Petrochemicals CarbonFiber Polyamide 29-09-2020 - Arhive
Petrochemicals CarbonFiber Polyamide
Crude Oil Prices Trend
-Total to convert Grandpuits refinery into platform for biofuels
French oil major Total has announced that it is investing more than €500m ($583m) to convert its Grandpuits refinery in France into a zero-crude platform for biofuels and bioplastics.
The oil major noted that crude oil refining at Grandpuits would be discontinued in the first quarter (Q1) of next year and the storage of petroleum products would end by 2023.
Out of the 400 jobs at Grandpuits and its associated Gargenville depot, 250 will be maintained after the conversion.
An additional 15 jobs will be created at Grandpuits in a packaging unit connected to the bioplastics unit.
Total added that it will carry out this ‘industrial redeployment’ with no layoffs and said there would be no forced redundancies. Instead, the company will encourage early retirement and internal staff moves.
-Europe consumer confidence falters as second wave hits hard
Despite the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asserting this week that investors and consumers’ faltering confidence may be premature given a better-than-expected outlook, the pandemic’s second wave is hitting Europe hard.
The expected economic bounce back in the second half of the year, in turn, is losing steam and the latest indicators are showing rising infections across Europe are already denting the recovery. Petrochemicals CarbonFiber Polyamide
The fears about yet more economic pain to come were reflected this week in European stock markets, which opened on Monday with heavy losses and also closed on Friday in the red.
IMF: LONE OPTIMISTIC WOLF
The IMF this week issued what could be considered an upgrade of sorts, arguing global growth could turn out to be “less dire” than expected in June.
“Upcoming data suggests the outlook may be somewhat less dire than at the time of the WEO [World Economic Outlook, published] on 24 June,” said IMF communications director Gerry Rice, speaking at a press briefing.
-Europe PE flat as US FOB soars, arbitrage opportunities appear
European polyethylene (PE) prices are flat, if not slightly down in some cases, but prices on a free-on-board (FOB) basis in the US are soaring, standing sometimes higher than delivered prices in Europe.
US prices have been rising for several months now and sellers are shying away from low-priced Europe to sell to Latin America, where netbacks are better.
Offers of $1,000/tonne FOB US Gulf were heard for C4 (butene based) linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), a number that would mean delivered prices, duties included, in Europe of €950/tonne. Petrochemicals CarbonFiber Polyamide
Current levels are easily €100/tonne below this.
The situation is particularly valid for C4 LLDPE, as most of it used in Europe is imported.
The Middle East was the number one importer but the US has been gaining ground in the past couple of years as new capacities have come on stream.
-Agilyx sees PS recycling as real ‘game changer’ – CEO
Chemical recycling technology company Agilyx sees polystyrene (PS) recycling as a true game changer, changing the perception of the plastic from a circularity standpoint and making the recycled product economically viable.
“This can really be a game changer to PS. One of the reasons why there’s been so much pressure on it is because it’s been seen as an unrecyclable polymer. But the reality is that is completely wrong. It’s one of the most recyclable polymers because you can take this direct polymer-to-monomer pathway and then back to plastic again,” said Tim Stedman, CEO of Agilyx, in an interview with ICIS. Petrochemicals CarbonFiber Polyamide
“You can take contaminated dirty low-grade PS and through our process upgrade it to food-grade PS. This is not recycling – it’s upcycling. So it has the potential to be incredibly powerful,” he added.
Agilyx is not only focused on PS, but also on turning mixed waste plastics to naphtha or fuel and chemically recycling polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) back to methyl methacrylate (MMA).
-Recycling solutions focus at Dornbirn GFC
Mountains of waste, plastic-infested oceans, negative CO2 footprints – the need for more sustainable ways of living has never been more urgent.
Consequently, it is logical that recycling solutions are becoming increasingly important within the textile industry. This was raised at the recent first virtual Global Fiber Congress in Dornbirn, Austria with a session that focused specifically on the topic.
In front of around 400 participants, Markus Reichwein, Head of Product Management at Oerlikon Barmag, spoke about solutions currently on the market.
Sustainable textile industry
Oerlikon Manmade Fibers offers the entire mechanical recycling chain, from preparing the recycled materials, producing the melt, all the way through to the textured package.
Here, the company utilizes the VacuFil solution supplied by its subsidiary Barmag Brückner Engineering (BBE), which, in addition to mastering bottle-to-bottle and bottle-to-textile processes, is also able to process textile waste into chips.
This permits the running of textile production operations very much in line with the zero-waste philosophy, the company explains. Petrochemicals CarbonFiber Polyamide
-European Union, India step up cooperation in research and innovation on green projects
New Delhi, Sep 25 (PTI) India and the European Union will join forces to step up cooperation in research and innovation on green projects.
In a statement, the European Union said it will join forces with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in the five areas of clean, affordable and secure energy, industry for a clean and circular economy, testing and demonstrating systemic innovations in support of the Farm-to-Fork Strategy, biodiversity and ecosystem services and zero-pollution, toxic-free environment. Petrochemicals CarbonFiber Polyamide
The cooperation will be undertaken under the Horizon 2020 Green Deal Work Programme.
This action is a follow-up to the priorities identified at the EU-India Summit held on July 15, 2020, to boost cooperation in transforming our economies into carbon-neutral economies, the statement said.
-Forest Essentials partners with Reliance Industries Limited to recycle plastic waste packaging
Cognizant of the need for effective solutions to reduce plastic waste in the context of growing environmental challenges, Forest Essentials has been strengthening its policies towards eco-friendly packaging and organized recycling by partnering with Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). Petrochemicals CarbonFiber Polyamide
As one of the global leaders in the pet manufacturing space, RIL will undertake recycling of waste plastic packaging for Forest Essentials products and convert the plastic into high-quality eco-friendly materials.
Borealis, Borouge and ITOCHU jointly announced today that they have the strategic intent to jointly evaluate how to enable uptake of renewable polypropylene (PP) in the Japanese market. Petrochemicals CarbonFiber Polyamide
The developments of climate change are attracting attention in Japan and overseas, and countermeasures are urgently required. Under these circumstances, Japan has formulated a basic plan to introduce approximately two million tons of renewable plastic products by 2030. There is a need to shift to renewable plastics, which feature enhanced environmental considerations without compromising the superiority of plastics.
Polypropylene is a principal raw material characterised by its high strength and high heat resistance. It is used extensively, including in food containers, daily commodities and automotive parts. Meanwhile, it has been considered difficult to commercialise polypropylene production from renewable materials due to the many technical difficulties in the production.
-Celanese raises September LDPE prices in China
Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, and a global leader in vinyl acetate ethylene (EVA) emulsions, has announced an increase in its September low density polyethylene (LDPE) prices in China, as per the company’s press release. Petrochemicals CarbonFiber Polyamide
Thus, the company’s LDPE prices rose by CNY700/mt for China, effective September 15, 2020, or as contracts otherwise allow.
The price increases above are for orders shipped on or after September 15, or as contracts otherwise allow, and are incremental to any previously announced rises.
As MRC reported earlier, Celanese has also raised its September prices of ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA) by the sam amount.
-EU Chemicals exports hurt by emerging market collapse
This guest blog from Nigel Davis, Insights Editor at ICIS examines the impact that an economic collapse in emerging markets such as Vietnam and Sub-saharan Africa may have on the chemicals sector in Europe, tying it into the continuing presence of the pandemic and its continued effect on market stagnation across the globe.
EU chemicals trade has shrunk this year, as the coronavirus pandemic has spread and lockdowns have restricted industrial activity and consumer goods demand.
Trade is vitally important for the sector which has enjoyed a strong trade balance over the years. Chemicals has benefited hugely from globalisation and from broad-based tariff reductions. Petrochemicals CarbonFiber Polyamide
Petrochemicals CarbonFiber Polyamide