planned to add new PDH capacities to ease their supply concerns. Hyosung has a 350 KTA PP plant which is catered to by the propylene feedstock from an existing PDH facility that is already operating. The new PDH plant will further ease the feedstock supply issues going forward.
Borouge’s expansion of the PP compounding plant in China is on schedule
The expansion of Borouge’s polypropylene compounding plant in Shanghai, China is slated to be operational in the fourth quarter of this year. The PP compounding capacity will increase by 30 KTA to 80 KTA, allowing Borealis to cater to the increased demand for reinforced PP in China’s automotive industry.
Comments: Borouge is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), one of the world’s major oil and gas companies, and Austria-based Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions. Borouge established Borouge Compounding Shanghai Co. Ltd. in 2010 with a compounding facility of 50 KTA and has been catering to the Chinese packaging, infrastructure, and automotive market. The Automotive industry has seen tremendous growth in recent years and is expected to grow between 5-6%. With the new expansion, Borouge will be better suited to cater to the growing demand for automotive parts in China.