Milliken presents pioneering reactive additives

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Milliken, leading supplier of polymer bound colorants and additives for the polyurethane Industry, has introduced a new reactive additive - AlphaSan AF VT, as per the company's press release.

AlphaSan AF VT is a new stable dispersion designed to provide cost-effective antimicrobial and antifungal performance in foam applications that require special protection, such as sponges, furniture, mattresses and pillows.

Milliken’s polymeric technologies are based on OH-terminated chains and are 100% reactive into the PU foam, elastomer or coating. Integrated within the final PU article during manufacturing, they avoid migration and loss of properties over time, and help to address the major issues of degradation and discoloration of PU articles due to light and heat sensitivity. The polymeric additives support polyol manufacturers and polyurethane producers in improving the emission profile of their products, meeting the most demanding test requirements for VOC and FOG such as VDA278.

As MRC informed earlier, in May 2014, US plastics additives supplier Milliken unveiled its plans to double production capacity for the "Millad" NX 8000 clarifying agent for polypropylene (PP) at its Allen facility in Blacksburg, South Carolina by 2015.

Milliken is an innovation company that has been exploring, discovering, and creating ways to enhance people’s lives since 1865. The company creates coatings, specialty chemicals, and advanced additive and colorant technologies that transform the way we experience products from automotive plastics to children's art supplies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Spanish oil and chemicals group Repsol has launched a major EUR60m plant upgrade and modernisation programme at its Puertollano Industrial complex in central southern Spain, said Europeanplasticsnews.

Projects, aimed at improving competitiveness and manufacturing efficiency, include adapting the production capacity of the olefins plant, increasing the output of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) resins and investment to raise propylene processing at the polypropylene unit.

Repsol intends to adjust monomer output at the olefins unit to meet the demand for added value products in a sustainable and efficient way. Investments will be made to improve energy efficiency in all the chemical plants.

The vast majority of the maintenance and modification work during the two month shutdown which began on 1 February will be carried out by Repsol group’s own subsidiaries.

EVA resin represents a specialised and key value added product area for Repsol which it only manufactures at the Puertollano complex. Work there, part of the group’s wider chemicals competitiveness plan, will see EVA production increase by 7%, it said.

Repsol originally announced it planned to increase its capacity of EVA copolymers including the upgrade of the five production units at the Puertollano complex. The main aim of the investment was to raise output of EVA copolymers with a high vinyl acetate content for hot melt adhesive applications.

As MRC wrote before, Repsol commercialized phthalate-free polypropylene (PP) block copolymers. Repsol now offers customers its new line of phthalate-free block copolymers which completes the commercial range of polypropylene grades based on this technology, which was first commercialized in 2009.

Repsol S.A is an integrated Spanish oil and gas company with operations in 28 countries. The bulk of its assets are located in Spain.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay plans to tap emerging opportunities in the growing Indian market to give a big boost to its global businesses, said the company in its press release.

The company is targeting 1,000 tons production of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) in Q3-2015 and aims to capture 15% of the Indian polyamide compound market by 2016.

In particular, the global Specialty Polymers and Engineering Plastics business units of Solvay, which participated in the recently concluded Plastindia 2015, have been taking a lead in the developments of new and expanded polymer chemistries for customer applications in advanced transportation and automotive, healthcare, electrical and electronics, building and construction, energy and consumer goods industries. Both these units are located in Panoli (Gujarat).

The acquisition of PI Polymer, the engineering plastics business of Indian company PI Industries Ltd, in 2011 further strengthened Solvay’s presence in India. In addition to a manufacturing facility, research and development capabilities, as well as a customer base and a logistics network were acquired. "Until then, we were importing Technyl polyamide engineering plastics. However, we rapidly expanded the activity and today we have almost doubled capacity and are on target to capture 15 percent of the Indian polyamide compound market by 2016," said Jitender Bharihoke, commercial director, Solvay Engineering Plastics.

As MRC informed before, Solvay will build a new manufacturing and filling facility in the Netherlands to produce Hydrogen Peroxide grades that are used as disinfection and decontamination agents to meet growing demand from the pharmaceutical industry.

Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company founded in 1863, with its head office in Neder-Over-Heembeek, Brussels, Belgium. The company has diversified into two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics. Solvay supplies over 1500 products across 35 brands of high-performance polymers – fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, fluorinated fluids, semi-aromatic polyamides, sulfone polymers, aromatic ultra polymers, high-barrier polymers and cross-linked high-performance compounds.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bashkir company Gazprom neftekhim Salavat, one of the largest Russian petrochemical producers, yesterday, on 19 February, temporarily suspended production of high density polyethylene (HDPE), reported the company's customers.

They said Gazprom neftekhim Salavat had to temporarily shut down its HDPE production yesterday because of technical issues. There were no reports of any major problems, therefore, production is going to be resumed in the next few days.

The plant's annual production capacity is 120,000 tonnes, the plant's technology is that of LyondellBasell. Gazprom neftekhim Salavat produced about 93,000 tonnes of HDPE in 2014.

JSC "Gazprom neftekhim Salavat" (formerly JSC "Salavatnefteorgsintez") is one of Russia's major petrochemical complexes. The company was integrated into JSC "Gazprom" system. The concentration of the full cycle of hydrocarbon processing, petrochemistry and mineral fertilizer production on the one site is the main advantage of GNS. The company comprises oil refinery, chemical plant, gas&chemical plant and monomer plant. The list of manufactured commodity products now includes more than 140 items, including 76 items of the main products: motor gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, fuel oil, toluene, solvent, liquefied gases, benzene, styrene, ethylbenzene, butyl alcohols, phthalic anhydride and plasticizers, polyethylene, polystyrene, silica gel and zeolite catalysts, corrosion inhibitors, elemental sulfur, ammonia and urea, glycols, and amines, a wide range of plastic consumer goods, surfactants and others.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Axiall Corporation (AXLL) announced financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31, 2014, said the company in its press release.

The company reported net sales of USD4.6 billion for the full year 2014, compared to net sales of USD4.7 billion reported for the full year 2013. The company reported net income attributable to Axiall of USD46.3 million, or USD0.65 per diluted share, for 2014, compared to net income attributable to Axiall of USD165.3 million, or USD2.44 per diluted share, for 2013. The company reported Adjusted Net Income of USD93.4 million and Adjusted Earnings per Share of USD1.32 for 2014, compared to Adjusted Net Income of USD266.1 million and Adjusted Earnings per Share of USD3.93 for 2013. The company reported Adjusted EBITDA of USD436.3 million for 2014, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of USD672.0 million for the prior year.

Axiall reported net sales of USD1.1 billion for both the fourth quarters of 2014 and 2013. The company reported net loss attributable to Axiall of USD13.8 million, or USD0.20 loss per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to net income attributable to Axiall of USD57.0 million, or USD0.81 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2013. The company reported Adjusted Net Income of USD13.6 million and Adjusted Earnings per Share of USD0.19 for the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to Adjusted Net Income of USD62.3 million, and Adjusted Earnings per Share of USD0.88, for the fourth quarter of 2013. The company reported Adjusted EBITDA of USD101.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of USD165.7 million for the same quarter in the prior year. Fourth quarter 2014 Adjusted EBITDA includes a USD20.9 million negative impact from inventory holding losses and lower of cost or market adjustments in Aromatics, partially offset by a USD17.7 million insurance recovery for claims related to our unplanned outage at our PHH facility in the first half of the year.

As MRC wrote before, Axiall Corp. says it is considering building a USD3 billion ethane cracker and chemical plant somewhere in Louisiana. The Atlanta-based chemical manufacturer says it could make a decision sometime early next year. Axiall would invest USD1 billion of its own money, while an unnamed partner would put in USD2 billion. The plant could open in 2018, creating 225 permanent jobs.

Axiall is a chemical company formed in 2012 from the chemical assets of PPG and Georgia Gulf. The PPG products are primarily chlor-alkali. The combined companies will be the third largest producer of chlor-alkali in the US after Dow Chemical and Occidental. PPG will own 50.5% of the combined companies. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. MRC