AMERICAS
BASF to build Acrylic Acid and SAP complex at Camaçari, Brazil
BASF has announced to investment in a world-scale acrylic acid, butyl acrylate, and superabsorbent polymers (SAP) manufacturing complex in Brazil. The investment would be BASF’s largest in South America. The company has selected the Camaçari, Bahia, site for the investment. The complex, which will require an investment of over USD 724.8 million, will be the first acrylic acid and SAP manufacturing facility in South America. It will be the largest investment in BASF’s century-long history in South America. Technical studies have looked into a plant with a capacity for 160 KTA of acrylic acid.
BASF will also start producing 2-ethyl-hexyl acrylate, a raw material for the adhesives and special coatings industries, at its existing chemical complex in Guaratinguetá, São Paulo. This will be the first plant for this product in South America. BASF, with the new acrylic acid complex, aims to ensure the supply of SAP for diapers; acrylic resins for coatings, textiles, and adhesives; and products for civil construction.
Comments: The most prevalent commercial process to make acrylic acid is the two-stage oxidation of propylene. The propylene is first oxidized to acrolein (an aldehyde) with a molybdenum-bismuth oxide catalyst and the subsequent oxidation converts it to acrylic acid. Other processes such as the acetylene method, the acrylonitrile method, and the ketene method each have their drawbacks and disadvantages. BASF selected the Camaçari location mainly because of the availability of propylene raw materials and utilities provided by Braskem.
New automotive TPV introduced by ExxonMobil Chemical
ExxonMobil Chemical has introduced Santoprene 121-XXM200 TPV high flow thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) grades for automotive parts requiring improved appearance and easier processing, such as glass encapsulated weather seals for quarter lights and side fixed glass applications. Santoprene 121-XXM200 TPV grades exhibit a low dynamic viscosity, which results in enhanced flow over a wide range of shear to produce molded seals with excellent surface appearance and no flow marks. Processability is improved as the injection pressure can be reduced by about 30-40 percent, injection temperatures can be lowered by 10 degrees C (50 degrees F) and shorter cycle times are possible, depending on part size and wall thickness. This may lead to sustainability benefits through less glass breakage and lower energy consumption, along with the fact that TPVs are also fully recyclable.
Comments: TPV is currently used in a number of applications in under-the-hood automotive applications that include plugs and fasteners, boots and bellows, grommets, mechanical cable covering, and other applications. TPVsprovide flexibility, durability, low compression set, and long-term resistance to heat, automotive fluids, and oils. TPVs with improved performance properties will further expand their end-use application and provide consumers with a product with lower cost due to lower temperature requirements and faster cycle time.
Pactiv plans the third plant in Mexico
Pactiv Corp. plans to open a new multi-million dollar plant in Mexico City to better service the growing Mexican market. Pactiv’s food service/packaging division will add to its Mexican holdings with the new plant. Pactiv already has facilities in Guadalajara and Monterrey supplying cups, foam trays, clear plastic containers, and cutlery to the Mexican market. The proposed new facility will offer a full range of paper, foam, and plastic cups and tableware. The new facility will be operational in the second half of 2012.
Comments: Pactiv is a subsidiary of Reynolds Group Holdings Ltd. of Auckland, New Zealand. The Mexican market is expected to grow steadily for the next few years leading to growth in consumer goods such as cups, foam trays, clear plastic containers, and cutlery. Pactiv already has two locations in Mexico with established markets in Guadalajara and Monterrey. This presence will give them an advantage to further expand in consumer goods markets in the region.
Kraton completes Isoprene expansion projects
Kraton Polymers has completed a previously announced project to convert a plant at its Belpre, OH facility for new solid isoprene rubber (IR) capacity. This production capability replaces the capacity from the Pernis, Netherlands facility that was closed in 2009 to reduce costs. Kraton has also completed a debottleneck in its Paulinia, Brazil isoprene rubber latex (IRL) plant, which increased production by 30%.
Comments: Kraton polymer’s expansion of isoprene rubber capacity was in response to the consumer need for an alternate allergy-free product in medical applications, where higher-value products with premium pricing are consumed. Products that are made from natural rubber latex often affect some consumers with allergic attacks and the need for alternative materials is crucial. Applications that are generally produced using natural rubbers include surgical gloves, catheters, IV and medical stopper bottles, and others,
Aspen, CO considers plastic bag fee
In an effort to encourage residents to bring their reusable shopping bags to the grocery store, Aspen, COis one step closer to charging a 20-cent fee on disposable grocery bags. The Aspen City Council passed the “Waste Reduction Fee Ordinance” by a 4-1 vote on the first reading. The fee will get a more extensive public hearing on Sept. 12, when the council will have the opportunity to adopt the ordinance. The ordinance would implement a 20-cent fee on single-use disposable paper and plastic bags distributed at the two grocery stores within city limits.
Comments: CMR Inc. has been monitoring the developments on plastic bag bans in major countries/cities around the world. The longstanding problem with used plastic bags is the collection and reprocessing. Since neither the bag manufacturers nor resin producers and/or retailers take that responsibility, the government steps in to assess a fee/tax for disposal. The reinstatement of bag bans constantly sparks the ongoing debate about the benefits of taxation and a ban on plastic bags, as opposed to the development of more efficient recycling operations. More recently, in a groundbreaking development, Mexico’s pro-recycling plastics industry has overcome bag ban proponents in the Mexican capital–Mexico rejected the introduced bag bans and has embraced the industry plan to boost recycling initiatives. The government has thus reacted to major consumer and environmental issues by allowing the industry to resolve the problem, without direct government interference. San Francisco, San Jose, and Washington D.C. are some of the other major U.S. cities that have also imposed a tax or ban on plastic bags. The proposed fee in Aspen would only apply to bags handed out in the checkout lines of the grocery stores and would exempt bags available in the produce department or bags from other retail stores and restaurants.
Salinas, CA, votes to ban polystyrene takeout packaging
The ban in Salinas, CA, was enacted by City Council in a 6-1 vote. It is scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 12. With a population of more than 150,000, Salinas is the fourth-largest city in the state to ban PS containers–after San Francisco, Oakland, and Huntington Beach. Salinas is also the largest city in Monterey County and the first inland community in the county to ban PS takeout packaging. The other cities in Monterey County with PS bans are the coastal communities of Carmel, Pacific Grove, Monterey, Del Ray Oaks, and Seaside. The broad definition in the Salinas law extends the ban to all disposable food service ware, including plates, cups, bowls, trays, cup lids, straws, utensils, hinged or lidded containers, bags, wrappings, and cartons. The ban applies to all establishments that sell or provide prepared food for takeout, including vendors and push carts.
The state Assembly Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote on Aug. 25 on a bill that would phase out PS packaging statewide starting in 2016. The bill, SB 568, has already passed in the state Senate.
Comments: Salinas has joined the growing number of communities in California that have banned the use of polystyrene foam takeout packaging. Salinas is the fourth city in California to enact a PS ban this year. There are now 39 bans on PS takeout packaging in the state —36 by cities and three counties. In addition, Los Angeles and four other counties in California have PS bans at citywide facilities and events. Along the West Coast, there are also bans on PS takeout containers in Seattle and Issaquah, Washington, and Portland, Oregon.
EUROPE
Novamont and Genomatica planJV plant
n another move in the growing market for bio-based plastics, Genomatic Inc. and Novamont SpA have signed a letter of intent to set up a joint venture. The companies expect the JV will lead to the 2012 opening of a plant in Europe that will make bio-based butanediol (BDO), an intermediate that can be used in polymers like Novamont’s biodegradable plastic, Mater-Bi. The JV will convert an existing industrial plant in Italy into a 40 million pound-per-year (18 KTA) BDO plant. The facility will use San Diego-based Genomatic’s production process. Novara, Italy will provide capital for the project and will commit to buying the plant’s output.
Comments: Genomatica is a 2011 winner of the U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award and expects the first commercial BDO plant that utilizes its processes to begin high-volume production by the end of 2012.
Genomatica has recently announced arrangements with Tate & Lyle, Mitsubishi Chemical, Novamont, Gruppo M&G, and Waste Management. Novamont SpA, a joint investment of Intesa Sanpaolo and Investitori Associati, is a leader in the production of bioplastics containing renewable raw materials of agricultural origin. The scale-up of Genomatica’s BDO process will support the growth of Mater-Bi Bioplastics in line with Novamont’s strategy of integrated biorefineries. Novamont is a leader in a rapidly growing segment (bioplastics) of the BDO market and will be able to support Genomatica in its commercialization efforts.
Reorganization at Total to lead to a merger of refining and petrochemicals
Total is preparing a reorganization to merge its refinery and petrochemical activities. The reorganization, to be announced during the autumn, will lead to making the distribution of petrol independent from refineries and will lead to cost savings.
Comments: The purpose is to cut costs. In 2010, Chevron consolidated its refining and chemical divisions and achieved significant savings –a growing trend.
In the past, petrochemicals were separated from oil/refinery activities because of the dissimilarity of production, distribution, and marketing. The news item never mentioned petrochemicals. It only mentions petroleum products.
Start-up of PET MTR® plant at Alco-Naphtha JSC in Kaliningrad
Uhde Inventa-Fischer and Alco-Naphtha JSC started up the first state-of-the-art, energy-efficient MTR® plant for the production of high-quality PET to be built on European soil, in the spring of 2011. The production plant is located at Alco-Naphtha JSC’s site in Kaliningrad, and with an annual capacity of 240 KTA, is the biggest single-train PET plant in Europe. Uhde Inventa-Fischer’s MTR® technology enables Alco-Naphtha to produce a high-quality PET resin, which has found wide acceptance in the start-up company’s target markets. The MTR® process used at the plant replaces the cost-intensive solid-state post-condensation (SSP) process. At the same time, feedstock consumption is considerably reduced without affecting the high product quality.
Comments: The PET MTR technology is a 2-reactor cost-effective and low-carbon footprint technology versus the conventional PET process. It is a melt phase polymerization at 260 to 285°C polymerization process to achieve an MW with a high viscosity of 0.86. The conventional process will require a time-consuming and energy-intensive solid-state polymerization to increase the MW. Kaliningrad is part of Russia after World War II but it is separated from the rest of Russia. It is strategically important as it is Russia’s only ice-free seaport in the Baltic Sea.
MIDDLE EAST/ AFRICA
India and Saudi Arabia to resume talks on PP anti-dumping levies
Saudi Arabia and India plan to resume talks in September 2011 to discuss lifting an anti-dumping levy imposed on the kingdom’s polypropylene (PP) exports. Failure to reach an agreement in previously held bilateral negotiations has attached increased importance to the next round of talks. India decided on anti-dumping duties on PP imports from Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Singapore. A notification by India’s Ministry of Finance, and Department of Revenue stated that the duty tariff will be levied for five years from the start of the provisional anti-dumping duty imposed by the government on 30 July 2009.
Comments: India’s polypropylene needs are currently estimated at 1,500 KTA, only a fraction of which is currently met by the Persian Gulf-based producers. Last year, India (along with China) imposed tariffs on polypropylene imported from Saudi Arabia and Oman. The tariff was imposed by the Indian government claiming PP producers from these two regions dumped unfairly subsidized, cut-price products in the Indian market.
The EU, China, and India have raised tariffs on petrochemicals imports, in some cases by as much as 400 percent as a protectionist measure to support their domestic industries. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations export 50 percent of their output to Asia and 10 percent to Europe. The petrochemical industries based in the Gulf exported more than 20, 000 KT of their products in 2009.
ASIA-PACIFIC
Dow Chemical licenses technology to China Coalfor two PP Plants
Dow has announced an agreement to license its Unipol polypropylene (PP) process technology to China National Coal Group, to be used in the latter’s coal-to-olefins technology plants. China Coal will use the technology in two new plants, which will be built in Yulin, Shaanxi province. One unit will be designed to produce 300KTA and the other 450KTA of PP, under the terms of the deal. The plants will produce homopolymers, random copolymers, and impact copolymers. The 300KTAplant will startup in 2013, followed in 2015 by the 450KTA unit. Both units will use Dow catalysts. Dow has recently announced the sale of its PP business to Braskem but the divestment excludes the Unipol licensing and catalysts business.
Comments: Unipol process represents the best choice in three major situations: (1) developing economy, (2) fixed/limited grade slate, (3) continuous operation with the least changes. The China region meets all of these requirements.
Rexam invests in its Indian plastics business
DuPont opens ASEAN innovation center
Comments: This is the first DuPont Innovation Center in the ASEAN region. There is a sizable photovoltaic R&D Center in Shanghai, China. Around the globe, DuPont has 75 R&D Centers and customer service labs with USD 1.7 billion in R&D spending in 2010 -this amounts to a high percentage of 4.4% of its revenue. DuPont believes in basic research which has been the guiding spirit and the strength of the company since its inception in 1802. The reputable Central R&D in Experimental Stations and North Delaware has about 1,000 people. Thailand, because of (1) its location (in between China and the U.S.), (2) the availability of an educated labor force, and (3) the government’s local industry support. They join the major innovator in the country, PTT and SCG.
JX Nippon and SK Global Chemical to form petrochemicals JV
JX Nippon Oil & Energy and SK Global Chemical, the petrochemical business of SK Innovation (formerly SK Energy), plan to establish a petrochemicals joint venture in Ulsan, Korea. The planned 50-50 JV will mainly produce para-xylene and will involve an investment of about ¥ 90 billion (USD 1.14 billion). The 1,000 KTA facility will be online in 2014.
Comments: p-Xylene is produced by catalytic reforming of naphtha(a petroleum derivative) and separated in a series of distillation, adsorption, or crystallization, and reaction processes from m-xylene, o-xylene, and ethylbenzene. Its melting point is the highest among this series of isomers, but simple crystallization does not allow easy purification due to the formation of eutectic mixtures. The major use of para-xylene is to make terephthalic acid which can subsequently react with ethylene glycol to make polyester, a major engineering plastic with wide applications in textiles, bottles, and films.
Uzbek-Korean JV signs contract to build gas-chemicals Complex in Uzbekistan
A consortium of Korean engineering companies that includes Samsung Engineering, GS Engineering, and Hyundai Engineering have signed contracts worth USD 2.1 billion with Uzkor Gas Chemical, an Uzbek-Korean joint venture, to build a previously announced gas-chemicals complex in Uzbekistan. The project involves the development of the Surgil gas field and the construction of the Ustyurt gas-chemical complex, south of the Aral Sea. The gas field is being developed by Uzbekneftegaz company and may contain 120 billion cu meters of natural gas.
The complex will include natural gas lifting and separation facilities; an ethane cracker designed to produce 400KTA of ethylene; and downstream units with a capacity for 380 KTA of high-density polyethylene and 80 KTA of polypropylene. The JV will target markets in Russia, the CIS, and western parts of China.
Comments: The Uzbek-Korean joint venture consists of Uzbekneftegaz, Korea Gas Corp., Honam Petrochemical, and STX Energy. Samsung’s contract alone is valued at USD 816.7 million. The polyethylene scheme is part of a major Uzbek government program designed to promote polymers production in the country. Uzbekistan’s PE demand has improved since the second quarter of 2009 and the trend is expected to continue over the next few years.
Uzbekistan, along with Kazakhstan, has plans to leverage its strength in oil and gas resources to develop a world-class petrochemicals industry in Central Asia. The region needs foreign investment to go ahead with this establishment. The PE and other products from the petrochemical complex are intended to be sold not only in Uzbekistan but also target export markets. In 2010, the Uzbek government signed a bilateral agreement with South Korea resulting in a joint project to construct a polyolefins complex there.
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