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Polymers Polyethylene Petrochemicals Prices
Crude Oil Prices Trend
On the news, today, INVISTA and Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) signed a memorandum of cooperation to start the design of a 400,000-ton adiponitrile (ADN) production base, with an estimated investment of more than 1 billion US dollars (7 billion yuan), plans Construction began in 2020 and production started in 2023.
It is reported that this is the first adiponitrile plant in China and the largest investment project in the history of INVISTA.
INVISTA is one of the world’s largest integrated producers of chemical intermediates, polymers and fibers.
Just after the Spring Festival in 2019, the “Dayu” enterprises in the polyester market released a signal of active expansion, which caused concern in the chemical fiber industry and capital market.
On February 14th, when many downstream clothing brands and terminal retailers actively created a “romantic Valentine’s Day” atmosphere, when the hot-selling festival was busy, the chemical fiber listed company Tongkun Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Tongkun Shares”) Also “hot” a hand.
Oil prices touched their highest since mid-November on Friday and posted weekly gains for the second week in a row, boosted by hopes that US-China trade talks would soon produce a deal, although new record US oil supply limited gains.
Brent crude futures briefly reached US$67.73 a barrel, their 2019 high. The global benchmark fell 5 cents to settle at US$67.12 a barrel. Brent gained 1.2 per cent on the week.
Marco Mori, Chief Financial Officer. © SSM Schärer Schweiter Mettler SSM Schärer Schweiter Mettler (SSM), Switzerland’s leading supplier of precision winding machines in the fields of dyeing, weaving, and sewing thread preparation, has appointed Marco Mori as Chief Financial Officer. He started as of 1 February 2019 as CFO and member of the management team of the SSM Group.
Mr Mori holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Applied Sciences in Southern Switzerland (SUSPI) and has many years of experience in finance and controlling.
In addition, to strengthen the worldwide team and to achieve complete customer satisfaction, the company has also announced the appointment of Roman Haefeli as Head of Sales. As of 1 January, Roman Haefeli started as Head of Sales and member of the management board of SSM Horgen. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) and many years of experience in research, development, operations and sales.
Polyester and other synthetic fibres like nylon are major contributor to microplastics load in the environment, according to a Penn State materials scientist, who suggests switching to biosynthetic fibres will solve the problem. Unlike natural fibres like wool, cotton and silk, current synthetic fibres are petroleum-based and are mostly not biodegradable.
“These materials, during production, processing and after use, break down into and release microfibers that can now be found in everything and everyone,” said Melik Demirel, Lloyd and Dorothy Foehr Huck Endowed Chair in Biomimetic Materials.
While natural fibres can be recycled and biodegrade, mixed fibres that contain natural and synthetic fibres are difficult or costly to recycle.
The centre has already developed kitchen cutlery, household furniture and decorative items
GUWAHATI: For the first time in India, scientists from IIT-Guwahati have developed biodegradable plastic with the help of homegrown technology.
In a country where rising pollution levels remain a serious areas of concern, the innovation comes as a major shot in the arm for solid waste management.
The biodegradable plastic has been developed by IIT-G’s Centre of Excellence-Sustainable Polymers (CoE-SusPol), which is funded by the department of chemicals and petrochemicals under Union ministry of chemicals and fertilizers.
The centre has already developed kitchen cutlery, household furniture and decorative items including flower pots and toys using this non-biodegradable plastic variant.
“Ours is the only centre in India which is carrying out research on biodegradable plastic. Though the US has been a major producer of biodegradable plastic, the production costs there are very high.
But our team has managed to achieve this with lower costs by using homegrown technology.
This is cutting-edge innovation and a remarkable achievement,” CoE-SusPol coordinator and principal investigator of the project, Vimal Katiyar, told TOI on Saturday.
He added that the biodegradable plastic, which has passed the hot-beverage test, is unique because it has no hazardous chemicals.
Bio-on, an Italian intellectual property company, and Innova Imagen, a company of the Himes Group with operations in the textile sector in Mexico and the United States with particular attention to eco-sustainable innovation, have joined hands to produce 100 per cent natural and biodegradable bioplastic, obtained from agro-industrial residues and by-products.
The two have signed an exclusive agreement to design the realisation of the first plant in Mexico for this purpose.
The agreement grants to Innova Imagen the exclusive right to realise on the field the development of the investment and evaluate the business initiative regarding the use of the Bio-on technologies in Mexico for a period of 18 months. To Bio-on this is an agreement worth half a million euros, the first of its kind in Central-North American region and confirms the success of the business model based on the licensing of one of the most innovative technologies in the sector of biopolymers.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate and international-benchmark Brent crude oil futures are grinding higher at the end of the week as they head toward major upside objectives. If reached, traders will have major decisions to make since these objectives are often viewed as profit targets. Short-sellers are likely to vigorously defend these areas in an effort to form secondary lower tops, while aggressive counter-trend buyers are going to try to drive the market through these areas.
Driving prices higher is OPEC and its ally’s quest for a balanced market. Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Wednesday he hoped the oil market would be balanced by April and that there would be no gap in supplies due to the U.S. sanctions on OPEC members Iran and Venezuela.
The Austrian recycler ‘PET to PET Recycling Österreich GmbH’ recorded a plus of 9 % in the recycling of PET bottles in 2018.
With the growing demand for recycled material, the required capacity of the PET recycling line is increasing as well: Together with manufacturer Starlinger recycling technology, the output has recently been raised by 20 %.
Located in Austria’s east, the recycling company PET to PET has processed about one billion PET bottles or 25,400 tons in 2018 – a plus of 9 % compared to the previous year. The five largest domestic beverage producers (Coca-Cola, Egger, Rauch, Spitz und Vöslauer) jointly operate the site with the aim of recovering recycled material from local sources for reuse in PET bottles.
For these Austrian brand owners, “circular economy” is more than just a buzzword: On average, domestic PET bottles already include 30-50 % of recycled material. Vöslauer even lists a content of roughly 60 % per bottle of mineral water and a planned increase to 100 % within the next years.
The flagship of the company is the 0.5 liter bottle, which is made of 100 % recycled PET while using the same amount of material.
LAHORE: The Punjab Food Authority (PFA) on Sunday issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for plastic bottle industry, ARY News reported.
Only food grade plastic bottle should be used for eatables, while bottle made with used plastic should not be used for eatables.
Used bottle should have written ‘it is not for use of edible items’. These bottles/ containers with the warning could be used for other items though.
The PFA has constituted special operation teams for raids during night time. The PFA director vigilance has been made in-charge of the operation teams.
Oil prices rise on US, China trade deal optimism
Illustrative image – This Dec. 22, 2018, file photo shows a pump jack over an oil well along Interstate 25 near Dacono, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
Shale oil output in the US as well as compliance to Opec+ production cuts will determine the course of oil prices for the rest of 2019, analysts said.
Oil prices rose in the last few days due to US, China trade talks and on optimism that a deal would be reached between the two powerful countries to boost global economy and trade. Brent and West Texas Intermediate rose to a 2019 high of $67.75 per barrel at $57.81 per barrel respectively.
“For 2019, the key driver will be compliance with the Opec+ production cuts agreed to in December 2018.
New Delhi wants to diversify import sources
India is seeking to diversify its oil import sources amid tough U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, two key members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that provides the bulk of its crude needs.
On Monday, state-run Indian Oil Corp., the country’s largest refiner and fuel retailer, announced the signing of an annual contract for the purchase of U.S. crude under which it will import three million tons of oil worth about $1.5 billion in the fiscal year beginning April.
UK polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) buyers have been getting a surprise this week as some sellers have been informing them of changing terms for as early as April, as the official Brexit date looms.
A ship flying the British flag outside the Falkland Islands (source: Global Warming Images/REX/Shutterstock)Several have been informed they will be offered only on a duty unpaid basis, and that buyers may have to see to clearing customs themselves.
“I told them they can’t just change the terms of my contract,” said one buyer. “We have a contract in place.”
A major producer was heard to be offering all sales on a duty unpaid basis from April.
Another buyer said its haulier was not prepared to bring product from the EU into the UK in April.
“I will use somebody else,” said the buyer. “To be honest, I’m not worried. I’ve got April covered.”
“We are considering selling on a DDU [delivered duty unpaid] basis,” said a trader, “but we haven’t settled anything yet.”
High inventories weigh on sentiment in the US PP market
High inventory levels continue to weigh on sentiment in the US polypropylene (PP) market, with participants currently anticipating that contracts might settle lower for a fourth consecutive month.
PP inventories in North America rose 19% between the months of September and December, according to data from the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and Vault Consulting. Inventory levels reached their 2018 high point in December at a level 6.7% above the second highest inventory figure for 2018 recorded in November.
Debottlenecking projects added some capacity to the market over the past year, while operating rates also improved in recent months as some major plant outages from earlier in the year were resolved.
Ample monomer inventories have also encouraged higher PP production and inventory levels. According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), propylene inventories hit a fresh record high on the week ended 15 February.
Contract and supply at zero km: three companies united to create industry 4.0 “made in Alba” (Italian Language Only)
The Sublitex (Miroglio group) has entrusted Bianco and Dromont with the task of creating two mega machines
Sublitex (Miroglio group), Bianco and Dromont are three excellent entrepreneurial companies that are only a few kilometers away in Alba. For Sublitex and Bianco, you should more correctly talk about a few meters. But the horizon of their productions is much wider: the fabrics printed by Sublitex end up 80% abroad and the same goes for the machines of Bianco, while for the dosing systems for the mixing of inks and varnishes designed from Dromont it reaches 95%.
The company, which is the optical sorting division of CP Group, explained that when processing lightweight materials such as flexible plastic packaging or single sheets of paper, controlling the trajectory of those types of materials inside the eject hood is challenging.
Building on years of experience from previous designs, MSS said that the newly patented PrecisionFlow™ eject hood uses a curved design that eliminates back pressure and smoothly guides the materials by using air flows along the outline of the wall.
The ECO melt filters by Ettlinger, part of Maag and Dover, will make it easier to treat recycled material for the film, packaging tape and fiber industry, and help plastics recyclers remove challenging contaminants like paints, silicones, barrier materials, cross-linked fractions and gels from the melt.
In particular, the new filter screens will enable cost-efficient conversion of post-consumer Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottle flake and fines, which generally occur in large amounts, into recycled material with excellent usage properties.
Recycled PET from post-consumer bottle flake is highly sought-after in the industry as a raw material for thermoforming packaging, fibers or packaging tapes. Against the background of increased environmental awareness, such products are also widely accepted – and in considerable demand – among consumers.
The construction of the plant is expected to commence in 2020 with operations likely to begin in the year 2022.
INVISTA, one of the world’s largest producers of polymers, fibers and chemical intermediates, has recently inked a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) to set up adiponitrile (ADN) plant in Shanghai, China.
INVISTA and SCIP sign memorandum of cooperation for China ADN plant
Sources close to the matter claim that the plant, with a capacity of engineering 400,000-ton adiponitrile (ADN), is currently underway and is estimated to require an investment of over $1 billion (7 billion RMB). Moreover, the construction of the plant, with the support of local authorities, is expected to commence in 2020 while operations are expected to begin by 2022, claim sources.
