My Turn – Dr. Balaji B. Singh
THREE TOP REASONS FOR YOU TO ATTEND FLEXPO – OCT 17-19 in Bangkok
Number 3 – First opportunity to meet major suppliers, Government, and downstream processors in Thailand- the Gateway to China;
Number 2 – Come and Meet your future customers – the downstream converting industry in Thailand, and ASEAN Countries;
Number 1 – Bangkok – Hospitality, Food, Tourism; The Future Growth and an Opportunity to meet future growth region.
For more information visit www.CMRHouTex.com
FlexPO2007 on October 17-19th, 2007 and Polyolefins; Downstream Processing Workshop- October 16th Bangkok, Thailand
CMR is pleased to announce that we will be hosting a conference & polyolefins and downstream processing workshop in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference will be held from October 17-19 at Shangri La Hotel and the workshop will be held on 16th October. Please plan on attending.
Comments: Please find enclosed the brochure for FlexPO2007 & Workshop. For more information, please call us at 281-557-3320.
Shenhua Baotou Coal Chemical Co., Ltd selects Univation’s UNIPOL™ PE process for a 300 KT polyethylene plant
Shenhua Group Corporation Limited has selected Univation’s UNIPOL™ PE process for a 300 KT per-year polyethylene plant. The new facility is part of a project using “clean coal” technologies that converts coal to methanol to produce ethylene and propylene, the building blocks to make various plastics and chemical products.
The new facility, scheduled for start-up in 2010, will be capable of producing a full range of linear low and high-density polyethylenes. Proven capability, adaptability, and reliability of the UNIPOL PE process to manufacture a broad range of polyethylenes were key considerations in the selection. The facility will be located in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China.
Comments: The Unipol process was developed by Union Carbide during the late 1960s and early 1970s to enable the production of HDPE and LLDPE in a low-pressure, fluidized bed reactor significantly cheaper to build and operate than conventional high-pressure or solution processes. Unipol was first applied to HDPE production in 1968 and to LLDPE production in 1975. Unipol PE has been very successful in North America, the Middle East, and Europe for HDPE and North America, Europe, and Asia for LLDPE.
This project is based on coal, an alternative to crude oil/natural gas. Due to increasing oil prices, China has been focusing on alternative feedstock such as coal. Coal is converted to methanol which is then converted to ethylene and propylene.
Please read our bi-weekly newsletter on Alternative Feedstock for more information.
Dow and Crystalsev plan to produce polyethylene from sugar cane in Brazil
Dow Chemical and Crystalsev, one of Brazil’s largest ethanol players have announced plans for a world-scale facility to manufacture polyethylene from sugar cane. Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding agreed by the two companies, Dow and Crystals will form a joint venture in Brazil to design and build the first integrated facility of its scale in the world. It is expected to start production in 2011 and will have a capacity of 350,000 metric tons. The venture will combine Dow’s leading position in polyethylene with Crystalsev’s know-how and experience in ethanol to meet the needs of Dow’s customers in Brazil and what will likely be international interest.
The new facility will use ethanol derived from sugar cane, to produce ethylene – the raw material required to make polyethylene. It is estimated that the new process will produce significantly less CO2 compared to the traditional polyethylene manufacturing process.
The companies have already begun conducting a feasibility study to assess various aspects of the project, including engineering design, location, infrastructure needs, supply chain logistics, energy, and economics. The study, which is expected to take one year, will also look at the possibility of receiving approval for the project and the process as a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM was developed by the United Nations to help companies manage their carbon credits from emerging market projects.
The areas being considered as potential sites for the new facility are currently being used for low-density cattle grazing and are not near any rainforests. The new facility will use Dow’s proprietary Solution technology to manufacture DOWLEXT polyethylene resins. At a molecular level, the joint venture’s product will be identical to the DOWLEXT polyethylene resins manufactured at other Dow facilities. The advantage of this material versus most renewable resource-based plastics is that customers will be using a drop-in replacement made with a renewable resource, not a different polymer altogether. Also, like the traditional PE product, the sugarcane-based polyethylene would be fully recyclable using existing infrastructure.
Comments: This appears to be the new trend in the ethanol industry. Earlier Braskem had made announcements regarding producing HDPE from ethanol. Now, Dow is also planning to produce PE from ethanol. The technology to produce ethylene from ethanol is not new, but the technology was never competitive on a cost basis. It seems the combination of high Crude Oil/Natural Gas prices and increasing production of ethanol has made this route competitive. There is no economic data available yet to make a comparison between the two routes. Chemical Market Resources, Inc. will conduct a more detailed economic analysis to determine the viability of polyethylene from ethanol.
Basell to buy Shell’s oil refinery & petrochemical plants in France
Basell and Société de Pétroles Shell SAS announced that Basell will buy the Shell oil refinery and associated infrastructure and businesses at the Berre l’Etang petrochemical complex in France. Subject to staff council consultation, review, approval from regulatory authorities, and agreement on the sale and purchase documents, the transaction is expected to close in early 2008. A purchase price of $700 million has been agreed upon.
With world-scale polypropylene and polyethylene plants, a steam cracker and butadiene extraction unit at the same site, and a polyethylene plant at nearby Fos sur Mer, Basell is currently the largest customer of the Shell refinery. The refinery’s products include naphtha, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), fuels for a variety of applications, bitumen, and heating oil.
In 2006, to strengthen its ethylene and propylene integration, Basell acquired the remaining 50% interest in the steam cracker at the same petrochemical complex at Berre from Shell, its former partner in the cracker joint venture. If the refinery transaction is completed the approximately 1,500 Shell employees at the site will transfer to Basell (of this 1,500, about 500 already work for Basell’s site activities).
Comments: Basell continues to integrate via acquisitions. Recently Basell acquired Lyondell; which will help the company integrate into propylene in the United States. Basell is currently the largest customer of the Shell refinery, on account of its world-scale polypropylene and polyethylene plants, a steam cracker and butadiene extraction unit at the same site, and a polyethylene plant at nearby Fos sur Mer. This acquisition will further strengthen Basell’s position in Western Europe.
This sale further strengthens Shell’s resolve to be a level supplier of petrochemicals – the famous Cracker Plus 2 concept. Shell is well positioned to focus on future technologies including bio, coal, and natural gas, and move a step closer to energy solutions with more resolve.
ExxonMobil Chemical starts butyl rubber production using a proprietary breakthrough technology
ExxonMobil Chemical announced that it has begun commercial production of butyl rubber at its Notre Dame de Gravenchon (NDG) plant in France using a new proprietary breakthrough process technology that it pioneered.
The new technology significantly increases butyl rubber production capacity from its existing plants and improves energy efficiencies as it enables the butyl rubber polymerization process to run at more efficient temperatures.
The new process technology is the product of a multi-million dollar, multi-year program that utilizes ExxonMobil’s strengths in research and development as well as in manufacturing. The breakthrough provides ExxonMobil with unique advantages in manufacturing and further enhances its position as an innovator in butyl rubber manufacturing technology.
ExxonMobil Chemical decided to commercialize the technology after it passed stringent tests and trials over a period of approximately two years at the NDG plant. Stable, efficient plant operations, significantly higher production capability with existing reactors and refrigeration compressors, and equivalent product properties and performance were among the key success criteria evaluated before the commercialization of the technology.
Based on its commercialization success at the NDG plant, the new technology will enable ExxonMobil Chemical to increase production at all of its manufacturing sites, equivalent to a world-scale plant.
Comments: Butyl rubber has always been an exceptional technology among all elastomers because of two aspects: (1) cationic polymerization and (2) cryogenic conditions. Because of the complexities of butyl rubber production ExxonMobil remains one of the leaders in this technology and market.
Exxon took decades to develop the process – according to some – more an art than technology – to produce consistent product quality.
Noveon to increase capacity at its TPU plant in China
Noveon is planning to expand capacity at its Estane TPU manufacturing facility in the Song Jiang Industrial Zone near Shanghai in China. The company did not specify in its announcement the increased tonnage following the expansion at the plant, which has been in operation for two years.
Lubrizol Corporation acquired Noveon and its Estane Engineered Polymers business in 2004. It said the business offers one of the largest TPU portfolios in the world, with resins used in industrial, automotive, textile, and medical applications.
According to the company, the expanded capacity will be used to serve existing customers and extend the convenience of local production beyond its current customer base. This investment is in addition to a decision, announced in February this year, to build a specialty chemicals facility adjacent to the TPU site in Song Jiang. Construction is starting in this quarter and is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Comments: Noveon a subsidiary of Lubrizol corporation introduced its TPU compound close to 50 years ago, the company started production of its Estane grade in 1962 and in 2003 Noveon started producing high-end grades that would include aliphatic TPU for medical and industrial applications. TPU’s main advantage is its abrasion resistance, a property that is utilized for many applications. The other advantage it has is its low-temperature flexibility, oil resistance, and high load-bearing capability. The most common applications for TPU include (1) automotive, (2) film, (3) mechanical goods, (4) medical, (5) wire & cable, (6) hoses & tubes, (7) footwear, (8) wheels & casters, (9) coatings, (10) adhesives, and others.
China has seen rapid growth in TPU consumption in recent years and has one of the highest growth rates in the world. The Global demand for TPU in 2006 was 360 KT per year with Asia including China consuming just over 50% of the total demand. In these regions, the demand for TPU has been increasing at close to 10% in response to an increase in automotive, footwear, and adhesive applications. The largest markets globally for TPU are footwear and automotive. Noveon’s move to expand production capacity will allow it to meet the growing demand the region has for TPU.
Solvin to add PVC capacity at the Belgian plant
SolVin, the European vinyl joint venture of Solvay and BASF, announced its plan to expand the capacity of its plant in Jemeppe (Belgium), as part of a strategy to derive sustainable and profitable growth from dynamic global vinyl markets. Pending relevant regulatory clearance, the annual capacity in Jemeppe will be lifted to 475,000 metric tons of fully integrated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) by 2009, up from 400.000 metric tons. SolVin has already successfully reorganized its operations in Europe; the closing of its Ludwigshafen plant in 2006 was one of the major steps in this process.
The global vinyl market has grown by more than 6% annually in recent years and is expanding by nearly 15% per annum in Eastern Europe and China. Vinyl is the preferred polymer for several construction, infrastructure, and utilities applications which partially explains its success in the world’s most dynamic economies. In the European Union (EU 27), the market has expanded significantly, with 600,000 tons in additional PVC consumption to date, compared with 2005. This was made possible by the competitiveness of vinyl products in the context of structurally high oil prices.
Comments: SolVin, the European joint venture between Solvay and BASF has been aligning its PVC business to increase competitiveness in the industry and focussing on growth markets which are primarily Asia (excluding Japan) and Eastern Europe. In January 2006, the company closed a PVC facility in Ludwigshafen, Germany due to a lack of economies of scale.
The major producers of PVC in Europe include (1) EVC, (2) Solvin, (3) Vinnolit, (4) Norsk Hydro, (5) Shin-Etsu, (6) Arkema, and others. For more detailed information on PVC markets in Asia and Eastern Europe, please refer to our multiclient study on “Intermaterial Competition of Worldwide Flexible PVC and Polyolefins & Elastomers”. Call 281-557-3320 for more information.
RAG subsidiary Degussa to construct new polymerization and compounding plant in Shanghai
Degussa GmbH, Germany will construct a specialty polyamides polymerization and compounding plant in Shanghai. According to the company, this investment in the single-digit million Euro range will enable Degussa to substantially expand its presence in the attractive Chinese growth market. The plant is scheduled for completion in late January 2008, and deliveries of its products to Asian customers are to start as early as the end of the first quarter of 2008.
While the global market for specialty polyamides is growing at an annual 5 percent, the Chinese market is experiencing somewhat stronger growth rates. The products stemming from the new plant will allow the company to both serve existing markets and open up new niche applications. In the process, the new production facility, which is being built at Degussa’s multi-user site (MUSC) at Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, will enable HP to supply its customers in China and the surrounding region with various specialty polyamides and compounds based on regional raw materials.
MUSC is a site at which the activities of differing Degussa business units are located. Degussa took its first production facility into operation at Shanghai Chemical Industry Park in June 2006 in the form of a polyester and colorant production facility. The world’s largest specialty chemicals company is now planning to erect an integrated facility for the production of methylmethacrylate specialties as well as the respective methylmethacrylate precursors at MUSC by 2009.
High-Performance Polymers (HP) focuses on the production of customized products, systems, and semi-finished based on high-performance polymers. It currently employs over 1,000 people in Marl, Darmstadt, and Witten (all in Germany), Lenzing (Austria), Magnolia (USA), Aboshi (Japan), and Changchun (China), and has access to a worldwide sales and marketing network centered on Marl, Shanghai, and Parsippany. In 2006 HP generated sales of 426 million euros.
Comments: It seems that Degussa is making a serious commitment like other major chemical companies – taking a large step forward in their Asia Pacific strategy. This huge investment will enable Degussa to substantially expand its presence in the attractive Chinese growth market which is experiencing somewhat stronger growth rates than the rest of the world. Also, this is not new to Degussa as it has already established other business units at the same location – Shanghai Chemical Industry Park. The new polymerization and compounding plant will be the location’s fourth altogether, making it one of Degussa’s most important production sites in Asia. Overall, this is good for both Degussa and the local economy to be competitive.
Milliken introduces new nucleating & clarifying agents for polyolefins
Additive producer Milliken Chemical will launch a new Hyperform HPN-20E grade nucleating agent that the company says “will make cost.-effective property modification of PE a first-time reality for converters, resin, and masterbatch producers”.
According to Milliken, the new agent can optimize similar properties (productivity, quality, thermal expansion coefficient, and mechanical) to the existing Hyperform product range. Another product introduced by Milliken will be a new Millad clarifying agent grade NX8000 for use in polypropylene. Here a breakthrough level of haze reduction is claimed to have been achieved with NX8000 compared with existing clarifiers, together with other benefits such as good thermal properties, impact resistance, and cost-effectiveness.
The company maintains that the enhanced performance of NX8000 will expand the potential of further substitution of inherently clear plastics and glass with PP, opening up “previously unexplored product areas”.
Comments:Comments: Milliken is one of the market leaders in nucleating and clarifying agents. Nucleators and clarifiers (a sub-class of nucleators) jump-start the crystallization process as the resin cools. PP normally forms crystals larger than the wavelength of light. Nucleators and clarifiers induce the formation of smaller spherulites that scatter less light. The global market for nucleators and clarifiers is about $135 million. Major types of nucleators/clarifiers are sorbitols, organophosphates, sodium benzoate, carboxylic acid salts, and others with sorbitols dominating the market. Other major producers of these products include Asahi, Ampacet, Amfine, Ciba, Mitsui, and others.
Greif starts the IBC manufacturing plant in Kazan, Russia
Greif, Inc. opened its eighth industrial packaging plant in Russia. Located in Kazan, the new plant currently produces intermediate bulk containers (IBCs). By the end of 2008, the plant will also produce plastic canisters and large steel drums, and employ nearly 100 people.
Greif is a world leader in industrial packaging products and services. The Company produces steel, plastic, fiber, corrugated and multiwall containers, protective packaging, and containerboard, and provides blending and packaging services for a wide range of industries. Greif also manages timber properties in North America. The Company is strategically positioned in 45 countries to serve global as well as regional customers.
Comments: Greif manufactures and sells industrial packaging products, containerboards, and corrugated items. The firm’s manufacturing facilities are spread across 40 countries and cater to such diverse industries as chemicals, agriculture, and minerals. The Industrial Packaging and Services segment offers packaging products, including steel, fiber, and plastic. The Paper, Packaging, and Services wing makes corrugated sheets and containers. The corrugated containers are used to ship building materials, furniture, home appliances, and automotive components.
Industrial packaging is one of the important segments for Greif accounting for a major portion of the company’s revenues. The company is investing in high-growth regions such as China and Russia.
Intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) are the fastest-growing industrial containers with growth rates in double digits and are stealing a considerable amount of market shares from other containers.
Dow and Solvay formed a joint venture to build a hydrogen peroxide plant in Thailand
Dow Chemical and Solvay S.A. announced an agreement to create a joint venture for the construction of a hydrogen peroxide (HP) plant in Thailand. Scheduled to be operational in 2010, the new HP plant will serve as a raw material source for the manufacture of propylene oxide (PO). The HP plant will be the largest in the world, with a capacity of over 330 kilotons per annum (KTA) of hydrogen peroxide at 100% concentration. The hydrogen peroxide supplying the process is based on Solvay’s proprietary, high-yield hydrogen peroxide technology.
In addition, Dow and BASF Aktiengesellschaft are advancing negotiations for the construction of a world-scale, 390 KTA propylene oxide (PO) manufacturing facility in Map Ta Phut, Thailand. The new plant would use the innovative hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) technology jointly developed by Dow and BASF. The Dow and BASF Thailand facility would be the second world-scale plant to use HPPO technology. The first, a 300 KTA Dow and BASF HPPO plant, also supplied by an HP plant based on Solvay’s high-yield technology, is currently under construction in Antwerp, Belgium, and is scheduled for start-up in early 2008. Propylene oxide is used to produce propylene glycol, polyurethanes, and glycol ethers.
Propylene for the proposed HPPO facility in Thailand would be supplied from the liquids cracker that Dow announced it was building jointly with The Siam Cement Group (SCG) in Thailand in October of 2006. The liquids cracker facility is expected to be fully operational in 2010.
Comments: Propylene oxide producers have been researching on developing new routes to producing propylene oxide over the last few years. The most common route to PO produces styrene monomer as a by-product.
BASF & Dow formed an alliance in 2003 and now based on their research; they are in a position to commercialize the new technology for the production of propylene oxide without any by-products. The first plant using HPPO technology is being constructed in Antwerp, Belgium, and the second one is in Thailand.
Ashland / Cargill license technology from Davy Process for planned JV to produce propylene glycol from glycerin
Ashland Inc. and Cargill announced they have entered into a technology licensing agreement with Davy Process Technology Ltd., a Johnson Matthey Company, on behalf of the joint venture the companies intend to form. The basis of the agreement is a highly efficient vapor-phase hydrogenation technology for use in converting glycerin to propylene glycol (PG).
According to Ashland, the conversion process planned for the joint venture combines the hydrogenation technology licensed from Davy with other technologies proprietary to the JV. The company said that in laboratory testing, the process has produced higher yields and fewer by-products and the process produces a high-purity propylene glycol that can be used in virtually any application using PG.
In May 2007, Ashland and Cargill announced the intent to create a 50/50 joint venture to develop and produce a range of chemical products from renewable resources. The stand-alone entity’s initial focus will be global manufacturing and marketing of biobased PG, starting with a 65,000-metric-ton-per-year plant at a yet-to-be-finalized location in Europe.
Comments: Traditionally propylene glycol is manufactured from propylene oxide. Propylene is used as a feedstock for the manufacture of PO. The manufacture of PG from glycerin will help ease propylene supply (not significantly) and also will be a high-value-added outlet for glycerin. With an increase in the manufacture of biodiesel, there is an oversupply of glycerin – a by-product of the process.
There have been a lot of developments in the PO-PG area. BASF and Dow are investing in direct oxidation routes to manufacture propylene oxide, eliminating the by-products.
Contact us at ADI Chemical Market Resources to learn how we can help.