Petrochemicals Nylon6 Bioplastic 06-09-2021 - Arhive
Petrochemicals Nylon6 Bioplastic
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-China PET bottle chip export situation brief in Jan-Jul 2021
According to the Customs, China PET chip export volume totals 293kt in Jul 2021, y-o-y growing 56%, including 48kt for HS code 39076910, y-o-y up 164%, and 245kt for HS code 39076110, y-o-y rising 44%. China PET chip export volume totals 2.15 million tons in Jan-Jul 2021, including 420kt for HS code 39076910, y-o-y up 110%, and 1.73 million tons for HS code 39076110, y-o-y rising 20%. Combing two HS codes, PET bottle chip trading volume totals 1.92 million tons in Jan-Jul 2021.
In terms of actual delivery, PET bottle chip exports in 2021 is not bad. So why do people have the impression that PET bottle chip export has performed poorly this year? As PET bottle chip price surged crazily in 2018, and exports in 2019 hit historical high of 3.15 million tons, many new comers thus thought this is a norm for PET resin export, hence when Jan-Jul export volume declined 8.5% compared with 2019, market players, it’s natural that some market participants feel disappointed.
-Lower-than-expected nylon filament demand in Aug
NFY transaction in Aug hit year-to-date lowest
August used to be the transitional month from traditional slack to peak season. Actually, downstream has already begun to warm up early in Aug. However, the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Nanjing, Yangzhou, Zhangjiajie and Zhengzhou, etc., and outside China, had put downstream interest down. Facing the uncertain consumption and high cost pressure of the other raw material spandex, weaving and spinning mills held strong risk-prevent attitude, and focused on digesting previous stocks and only restock at need-to basis. Under this circumstance, purchasing volume of nylon 6 textile filament had evidently dropped.
Reasons for the apparently declining procurement of NYF
- Poor order taking in weaving and knitting mills
For weaving and spinning mills, the primary reason for reducing purchases and output in August was that their orders did not gradually increase as they did in the same period in previous years. And in the off-season from June to July, the weaving and spinning mills were producing at a significantly higher rate than the same period in previous years. This was mainly due to the strong growth in end user’s exports in the first half of the year, which injected the market confidence toward the peak season in the second half of the year.
-Aquafil: strong growth results in the first half
The Board of Directors of Aquafil S.p.A. approved the financial results as at 30 June 2021.
• Revenues: Euro 274.7 million, + 23.3% compared to Euro 222.7 million in the first half of 2020
• EBITDA: Euro 39.3 million, + 46.4% compared to Euro 26.9 million in the first half of 2020 and with a margin that goes from 12.1% to 14.3%
• Net Result: Euro 8.9 million compared to the loss of Euro 1.9 million in the first half of 2020
• Net Financial Position: Euro 184.7 million at June 30, 2021, an improvement of 15.6% compared to Euro 218.7 million at December 31, 2020
Comment by dr. Giulio Bonazzi Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
“The first half of 2021 fully confirmed our forecasts both in terms of continuation of the critical issues following the pandemic, but also and above all of satisfaction with the results obtained thanks to the improvement path started already in 2019. Furthermore, the data of the II quarter shows one of the best percentage margins from the 2017 listing onwards and this thanks to the constant improvement of all product lines and above all of the Polymers that are once again central to our development strategy. These results are particularly encouraging for the future because they were achieved despite the exceptional context of the evolution of raw material costs and accessory costs of services, first of all transport. This trend was also confirmed in the months of July and August which continued to show an improvement in demand in the more traditional sectors for Aquafil also in the European and American market in the operational and strategic initiatives and projects to be implemented, we are proud to have officially entered the Japanese market, one of the most advanced from the point of view of attention to sustainability and circularity.
-Waddington Europe agrees rPET supply deal in Ireland
Thermoformer Waddington Europe is to manufacture new food packaging products from rPET after agreeing a supply deal with Northern Ireland-based recycler and reprocesser Shabra.
The food-grade rPET is sourced from bottles, pots, tubs and trays processed at Shabra’s wash plant near Castleblayney in County Monaghan, which has an output of 1.4 tonnes of rPET per hour.
The long-term deal will enable Waddington Europe, a division of Novolex, to expand its line of Eco Blend products made with post-consumer recycled content at its Arklow production site in the Republic of Ireland.
Managing director Eduardo Gomes said he hoped such agreements would advance Waddington Europe’s stake in localised plastics circularity in the Irish market.
-BASF’s Ultradur PBT Replaces Steel in Structural Bracket of Sunroof Headliner
Automotive sunroof frame made with BASF’s Ultradur High Speed is 60% lighter than traditional solutions.
A new automotive panorama roof has been developed by BASF and Spain’s Tier I automotive supplier Grupo Antolin that meet both the increasing demand for panoramic roofs and the need to reduce the weight of all automotive components to minimize CO2 emissions.
The newly developed panorama roof is integrated into the ceiling trim (called the headliner) of the car which is made from the very light BASF’s light polyurethane Elastoflex E 3943/134. The actual sunroof opening in the headliner is supported by a structural bracket. Traditionally this is made of heavy steel. With BASF’s new rheologically modified Ultradur High Speed PBT, a metal replacement solution is now used.
-South Africa leading the African circular plastics industry
Plastic Recycling Analyst at ICIS Carolina Perujo Holland discusses the reasons for South Africa’s circular economy leadership.
Waste management is currently one of the main challenges faced by the African recycled polymer supply chain. Population growth rates are over 2% per year and the consequent increase in consumption of plastic packaging makes this the largest fraction of waste after organic, which brings more urgency to the waste management challenges.
Most of Africa’s population has no access to kerbside collection nor a formal waste collection system and relies heavily on waste pickers in the informal sector for waste collection and sorting. According to industry estimates 90% of waste still ends up in landfill or illegal dumping sites, some even burned in the open.
Thirty-four African governments have implemented or are planning to implement different types of plastic bans, many of these targeting plastic bags, to tackle the rise in plastic waste generation.
-Trinseo reduces September PS prices in Europe
Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe, have announced a price reduction for all polystyrene (PS) grades in Europe, according to the company’s press release as of September 2.
Effective September 1, 2021, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below went down, as follows:
– STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) — by EUR65 per metric ton;
– STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) – by EUR55 per metric ton
-German Ericon non-woven fabric exhibited at Swiss index
Oerlikon Nonwoven will be exhibiting in one of the broadest portfolios on the market at the Index (October 19-22, 2021) in Geneva, Switzerland, the world’s leading non-woven trade fair. Neumünster-based system constructors focus on market-oriented and customer-oriented system solutions for filtration, hygiene, medical, geotextile and other industrial applications. Petrochemicals Nylon6 Bioplastic
Trade fair visitors can dig deeper into the company’s comprehensive product and process know-how at the trade fair stand number. Through 2314 and the Index Online Platform, the company said in a media release.
Thanks to the melt blow technology of Elycon non-woven fabrics, it is easy and efficient to produce unique and highly sophisticated non-woven fabrics for filtration, insulation and sorption applications. The polymers used to make filter media and membranes are as diverse as their applications. The spectrum extends from classical polyolefins (PP, PE), PET, PLA, PBT, PA to specialty plastics such as PPS and TPU. These and all other raw materials can be reliably processed using the Ericon non-woven melt blow procedure.
-Fuel cell automation from Optima
The Optima Group has developed an automated machine process to increase the production capacity of fuel cells.
The new process, which covers the coating, cutting, assembling of the individual layers, and the stacking, is the company’s response to the growing global demand for fuel cells.
“Greater use increases the need to produce fuel cells and drives demand for faster production. At the same time, extensive automation of the manufacturing process is essential to reduce production costs,” the company said.
At the heart of the fuel cell is the membrane electrode assembly, or MEA for short. This is permeated by hydrogen and oxygen, which react with each other within the MEA. This electrochemically generates the electric current required for propulsion of the vehicle.
Petrochemicals Nylon6 Bioplastic