Polystyrene from PLA bioplastic

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An affordable and environmentally friendly alternative for polystyrene from PLA bioplastic, is being developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, said Plastemart.

PLA (polylactide) is a bioplastic made from renewable materials with the help of lactic acid. VTT is investigating methods of foaming bioplastics to make beads that are further refined into products such as insulation sheets, using methods typical of EPS manufacturing processes.

The annual production volume of EPS is 5-6 mln tpa. Usually this non-biodegradable material ends up on waste tips or is disposed of by burning, which results in compounds that are hazardous to health. The density and heat insulation properties of the new biomaterial are similar to those of polystyrene. VTT plans to take its development work closer to industrial processing and to proceed from laboratory work to factory testing. Therefore, in order to collaborate in this development it is now looking for partners from among companies operating in the field.

PLA products similar to polystyrene already exist, but their problem is their high price. In collaboration with companies operating in the field, VTT will be looking for new and more efficient production methods to enable the manufacturing of affordable products. VTT is also developing a process for PLA based on extrusion foaming, in order to replace polystyrene in traffic and packaging applications, for example.

As MRC wrote before, Coca-Cola Company made an additional investment in the US-based Virent, which is developing its bio-based paraxylene (PX), BioFormPX. This investment will enable Virent to scale up separation and purification of BioFormPX material at their demonstration plant in Madison, Wisconsin.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a Swiss specialty chemical company, is aiming to expand its presence in the Indian pharmaceutical industry with its innovative range of packaging solutions, as per Business Standard.

As a part of this strategy, Clariant showcased latest packaging solutions at CPhI India 2014, the pharmaceutical ingredients exhibition held from December 2-4, 2014 at Mumbai, which can support the pharmaceutical industry to maintain drug stability and extend shelf life through its polymer and desiccant packaging solutions.

Clariant Healthcare Packaging, which has been present in India for over a decade, offers a range of active pharmaceutical packaging with all the major generic companies on its customer list.

Clariant Healthcare Packaging designs and manufactures controlled atmosphere packaging that helps to protect healthcare products from humidity and oxygen. Its broad portfolio includes industry-leading desiccant canisters and packets; tubes and desiccant stoppers; IDC (integrated desiccant closure); EQ-Pak humidity regulators; Tubairless semi-solid dispenser; and PharmaKeep oxygen scavengers.

Desiccant canisters from Clariant are used in the pharmaceutical industry for their ability to be inserted at high rates of speed on high velocity packaging lines. The systems used to ensure quality of the desiccant canisters by electronic vision inspection thus ensuring relevant specification parameters are being met for each canister.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2014, Clariant signed a purchase agreement with VitaPac, a Chinese specialist for healthcare packaging. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the fourth quarter of 2014 and subject to regulatory approvals.

VitaPac, founded in 1995, develops and manufactures a full range of high quality protective packaging solutions for the pharmaceutical, neutraceutical and food industries, as well as for the logistics and electronics sectors, mainly in the region of Asia-Pacific (APAC). The company focuses on active sorbents and has built up a leading market position for desiccant packets for moisture adsorption.

Clariant Chemicals (India) Limited and custom color and additive products with production of more than 10,000 color matches which are completed each year. With more than 50 manufacturing plants around the world, Clariant
Masterbatches products, technology and service deliver competitive advantages that foster long-term customer relationships.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lotte Chemical is likely to shut a cracker for maintenance turnaround in 2015, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the cracker is planned to be shut in October 2015. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located in Daesan, South Korea, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 1 million mt/year, propylene capacity of 500,000 mt/year and butadiene capacity of 150,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, in early 2014, Hyundai Oilbank and Lotte Chemical Corp. established Hyundai Chemical as a new venture in the "oil refining and synthetic fiber materials business". The venture, owned 60 % by Hyundai and 40% by Lotte, will invest up to 1.2-trillion won, with production targeted to begin in the second half of 2016 at Hyundai’s Daesan plant in South Chungcheong province.

In early 2013, a major South Korean pertochemical and polymer producer, Honam Petrochemical, and one of the largest South Korean PET and PTA producer, KP Chemical, decided to merge into a new company with a new name Lotte Chemical Corporation. The newly formed company believes that this move will strengthen its position both in domestic and international markets and is in a line with Lotte Chemical's strategy to become a leading global company.

The Lotte Group currently has a presence in Indonesia via its subsidiary, Honam Petrochemicals, which acquired Malaysia’s polyolefin major Titan Chemicals in July 2010. Included in the acquisition was Titan’s Indonesian subsidiary - PT Titan Petrokimia Nusantara (TPN), which has a polyethylene (PE) production capacity of 450,000 tonnes/year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries (RIL) has announced a joint venture with China’s Shandong Ruyi Science and Technology Group to "reposition its textile business on a high growth path", said Indianexpress.

As part of the deal, Mukesh Ambani-run RIL will transfer its existing textile business into a newly incorporated company, for which RIL will receive cash consideration.

RIL will own a majority 51% in the proposed JV, with the balance 49% owned by Shandong Ruyi. The proposed transaction is subject to regulatory approvals.

However, RIL has not disclosed the cash consideration for the deal. "RIL’s existing textile business is the founding business of RIL and operates under the well-known brand ‘Vimal’. It has a prominent presence in the Indian textile market, especially in the worsted and synthetic suiting fabric segments," RIL said in a statement.

The JV will build on RIL’s existing textile business and wide distribution network in India and Ruyi’s state-of-the-art technology and its global reach. The JV will benefit from the strength of the ‘Vimal’ and ‘Georgia Gullini’ brands and plans to introduce some of the well-known global brands of Ruyi. Qiu Yafu, chairman, Shandong Ruyi Group, said: "…we see our joint venture with Reliance as a significant event for the group. To enter the Indian market with Reliance we truly believe is the bright future of this joint venture business."

As MRC wrote before, Reliance Industries has signed a memorandum of understanding with Mexico’s Pemex to jointly assess the potential for upstream oil and gas business in Mexico and other international markets. Reliance and Pemex will share their expertise and skills to further strengthen the relationship between the two players.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. The company's polymer production in 2010-11 (polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride) made 4,094 kilo tonnes.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of polycarbonate (PC) for sheet extrusion from Europe totalled 23,500 tonnes from January to November 2014, remaining at the last year's level, according to MRC DataScope report.

Russian importers managed to maintain the last year's shipping quantities of extrusion granules, despite the rouble devaluation. This means that, despite the trend of imports displacement, demand for European material does not weaken.

Kazanorgsintez, Russia's only PC producer, increased its share to 67% over the stated period (from 64% over the same period last year). To date, the plant produces almost all its quantities for domestic sales (about 6,000 tonnes per month).

The Russian market can consume about 7,000 tonnes of PC for sheet extrusion per month in the season (spring, autumn). Demand has weakened recently both in the PC market and in the finished products market. The deferred demand was registered in the market on the back of seasonality and the deterioration of the general macroeconomic situation, the weakening of the rouble and lower purchasing power of the population. Purchasing went down to the necessary minimum in order to avoid the accumulation of stocks, which lead to exchange losses (if we consider the activities related to foreign trade).

Consumers also are waiting for stabilization of the national currency and a reduction in the overall prices. Thus, importers and distributors in the PC market will start next year with significant stocks. This is especially true for European material. Given the dynamics of price increases for Russian PC in November and December amd in the case of the rouble strengthening in 2015, imported PC will create a serious competition for domestic material, because large suppliers often take the foreing currency risks. In this case, prices of European granules might be equal to prices of Russian material.

The Russian PC market is represented by the segment of sheet extrusion PC, which accounts for over 80%. The main European suppliers of extrusion grade PC are such companies, as Sabic Innovative Plastics and Bayer. Their import share in the total consumption of the segment is slightly more than 30% and varies, depending on the macroeconomic indicators. Asian polymer is also available in the extrusion PC market (5% of the total imports of extrusion grade PC).

The overall PC impots to the Russian market dropped over the first eleven months of 2014 by 8% year on year and totalled only 33,500 tonnes.

MRC