Polymers Petrochemicals Thermoplastics PET 13-05-2019 - Arhive
Polymers Petrochemical Polyamides Prices Polymers Petrochemicals Thermoplastics PET
Crude Oil Prices Trend
-Iran Sees Oil Exports Falter, Trade Slump with Germany, US
U.S. sanctions are biting harder into the Iranian economy, with new signs that Iran’s key oil exports are faltering, while its trade figures with Europe’s biggest economy and with the United States are shrinking.
U.S. news service Bloomberg said it has compiled tanker tracking data showing that no oil tankers had been seen leaving Iran’s oil terminals for foreign ports in the first nine days of May. Crude oil is Iran’s main revenue source.
Washington tightened its unilateral sanctions on Iranian oil exports May 2, ending waivers that it granted to several countries to keep importing crude from Iran and requiring them to reduce imports to zero. The U.S. sanctions are aimed at pressuring Iran to change its perceived malign behaviors.
Covestro and the Austria-based Lenzing Group have developed environmentally-compatible polyurethane (PU) synthetics for the shoe industry. The expertise of both partners complements each other perfectly: Covestro brings its expertise as a raw material specialist for PU textile coatings, which are based on the water-based INSQIN® technology. Lenzing offers its unique expertise in the production of fibers, a wood-based material that is both renewable and natural.
The environmental compatibility of coated textiles depends on a whole series of factors. For example, the source of the raw materials, the use of organic solvents and the consumption of energy and water are important. Polymers Petrochemicals Thermoplastics PET
-Lotte Chemical opens its ethylene plant in Louisiana
On a rainy day on May 9 (local time), a South Korean petrochemical company officially made its debut in the U.S. shale gas market by opening its plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the hub of the “revolution of shale gas,” which has helped the U.S. become the world’s largest oil producer.Lotte Chemical invested 3.6 trillion won in the past three years to build its ethylene cracker (ECC) / ethylene glycol (EG) plant.
By holding an opening ceremony for the facility, the company has embarked on a competition in the U.S. Polymers Petrochemicals Thermoplastics PET
-Libya’s $60 Billion Push To Double Oil Production
Mustafa Sanalla, chairman of Libya’s internationally recognized National Oil Corporation (NOC), held meetings with U.S. companies at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston this week, to discuss US$60 billion worth of procurement contracts necessary to more than double Libyan oil production by 2023.
Libya, which currently pumps around 1 million bpd in a fragile security situation, plans to have its crude oil production grow to 2.1 million bpd by 2023. Sanalla met this week with the top executives of several U.S. companies to “discuss the technology and expertise needed to achieve the corporation’s stated production target,” NOC says.
Leather and carbon fibre vehicle interiors are giving way to vegan materials
Carbon fibre used to be the ultimate symbol when it came to showing just how much money you could spend on your car’s interior.
An expansive dash, custom-carved door panels and Nappa leather seats demonstrated to anyone who cared to look that this was an expensive, sporty and unique vehicle.
But now it’s time for plants.
“Fifty years ago, a leather couch was the height of luxury,” says Massimo Frascella, Land Rover’s creative director, who is a vegan. “Now in the best hotels and homes you would never see that. It’s a similar process with cars. Going forward, sustainable design is providing the framework for change.” Polymers Petrochemicals Thermoplastics PET
-Symphony Environmental Technologies notes European plastics probe dropped
Symphony Environmental Technologies, a global specialist in products and technologies that ‘make plastic smarter’ has announced that, further to its statement on 15 March 2019, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has been instructed by the European Commission to close the oxo-degradable plastics restriction process which commenced in December 2017 because the Commission thought that those plastics created microplastics.
This still leaves the EU Single-use Plastics Directive in draft, but it is now clear that there is no scientific dossier published by ECHA to support any restriction on such plastics in Europe.
-Eclipse Magnetics launches new hopper magnet for plastics industries
Eclipse Magnetics has announced the launch of its latest product, the new high intensity hopper magnet designed and manufactured exclusively for the plastics processing industries.
Metal contamination can occur in almost all areas of any plastics processing plant, and can have a significant impact on the overall quality of the finished product.
-New study forecasts higher oil prices
Crude oil prices have stalled recently, but one projection has prices rising because of tighter supplies and increased oil supply risks.
The forecast comes from the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), and it predicts that Brent crude oil will average $70 per barrel in 2019, which is higher than any previous forecast in 2019.
“The 2019 Brent crude oil price forecast in the May Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) is $9 per barrel higher than the January STEO forecast and more than $4 per barrel higher than the April STEO forecast,” the report stated. “The upward revision to the price forecast is a reflection of several factors, including higher-than-forecast actual prices in recent months, changes to the global supply and demand outlook resulting in tighter expected global oil market balances, and increased oil supply risks.”
-Consortium aims to bring world-first PET recycling technology to market
PEPSICO, Nestlé Waters, and Suntory Beverage and Food Europe have joined a consortium to help bring the world’s first enzymatic plastic recycling technology to market on an industrial scale.
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic is typically used to produce food and drink packaging, especially drinks bottles.
Green chemistry company Carbios designed and developed an innovative PET recycling technology based on enzymes that breaks down PET into its original building blocks, which can then be used to produce high-quality PET plastic equivalent to virgin PET. Polymers Petrochemicals Thermoplastics PET
-Breaking through barriers to boost recycling rates
Four unique perspectives on how to address challenges with sustainability goals and recycling education.
In the past year, many major brand owners announced commitments to incorporate a certain percentage of recycled content into their products by 2025. Coca-Cola, Walmart, Aldi and other businesses all pledged to increase the amount of recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging used in their products by 2025.
However, a challenge exists for these goals: plastic scrap recovery rates in the United States can’t currently meet all the demand coming online.
-Oil gyrates below $62 as trade war counters straining supplies
Oil fluctuated near its lowest point since early April, as President Donald Trump’s latest trade-war escalation raised fears about the economy even as a shutdown of a key North Sea platform added to supply disruptions.
Futures in New York gyrated between gains and losses on Friday, holding just below $62/bbl.
Trump tweeted that he saw “no need to rush” to a deal in the dispute with China, hours after increasing tariffs.
In Norway, Equinor said its Oseberg Field Center has been shut since Wednesday afternoon, affecting fields with about 6% of the nation’s output.
-Escalating US-China trade war threatens H2 chem recovery – analyst
The recent escalation in the trade dispute between the US and China is raising doubts about a recovery that the chemical industry has expected to take place in the second half of this year, analysts at an investment bank said on Friday.
Throughout 2019, chemical companies have said they expected their markets to recover after a downturn in the fourth quarter, during which customers stopped buying material and relied on their existing inventories, in a phenomenon known as destocking.
Companies attributed the destocking to falling oil prices. Meanwhile, demand in China fell because of tightening financial conditions and a decline in confidence, caused in part by the trade dispute.
Since the fourth quarter, China has introduced several stimulus packages.
-Plant Sugars Used as Raw Material for Plastics Chemical
Collaborators from the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and the University of Wisconsin-Madison developed an efficient and economically-feasible manner of producing HMF or 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, a chemical derived from plants that could help solve in the transition from a fossil-based economy towards an environmentally-friendly bio-based economy. Their research has been published in the journal Energy and Environmental Science.
The researchers demonstrate that the method involves a compatible and simple process that can be integrated into the high fructose corn syrup industry.
-Coca-Cola Amatil on track to meet energy sustainability targets
Increased use of solar energy will help Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) meet its target of sourcing 60 per cent of its energy from low-carbon and renewables by 2020. According to CCA’s 2018 Sustainability Report, the Australian bottler currently sources 56.2 per cent of its energy from low-carbon or renewables – mainly wind, solar and natural gas.
“Bottling is energy-intensive, so our shift to low-carbon and renewables is a significant change,” said Alison Watkins, group managing director of CCA. “We’ve focused on natural gas, solar and wind, but we’re open to other technologies and will look at how these can be incorporated in our operations.”
-Blow Molding: Interchangeable Mold Inserts For Flexible PET Bottle Molding
Change PET bottle size and shape easily with bottle mold inserts from PET engineering.
A single PET bottle mold can have a wide range of customization capabilities with a new interchangeable insert system from PET engineering in Italy, a new member of the Sidel Group.
PET engineering’s ITM (Insert Technology Molds) approach allows for interchanging the shoulder, lower body, middle body or combinations of these.
Besides changing the aesthetic design and label area, it is possible to alter the volume capacity of the bottle by 5% to 10% with the inserts.
PET engineering says the latter feature could prove important for future possible downsizing to 1.3-liter and 1.25 L formats.
-State eyes PET bottles as an alternative to package milk
Dairy industry claims these make a better substitute for pouches and glass jars
Ina bid to curtail the pollution caused by packaging waste and to better align with the extended producer responsibilities (EPR) guidelines set by the environment ministry, the state dairy industry is considering polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles as an alternative to package milk.
The decision was taken during a meeting held between the key stakeholders in Pune last month.
Considering consumers’ inability to wash and store milk pouches and the high cost of collecting the same after use, PET bottles seems to be an ideal substitute — since they are reusable, resalable, easy to collect and the most recycled plastic globally, authorities have said.
-Bonas to display advanced weaving machines at ITMA 2019
Bonas is set to display advanced weaving machines at ITMA 2019 expo, in hall 4, stand A206. The leading textile and garment technology expo will be held from June 20-26, 2019, Barcelona, Spain. At the exhibition, Bonas will reinforce its position as the leading supplier of shedding systems to both the flat weaving and carpet weaving industries worldwide.
A total of ten jacquards will be operating on the advanced weaving machines throughout the show, six of them in operation at the main Vandewiele stand. Over 128,000 micro-selector sensors will be actively powering these Bonas advanced jacquard systems at ITMA 2019.
-Bullish Fundamentals Intact Despite Trade War Worries
U.S. West Texas Intermediate and international benchmark Brent crude oil futures are trading slightly lower for the week with most of the downside pressure being fueled by escalating tensions between the United States and China over the trade dispute. The price action is being driven by the headlines, which started the week bearish after President Trump promised new tariffs on Chinese imports on Friday.
Crude oil prices traded sideways-to-lower throughout the week as investors shed risky assets while moving money into the safe-haven Japanese Yen and U.S. Treasurys. Demand for risk returned on Thursday after Trump said there was still the possibility of a trade deal being reached, but the “risk-on” scenario disappeared and crude oil prices retreated on Friday after Trump said there’s “absolutely no need to rush” on a trade agreement with China and tariffs will make the United States “much stronger.”
Trump still threatening to impose tariffs on all imports from China
ocean carrierWashington – This morning, President Donald Trump tweeted out the news importers had been dreading: 10% tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods jump to 25% today.
In the home textiles realm, this deals a blow to several rug importers – but they may soon have company from the rest of the home textiles industry. The New York Times reported President Trump is still considering imposing tariffs on all imports from China.
-The Winner From Trump’s Iran Sanctions? Saudi Arabia
The Saudis are cashing in on the shortage created by the U.S. president’s economic war on Iranian oil.
The Arab kingdom is poised to raise its own output to meet all requests for oil purchases it has received for June, notably from countries that have had to stop buying Iranian crude. Other Persian Gulf Arab countries with spare production capacity — Iraq, Kuwait and the U.A.E. — will almost certainly follow suit.
Saudi Arabia has plenty of room to boost its output without breaching the production targets it agreed for the first half of 2019 as part of the OPEC+ deal to manage oil supplies. That arrangement gave the kingdom a target of 10.3 million barrels a day. Output in April was more than 500,000 barrels a day below that level.
