China anti-dumping duties set to expire on adipic acid from EU, US & S. Korea

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) will suspend anti-dumping duties on adipic acid (polyamide intermediate) from the European Union, the US and South Korea, if applications for expiry reviews are not received from domestic adipic acid producers, reported Apic-online.

The applications must be submitted in written form, from domestic companies or representatives thereof, to Mofcom and shall include sufficient evidence that termination of the anti-dumping measures may cause the continuance or reoccurrence of dumping and injury.

Applications must be received at least 60 days prior to the 2 Nov. 2014 expiration of the measures. The duties, ranging from 5% to 35.4%, were imposed in 2009.

As MRC wrote earlier, BASF is building a new Ultramid polymerization plant with a capacity of 100,000 metric tons per year in Shanghai, China. The new plant is planned to start up in 2015.

BASF now offers high performance Ultramid (polyamide), which is derived from renewable raw materials. BASF uses an innovative approach that replaces up to 100% of the fossil resources used at the beginning of the integrated production process with certified biomass. The production of polyamide for film, textile and carpet fiber as well as for engineering plastics applications is integrated into BASF’s global Verbund structure with polyamide intermediates (i.e. adipic acid, anolon, caprolactam), chemical raw materials (i.e. ammonia, cyclohexane, sulfuric acid), energy, by-product recovery, logistics and other services.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik Industries, the German specialty chemicals company, has commenced operation of an integrated production complex for isophorone and isophorone diamine in Shanghai, China, as per the company's press release.

The company has invested over EUR 100 million in the facilities, which will have an annual output capacity of 50,000 tonnes.

Construction in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP) took less than two years. Evonik Industries primarily plans to use the output of the new plants to serve customers in the coatings and paint, construction, adhesives, and composite industry in Asia.

Evonik has fifty years of experience with isophorone chemistry and continuously improves its process technologies. So far products based on isophorone (crosslinkers) are being manufactured in Marl and Herne, Germany, and in Mobile, AL, USA.

"Evonik is the only company worldwide to cover the entire supply chain of isophorone and its derivatives. We now are in a position to quickly and reliably supply our customers in China and other Asian countries from our regional production, consistently offering products of high quality and purity," explained Dr. Ulrich Kusthardt, Head of the Coatings & Additives Business Unit.

In addition to the new production complex, Evonik has built an application technology service centre with state-of-the-art laboratories at the Xinzhuang site in Shanghai. The custom-tailored isophorone solutions will strengthen the competitiveness of Asian customers, says the company.

The global market for isophorone and its derivatives grows at a stronger annual rate than global gross domestic product, with Asia showing above-average growth. The demand is particularly driven by the megatrend of resource efficiency. Thus, composites, which are used, for instance, in lightweight construction for automobiles as well as in highly durable wind power stations, offer above-average growth potential.

In addition, isophorone chemistry prolongs the life expectancy of heavily used surfaces, which reduces maintenance cost and often makes renovations superfluous. Examples include floor coverings in parking garages, facades exposed to demanding climatic conditions, or ships operating in salty ocean water. Growth projections are also high for environmentally friendly coating technologies, such as UV-curing systems or solvent-free powder coatings.

As MRC informed previously, Evonik Industries is paving the way for a new technology whose applications include automotive finishes that are more scratch-resistant than ever before. The specialty chemicals company has developed an industrial-scale method for producing silane-modified binders for automotive finishes. The advantage of these silane-modified binders: silane groups increase crosslinking density, making it possible to create automotive finishes that are flexible yet harder, leading to improved scratch resistance.

Evonik, the industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company form the heart of Evonik’s corporate strategy. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. The group is a global market leader in isophorone chemistry with production facilities in Herne, Marl (Germany), Mobile, Alabama (USA) and Antwerp (Belgium). Its products are known worldwide under the brand names of VESTAMIN, VESTANAT, VESTAGON and VESTASOL.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SK Gas will begin construction this month on a propane dehydrogenation unit at Ulsan, South Korea, reported GV with reference to the Korea JoongAng Daily.

The unit, based on the Catofin dehydrogenation process from Lummus Technology, will produce 600,000 t/y of propylene. Production is scheduled to begin in 2016.

CB&I last year was awarded the contract for licensing and engineering design of the PDH unit and at that time said the PDH unit will be the largest in Korea.

As MRC informed earlier, in 2013, China's National Development & Reform Commission approved the acquisition by SK Group (Seoul) of a 35% stake in a USD2.7-billion petrochemicals complex at Wuhan, Hubei Province. Sinopec and SK signed a preliminary agreement in 2011 to form a petchems joint venture at Wuhan. Financial details were not disclosed. The complex, completed at the end of last year, is designed to produce 800,000 m.t./year of ethylene, 300,000 m.t./year each of high-density polyethylene and low-density polyethylene.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- South Korea's Samsung Total Petrochemicals Co Ltd has announced that a small quantity of a petrochemical product leaked into the sea from a newly-built paraxylene plant in South Korea, reported Reuters.

The company has cleaned it up.

About 2.4 kilolitres of para di ethyl benzene leaked while flowing to test pipelines of the new plant at the company's Daesan petrochemical complex.

The leak occurred during testing of the new paraxylene plant, and the clean-up has already been completed.

The joint venture between Samsung group and France's Total SA is now looking into the causes of the leak, as per a spokesperson. The new plant has an annual production capacity of 1 million tons of paraxylene and 420,000 tons of benzene.

As MRC wrote previously, Samsung Total Petrochemicals is set to expand oil product sales to the domestic and export markets once it starts production of gasoil and jet fuel from its new Daesan aromatics plant later this year. The new plant will enable the petrochemical firm to produce gasoil for the very first time, from a 150,000 bpd condensate splitter primarily designed to supply feedstock for aromatics production. Capacity at the Samsung Total plant will comprise 1.05 mln mt of gasoil and 1.45 mln mt of jet fuel annually from its new aromatics plant that will start production as early as July this year.

Samsung Total is a 50-50 joint venture between South Korea's Samsung Group and the French chemical group Total.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- WACKER, a unit of Munich-based specialty chemical company Wacker Chemie, has developed a novel dispersible polymer powder for modifying cementitious and gypsum-based dry-mix mortars, as per the companies press release.

VINNAPAS 8620 E is based on a terpolymer of vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate and ethylene (EVA), and is ideal for the formulation of high-quality, low-emission tile adhesives.

In the end product, the new dispersible polymer powder ensures a long open time and enhanced flexibility combined with excellent tensile adhesion strength, even after water or freeze/thaw conditions. With VINNAPAS 8620 E in the formulation, it is thus even possible to reliably bond modern large-format or very thin tiles, and porcelain or natural-stone materials.

Alongside exceptional product and processing properties, VINNAPAS 8620 E also exhibits good environmental compatibility, because the product is free of plasticizing additives and thus makes it possible to formulate low-emission tile adhesives.

As MRC informed previously, Wacker Chemie AG plans to expand its production capacity for dispersible polymer powders capacity at its Nanjing (China) site, in 2014. By productivity improvement and debottlenecking measures in existing facilities, German firm plans to essentially double its current capacity of 30,000 metric tpa to meet increasing customer demand in China. Wacker’s dispersible polymer powder production output in Nanjing is expected to reach up to 60,000 metric tpa, depending on product mix.

Wacker Polymers is a leading producer of state-of-the-art binders and polymeric additives based on polyvinyl acetate and vinyl acetate copolymers. These take the form of dispersible polymer powders, dispersions, solid resins, and solutions. They are used in construction chemicals, paints, surface coatings, adhesives and nonwovens, and in fiber composites and polymeric materials based on renewable resources. WACKER POLYMERS has production sites in Germany, China, South Korea and the USA, as well as a global sales network and technical centers in all major regions.
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