Arkema brings new resins reactor online in Brazil

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Coating Resins business of Arkema has expanded acrylic resin manufacturing capacity in Aracariguama, Brazil by 60%, according to the company's statement.

The new reactor will enable manufacturing of Arkema’s product chemistries previously unavailable in the region.

With the start-up of the new reactor, Arkema has improved virtually every aspect of the company’s latex production in Brazil, including manufacturing, logistics and shipping, storage, filtration and the capabilities of the reactor itself.

"These improvements will enable us to begin migrating production capabilities and product lines currently available in other parts of the world to the facility in Brazil," Eric Schmitt, President, Arkema Quimica Ltda. Brazil, explained. "We can now provide customers local manufacturing of innovative, market-leading products, produced in a modern, automated facility with a focus on consistent, repeatable quality, and environmental responsibility."

Products manufactured at the plant will now include a much wider range of chemistries, including 100% acrylic, styrene acrylic, vinyl acrylic, vinyl VeoVa and polyvinyl acetate (PVA). These products are used across many traditional and emerging applications in industries such as architectural coatings, industrial coatings, pressure sensitive adhesives and construction adhesives, textiles, sealants and waterproofing membranes.

As production ramps up, Arkema will begin to introduce new products based on demand and market potential. The first products added to the production capabilities of the new facility include:

- ENCOR 265 BR, a high scrubbing styrene acrylic resin for use in architectural coatings;
- ENCOR DT 211 BR, a 100% acrylic ideally suited for fast-dry traffic paints;
- ENCOR 161 BR styrene acrylic latex for use in mortars and grouts, tile adhesives and waterproofing membranes, as well as cement-based skim coats, gap fillers, and in decorative concrete applications;
- ENCOR 413 BR, an acrylic emulsion polymer specifically developed for use in the polymer modification of Portland cement and other hydraulic cement compositions;
- ENCOR 9801 BR acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive for packaging tape applications;
- ENCOR 9466 BR, a high solids acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive for label applications.

"Arkema has been investing consistently to expand our global presence in resins" said Carlos Lion, Market Manager for Arkema Coating Resins in South America. "Local production in Brazil will allow us to better serve our current customers while, at the same time, offering formulators in various market areas, such as coatings, construction and adhesives, more competitive access to the raw materials they need."

As MRC wrote previously, last year, Arkema announced the construction of a new organic peroxide plant on its Changshu site in China. This investment will help double the site’s production capacity. By doubling its production capacity in China, Arkema will continue to support the strong growth in the organic peroxide market in Asia, a region in which the Group is also a producer in India, South Korea and Japan. The new Changshu plant is due to come on stream in early 2016.

Arkema is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc. With operations in nearly 50 countries, about 19,000 employees, and research centers in North America, France and Asia, Arkema generates pro forma annual revenue of EUR7.5 billion (USD9.5 billion), and holds leadership positions in all its markets with a portfolio of internationally recognized brands.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The North American performance materials unit of BASF SE expects its 2015 growth to come from the automotive, consumer and industrial markets, said Plasticsnews.

"We’re optimistic about 2015, but not equally in every market," Senior Vice President Juan Carlos Ordonez said in a news conference at NPE 2015 in Orlando. "We’re more positive in automotive, which surprised us again in growth [in 2014]. We’ve also got good expectations in consumer and industrial, but less so in construction," he added.

"Commercial construction is positive in hotels and restaurants, but not residential." Lower oil and gasoline prices have had a mixed impact on BASF’s business, according to Ordonez.

North America generates 20 percent of sales and profit for the performance materials unit. The unit has 100 manufacturing plants and 27 research and development sites in North America. Its R&D sites employ 1,850.
Also at the NPE event, BASF highlighted results of its Ultrasim simulation software, which has 90 to 95 percent accuracy in predicting the performance of parts using BASF materials, according to technical development director Mark Minnichelli. He cited three recent successful uses of Ultrasim using Ultramid-brand nylon 6.

Bemis Manufacturing Co. used Ultramid nylon in its Innova shopping cart design for Target Corp. The cart has an HDPE basket over a nylon 6 structure. It has twice the durability of steel models and is 100 percent recyclable, Minnichelli said.

Faurecia used Ultrasim to design a lightweight auto seatback. The product provides 30 to 40 percent mass savings by using a glass-filled Ultramid grade, reducing part weight by 6 pounds per vehicle.

A solar panel mount made by Solega provided weight reduction of almost 4 pounds, according to Minnichelli. The mount keeps solar photovoltaic panels in place and can withstand greater loads by using a glass-filled Ultramid, he added.

As MRC informed earlier, 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.

BASF is based in Ludwigshafen, Germany, with North American headquarters in Florham Park, N.J. The firm posted sales of USD83.2 billion in 2014, up almost 1 percent vs. 2013.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of over EUR74 billion in 2014 and over 113,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A petrochemical official has announced upcoming official operation of second phase of Kavian petrochemical complex as the world’s greatest ethylene producing unit by September in Assaluyeh, as per Mehrnews.

Marzieh Shahedaei told reporters on Monday that the second phase of the complex would provide supply to the demands for ethylene of all petrochemical complex operating in west ethylene pipeline grid if it received enough amounts of ethane; "with provision of enough ethane to the complex, it will increase ethylene produced to more than 2 million tones annually," she added.

Shahedaei, who is also the director of National Petrochemical Industries Company (NPC) projects, added that the projected time for operating Kavian petrochemical complex would be the first half of the current Iranian solar year (beginning March 21, 2015), which she conditioned on receiving the enough amounts of ethane as raw material.

"Currently, the second phase of the Complex is under construction; the Complex will receive ethane as input material from 15th and 16th phases of South Pars to enter operational phase," Shahedaei asserted, "however, the first phase of the complex is currently working with half its full capacity due to lack of input material; by November, we predict that the Complex will be in full opertion; ethylene produced by Kavian complex would be received by, in addition to Kermanshah Polymer complex nad Ilam petrochemical complex, other complexes operating in west ethylene pipeline grid; apart from Kavian complex, Lorestan had test-received the feed input months ago," Shahedaei detailed, adding that Mahabad and Kurdistan complexes will receive their input material soon.

Kavian petrochemical complex is the world and Middle East greatest ethylene producing unit.

As MRC informed earlier, Iran has resumed exports of petrochemicals to Europe with a shipment of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) to Belgium following the lifting of U.S.-led Iranian trade sanctions.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) has successfully put into operation two plants in Dahej, Gujarat, India, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The first is a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin plant, which consists of two lines with a combined manufacturing capacity of 650 KTA. The plant has been built with Invista technology for continuous polymerization and Buhler AG technology for solid state polymerization.

This is one of the largest bottle-grade PET resin capacity at a single location globally, and consolidates Reliance’s position as a leading PET resin producer with a global capacity of 1.15 MMTPA, the company said. PET resin from the new capacity would find application in packaging for water, carbonated soft drinks, pharmaceuticals and other food and beverages.

Purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and mono ethylene glycol (MEG), the two feedstocks for the new PET plant, are available within the Dahej complex, offering the advantages of lower freight costs and consistent product quality due to in-house raw material linkages. India is one of the fastest growing markets for PET packaging, with demand increasing by 15%–20% annually.

The second facility is a new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant that provides a capacity of 1,150 KTA. With the commissioning of this plant, also built with Invista technology, Reliance’s total PTA capacity will increase to 3.2 MMTPA, and its global capacity share will rise to 4%.

Paraxylene, the key feedstock for the PTA plant, is sourced from Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery. The PTA plant is also forward integrated with the 650 KTA PET plant in the same complex, lowering operating costs and capturing full chain margins. Another PTA plant of similar capacity is under construction at the same location, placing Reliant among the top five PTA manufacturers globally.

India is the second-largest producer of polyester with estimated production of 5.4 MMTPA. The Indian polyester market is growing at 8%–10% annually. Indian market is currently deficit in PTA by over 1.5 MMTPA.

As MRC informed previously, Reliance Industries is implementing a new project to source 1.5 million tpy of ethane feedstock from the US to feed its crackers in India.

Besides, RIL has announced that it would invest over Rs 100,000 crore in expansion of its petrochemical capacities and adding value to its refining business.

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) -- Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical is in plans to shut its high density polyethylene/linear low density polyethylene (HDPE/LLDPE) swing plant for maintenance turnaround, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is planned to be shut in mid-April 2015. It is likely to remain off-stream for around 15 days.
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Located in Nanjing, China, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, on March 26, 2015, Sinopec Cangzhou Petrochemical has shut its refinery for maintenance turnaround. It is planned to remain off-stream for around two months. Located at Cangzhou in Hebei province of China, the plant has a production capacity of 2.5 million mt/year.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest scale integrated energy and chemical companies with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its refining and ethylene capacity ranks No.2 and No.4 globally. The Company has 30,000 sales and distribution networks of oil products and chemical products, its service stations are now ranked third largest in the world.
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