Petrochemicals rPETRecycling News 23-03-2021 - Arhive
Petrochemicals rPETRecycling News
Crude Oil Prices Trend
-Firmer international demand to lift China’s TiO2 prices
Renewed demand from international consumers and higher concentrate feedstock costs may bolster Chinese titanium dioxide prices in the coming days, according to market participants.
Argus last assessed the range for 98pc anatase grade dioxide at 15,500-15,800 yuan/t ($2,382-2,428/t) ex-works and Yn18,500-19,500/t ex-works for 93pc rutile grade dioxide on 18 March, the highest level since 16 October 2018 when Argus launched this assessment.
Export prices rose to $2,900-3,000/t fob on 16 March, the highest level since 16 October 2018, from $2,850-2,950/t fob on 11 March driven by the rise in domestic prices and firmer demand from international buyers
China’s dioxide exports rose by 27,000t or 15.5pc from January-February 2020 to 201,100t in January-February 2021, according to customs data.
-Fresh Milk in Clear PET with 20% PCR
Use of clear PET bottles for fresh milk is a growing trend, and Amcor offers up to 100% PCR content, as well as a UV barrier additive that doesn’t affect clarity.
A first in the Argentine dairy market is a 1-liter clear PET bottle for fresh milk that contains 20% post-consumer recycle (PCR). Amcor makes the custom bottle for leading dairy firm Mastellone Knos of Benos Aires. Petrochemicals rPETRecycling News
According to Amcor, use of clear PET bottles is a growing trend among Latin American dairies to showcase freshness and premium quality.
These bottles are designed to drive consumers from aseptic packages to the chilled section of the grocery story. In October 2019, Mastellone launched shelf-stable, ultra-high-temperature (UHT) milk in aseptic, white-colored bottles, also from Amcor.
-Ascend expects strong PA demand recovery to persist for months
Ascend Performance Material is seeing unprecedented robust demand recovery of its polyamide (PA) products and expects this to last for months, its CEO Phil McDivitt said in an interview with ICIS. Petrochemicals rPETRecycling News
“Demand is extremely strong right now and we expect that is going to continue over the next few months. Customers throughout the entire value chain are restarting businesses on the back of strong global growth, led by China, “said McDivitt.
He commented that the demand plunge in last summer was not like anything he saw in his 34 years’ experience in the industry. However, “what we see now is a little bit reversal of that.”
Currently, low inventory and tight supply are the situation for not only PA, but also many other polymers, resins and materials, according to McDivitt.
He particularly noted the extremely low auto inventory in US, Europe and Asia. Auto is a key market for PA 66 and globally 60% of demand goes directly or indirectly to the auto sector.
As customers’ desire is exceeding what Ascend can produce, McDivitt sees challenges in quickening supply.
For PA 66, capacity limit is constraining demand and many companies are building more capacities, commented Kevin Wu, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Ascend Asia Pacific.
-Chinese target for carbon neutrality by 2060 can complement energy security and economic goals
China’s march towards carbon neutrality by 2060 can complement both energy security and economic goals, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to Wood Mackenzie’s latest report. Petrochemicals rPETRecycling News
Faced with a fractured global trading system, China’s leadership has responded with ‘dual circulation’, an economic manifesto focusing on more secure supply chains, growing the domestic market, and improving export competitiveness.
At the same time, pressured by global climate change movement and escalating domestic pollution woes, the country announced its carbon neutrality goal by 2060 in September last year.
Wood Mackenzie research director Miaoru Huang said: “When President Xi Jinping announced the country’s carbon neutrality goal, he was not simply saying that China would adjust its energy mix to reduce emissions. He was giving notice of the complete transformation of its economy and how it produces, transports, and consumes energy.
-Upcycling is on the rise, but now it’s time to diversify products
Seo Ji-hye, a 42-year-old mother of two girls living in Seoul, calls herself an ethical shopper. Whenever she has to make a purchase, the first thing she takes into consideration is whether it is an environmentally sustainable product that can be reused or upcycled. Petrochemicals rPETRecycling News
Her bag, as well as her two daughters’ school bags are made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, more commonly known as transparent plastic bottles. Her wallet is made from upcycled milk cartons. Most of the cups in her cupboard are made of upcycled glass, the green ones were once Perrier bottles and the brown ones were beer bottles, while most of her furniture are made of abandoned boat wood. Upcycled clothes are the easiest to get, according to Seo, who says that she’s “even getting spoiled for choice, with more and more companies with good environmental, social and governance — or ESG — jumping on the bandwagon.”
“You may think, ‘what a fuss,’ but it’s actually quite fun discovering new upcycling brands that are quite trendy as well,” said Seo. “I used to live in the United States and I hardly recycled. I threw everything out together in a plastic garbage bag because everyone was doing it. I was aware that I was polluting the environment, but I just thought nothing much can change even if I make an effort because no one else is doing it either.”
-Plastic prices hit record high to stoke inflation concerns
Even before the freeze, the industry was struggling to rebound from back-to-back hurricanes last year, meaning the supply shortfalls will have knock-on effects both domestically and around the world, not least in a housebuilding sector already under pressure from skyrocketing lumber prices. Petrochemicals rPETRecycling News
For anyone looking for examples of inflation these days, raw materials are a good place to start. Copper, steel — even lumber — are either near or at record highs. And so too are plastics, which are often overlooked but are on a tear right now.
Although they’re the building blocks of thousands of everyday products, plastics and their chemical ingredients don’t trade on major commodity exchanges, and large price moves are largely invisible to the wider world. Yet polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, is in the midst of a dramatic rally, driven by a combination of rebounding global consumer demand and production outages from last month’s Texas freeze.
More than 60% of U.S. PVC is still offline nearly a month after freezing weather hit Texas and Louisiana and decimated the power grid, according to ICIS, a data provider. U.S. export prices have nearly doubled to a record high of $1,625 a tonne over the past year. PVC is a major construction material used for pipes, cable insulation, flooring and roofing, and the U.S. has become the world’s biggest exporter of the plastic in recent years.
-Downward revise in nylon industry may be prolonged by crude oil slump
Crude oil futures retreat as bond yield spike spooks global markets
On Mar 19 2021, crude oil price saw worst single-day slump with WTI April futures closed $4.60/bbl or 7.12% lower at $60.00/bbl and Brent May futures dropped $4.72/bbl or 6.94% to $63.28/bbl. Following crude oil market, US corn, soy slumped in broad-based commodities saw selloff, as a firm US dollar and tumbling energy prices stoked broad selling across commodities markets.
The vaccine rollouts in Europe and the reintroduction of lockdowns in parts of France amplified market fears have been one of the bears dragged energy prices. But more said the drop was anticipated. Petrochemicals rPETRecycling News
The benchmark U.S.10-year Treasury yield jumped 11 basis points to break above 1.75% for the first time since January 2020. European markets pulled back on Friday after a spike in bond yields reignited concerns about stock valuations and prompted a sell-off on Wall Street.
-Europe healthy chemicals spreads, run rates to continue through H1
European chemicals high run rates and margins are here to stay at least through the first half of the year, propping up producers’ earnings, investment bank Credit Suisse said on Friday.
In its quarterly Supply Chain Tracker, chemicals equity analysts at Credit Suisse said however that producers in downstream, more specialty chemicals-focused sectors may face headwinds throughout the year as “pricing versus raw materials” are set to dent their profitability. Petrochemicals rPETRecycling News
Analysts at credit rating agency Moody’s also said on Friday the planned large-scale methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant by Germany’s Roehm in the US Gulf would prop up its earnings as that market is set to recover quickly after the pandemic.
EUROPE CHEMICALS: PARTY NOT OVER YET
European petrochemicals have been posting price highs for months as tightness has become the norm in many markets, caused by unplanned outages, healthy demand as manufacturing in the region performs well, and tightness in other regions reducing imports into Europe.
-Recycled products and development trend in 2021 Yarn Expo Spring
2021 Yarn Expo Spring is taking place during Mar 17 and Mar 19 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). In 2021, the participants in the expo reduce compared with previous years, and as the foreigners are limited to take part in, there are less import and export products. But there is still a sense of fashion and technology. Petrochemicals rPETRecycling News
The live media appears more in end-user market, which really keeps pace with the times. After meeting the customers’ basic demand, the high-end transforms into smart technology, private customization, and spiritual comfort. Generally speaking, it is more meticulous and multi-functional to meet consumers’ needs.
- Market mindset
The inventory in recycled chemical fiber plants is not large overall, and some plants continue to conclude previous orders. Recently, recycled chemical fiber prices go downward, and plants wait for the downstream demand after the prices stabilize. At the exhibition, the producers have expressed some concerns: how will the recycled market go after the capacity expansion of polyester in the future?
After the refining and chemical integration, plants without the accompanying units have less competitiveness, so are the recycled plants. In the recycling sector, conventional recycled plants without cleaning qualifications do have concerns, and other plants turn to focus on:
- High-end
- Differentiation
- Composite fiber
- The feedstock direction, such as 3A-grade white flakes
-China eyes 6G as next tech frontier
China is pushing forward the use of informatization within the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) with 6G technologies being a top priority, as the country boosts development of the digital economy as a new economic driver, government officials and industry experts said on Friday. Petrochemicals rPETRecycling News
China’s innovation capabilities have continued to improve with major growth in 5G usage and coverage, artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other fields
“China will accelerate the research and development of 6G technologies, the construction of the large-scale 5G network, as well as the large-scale application of Internet Protocol version 6－the latest worldwide modality aimed at making the internet bigger, faster and more secure,” Yang Xiaowei, deputy head of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said at a news briefing in Beijing.
“More efforts will also be made to fully release the vitality of data through speeding up the building of systems and standards to accommodate data flow, cross-border data transmission and data security protection. The digital economy can truly play its critical role nationwide,” Yang said.
The digital economy is a key focus in the 14th Five-Year Plan, and China aims to increase the share of the output of core industries in the digital economy in the country’s GDP to 10 percent by 2025.
Petrochemicals rPETRecycling News