Kraiburg TPE developed high-flow compounds for the automotive industry

MOSCOW (MRC) -- For automotive exterior applications with wide flow paths and exceptionally challenging weathering requirements, thermoplastics elastomer manufacturer Kraiburg TPE (Waldkraiburg/Germany) has developed a new class of compounds within the Thermolast K family: High-flow compounds, as per GV.

Kraiburg TPE carried out flow length tests using a spiral flow test and obtained a flow path up to 30 % longer in comparison to standard materials. For window overmoulding in particular, the internal mould pressure is almost halved.

This allows, together with the lower melt temperature, a 20 % shorter cycle time. The level of force applied in the filling process has been reduced, which allows even thinner panes of glass or laminated panes to be overmoulded. This also significantly reduces the risk of the glass breaking. Even applications with extremely long flow paths such as the encapsulation of a rear window or a roof module can now be realised with a TPS.

As other Thermolast K materials the high flow grades withstand Florida and Kalahari tests, which simulate two- to three-year cycles, without any problems.

As MRC reported earlier, in 2012, Kraiburg TPE launched two new TPE product ranges in Europe. The "Copec" and "For-Tec E" ranges had already been successfully launched in the USA, and the company hoped to replicate that success in Europe. The products, which were designed for use in consumer sectors, have superior haptic and adhesion properties and are resistant to influences such as sweat, alcohol and weather.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SKC Corp is in plans to shut a propylene glycol (PG) plant for maintenance turnaround, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in South Korea informed that the plant is planned to be shut on April 1, 2015. It is likely to remain off-stream till the last week of April.

Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 110,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed earlier, Honeywell's UOP announced in late December 2014 that China had commissioned the first of 14 planned propylene production units, using technology from UOP to help close the global propylene supply and demand gap.

China’s Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Co. became the first Chinese producer to start production of propylene using UOP C3 Oleflex process technology, which efficiently produces propylene from propane.

Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical is currently producing high-quality, on-spec product for acrylic acid and derivative production, according to UOP officials.

Traditionally, propylene is a byproduct of making ethylene. However, a shift in how ethylene is produced globally has meant less propylene byproduct is being produced, sparking investment in technology to create propylene from propane.

Since 2011, UOP has licensed the C3 Oleflex process to more than a dozen producers to meet rising demand, with a majority of licensed capacity in China.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s Advanced Petrochemical said on Monday it had restarted production at its propylene and polypropylene (PP) plants after scheduled maintenance, reported GulfBusiness.

Full operational capacity at the two plants would be achieved in 8-10 days, it said in a bourse filing.

No details of the financial impact of the maintenance was given.

The plants, in Jubail on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, went off line on March 1, according to an earlier statement from the company.

As MRC wrote before, Advanced Petrochemical Co. plans to invest in a project worth around USD1 billion to produce propylene in South Korea. The propane dehydrogenation (PDH) project, a joint venture with South Korea’s SK Gas, is due to start up in H1-2016. The project, with annual production capacity of 600,000 tons, will be financed 40% equity and 60% debt. Advanced will hold a 35% stake in the project.

Advanced Petrochemical Company (before Advanced Polypropylene) is a Saudi Joint Stock Company, established in October 2005. The company was initially launched by National Polypropylene Limited, jointly owned by Mr. Khalifa Al Mulhim, the chief executive officer of Advanced, and Mr. Monther Laheeq, who negotiated all the main deals related to the project, either before or after the establishment of Advanced Petrochemical. Currently, National Polypropylene Limited controls 7.9% of Advanced Petrochemical. Advanced Petrochemical started the construction of its plants in May 2005. The company produces 455,000 tons per year of propylene and 450,000 tons per year of polypropylene from its production facility located in Jubail Industrial City, in the Eastern coast of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the world's petrochemical major, has made progress in its plans to build a world-scale methane-to-propylene complex on the US Gulf Coast, as per the company's press release.

The company has selected Freeport, Texas, as the potential site. It will use Air Liquide’s proprietary Lurgi MegaMethanol and Methanol-to-Propylene (MTP) technologies. BASF has contracted Air Liquide to provide basic engineering services for this gas-to-propylene complex.

The plant is planned to have an annual production capacity of approximately 475,000 metric tons of propylene. This project would be BASF’s largest single-plant investment to date and is subject to final approval in 2016 by the BASF Board of Executive Directors.

The Freeport site was founded in 1958 as the first BASF manufacturing facility outside of Europe. With more than 800 full-time employees, the Freeport site is one of two BASF Verbund sites in North America and uses propylene in its manufacturing processes.

The on-purpose production of propylene to supply the company’s North American operations would allow BASF to take advantage of low gas prices resulting from US shale gas production. The investment would further strengthen BASF’s backward integration into propylene and grow its propylene-based downstream activities, leading to a stronger market position in North America.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2014, BASF announced the start-up of a new butadiene extraction plant at its Verbund site in Antwerp, Belgium. The plant has an annual production capacity of 155,000 metric tons.

Propylene is one of the most important basic chemicals in the petrochemical industry and is used in the production of a wide range of higher-value chemicals. These chemicals are used to manufacture products such as coatings, detergents, and superabsorbent polymers for baby diapers.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. BASF had sales of over EUR74 billion in 2014 and over 113,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- EuroChem Group AG shelved a decision to build a USD1.5 billion ammonium plant in the U.S as sanctions limit access to funds and the Russian ruble’s drop makes projects in the fertilizer producer’s home market attractive, said Bloomberg.

"The decision on the project is delayed due to changes on the financial markets, namely affected access to credit resources," Chief Financial Officer Andrey Ilyin said in an interview in Moscow on March 18. "The ruble’s devaluation also made development of such projects more attractive in Russia."

Russia was sanctioned by the U.S. and Europe last year over the conflict in Ukraine, preventing Russia’s largest lenders and some companies from borrowing in the U.S. and European Union. The ruble plunged 46 percent against the dollar last year, cutting mining exporters’ costs.

PAO Severstal sold its U.S. assets for USD2.3 billion last year as the steel industry failed to fully bounce back from the 2009 plunge in demand and the operations’ profit margins were less than half those it gets in Russia. OAO Mechel sold its Bluestone coal unit in the U.S. last month after idling the asset in April 2014 as a demand slump left much of the U.S. coal industry unprofitable.

EuroChem, controlled by Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, said in July 2013 that it planned to build the plant in Louisiana to produce ammonia and urea for the U.S. and for export, creating 200 jobs directly and 1,300 positions in related industries. The company has purchased 2,150 acres (870 hectares) near Carville in Iberville Parish, a site also known as Point Clair Farm, and planned to make the final decision on the plant by the end of 2014.

The company also has a USD1 billion project to build an ammonia plant in Russia’s Leningrad region. As the Russian price of gas, the main raw material for ammonium fertilizers, became cheaper after the ruble’s decline, capital expenditure on similar projects at home is lower, according to Ilyin.

Average gas prices in Russia dropped to as low as USD2.20 per million British thermal units from $4 last year because of the ruble’s devaluation, Ilyin said. EuroChem also produces about 1 billion cubic meters of gas annually in Russia.
Should gas prices in the U.S. rise and if exports of liquefied natural gas are allowed, that will make the Louisiana project less attractive, he said.

The company is building USD7.4 billion of potash projects in Russia. It needs to invest about USD1 billion annually by 2018, when its two mines will start up, while it needs as much as USD800 million to refinance debt due this year, Ilyin said.

The ruble’s plunge will help to fulfill EuroChem’s demand for cash, according to the CFO. The company’s cash-flow this year will be USD500 million higher than in 2014 due to ruble weakness, he said.

EuroChem Group AG, an agrochemical company, primarily produces and sells mineral fertilizers worldwide. It operates through four segments: Nitrogen, Phosphates, Potash, and Distribution.
MRC