SABIC debuts new portfolio of high-performance filaments for fused deposition modeling

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC, a global leader in thermoplastic technology, has unveiled a new portfolio of high-performance filament grades for fused deposition modeling, as per the compnay's press release.

The new products address growing global demand for greater material choices in the industrial filament market and lay the groundwork for SABIC’s strategy to help drive the growth of additive manufacturing from a prototyping technology to full-scale production. In addition to a long history of materials innovation, SABIC offers the expertise and resources to support testing, design and development of new additive manufacturing technologies.

"The launch of our first six new filaments, backed by SABIC’s world-class portfolio of high-performance engineering thermoplastics, will help us establish a pathway to introduce future breakthrough material solutions for additive manufacturing," said Lori Louthan, director, Mass Transportation, SABIC. "We are applying our extensive materials and processing expertise to create new filaments with higher performance than current offerings with the goal of expanding their use into the development of production parts. Just as we’ve done for other plastics conversion processes in the past, SABIC aims to make an important contribution to the growth and success of our customers and the additive manufacturing industry through advanced materials and processes."

SABIC’s new filaments, designed for use with Stratasys Fortus printers, are based on the company’s industry-leading ULTEM polyetherimide (PEI) resin, CYCOLAC acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resin and LEXAN polycarbonate (PC) resin, and offer the same composition as the company’s injection molding grades. Manufacturers can use the filaments to produce a range of high-performance, durable end-use parts.

These new materials solutions directly address the need for greater options in the industrial filament market and target a broad range of customer requirements. Both ABS and PC are well-established materials for additive manufacturing of prototypes and end use parts, while SABIC’s ULTEM (PEI) filament is desirable for demanding applications that require high heat resistance, high strength, and low flame, smoke and toxicity (FST).

SABIC has also presented applications printed from its disruptive, developmental materials that have been designed for fused deposition modeling and can offer improved performance versus currently available products. These materials include:

- high impact strength polycarbonate filament for more robust performance during processing and secondary operations, as well as the ability to withstand high-impact end-use conditions;
- polycarbonate and ULTEM healthcare filaments made with SABIC healthcare grade resins, enabling printed parts with excellent mechanical performance, sterilizability and biocompatibility;
- high-impact strength ULTEM filament designed with the benefits of ULTEM 9085 resin but with greater toughness;
- flame, smoke and toxicity compliant polycarbonate filament for use in demanding aerospace applications;
- EXTEM thermoplastic polyamide filament with heat resistance exceeding that of ULTEM filament;
- breakaway support materials for SABIC’s ULTEM, PC, and ABS filaments, providing additional choice in filament material supply.

With a broad and growing portfolio of high-performance materials and state-of-the-art equipment at its global Centers of Excellence for Additive Manufacturing, SABIC is bringing together the resources and expertise required to create a highly supportive research environment to help advance fused deposition modeling and other additive manufacturing technologies.

As MRC reported earlier, in 2016, SABIC developed next generation LDPE foam grades to increase production efficiency. The first product of a new generation of low density polyethylene (LDPE) foam grades from SABIC was designed to increase production efficiency at the foam manufacturer. The new SABIC LDPE "fast converting" foam grades reduce the time that semi-finished products need to be kept in storage, thanks to faster degassing of the blowing agent. They can therefore reduce the working capital of foam manufacturers drastically. These new SABIC foam grades also help to create additional value by increasing production efficiency through higher material yield.

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) ranks among the worldпїЅs top petrochemical companies. The company is among the worldпїЅs market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US government has added Independent Petroleum Co. (NNK) to its sanctions list, claiming the mid-sized Russian firm has been supplying North Korea with oil products from its refinery in Russia’s Far East, said Yourpetrochemicalnews.

In an announcement on its website, the US Treasury Department noted on June 1 that NNK had a contract to supply crude to North Korea and had shipped oil products worth over USD1 million to the reclusive state.

Primornefteproduct, which is NNK’s distribution arm for oil products manufactured at its Khabarovsk refinery, was also placed under US sanctions. The measures prohibit US nationals and companies from owning stakes in the sanctioned entities or doing business with them.

"The [US] will continue to target individuals and entities responsible for financing and supporting North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, and will continue to increase pressure on this hostile regime," said John Smith, the director of the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The US government also accused NKK of being involved in a scheme designed to circumvent existing US sanctions against Pyongyang, which has recently conducted a number of missile tests deemed a threat to regional security.

NNK’s owner Eduard Khudainatov responded to the latest US sanctions by denying any commercial connection to North Korea. "I am absolutely shocked," he told Russian news agency TASS last week. “I was especially struck by the US administration linking my company to the North Korean nuclear programme – I would not have had the imagination to invent such a thing,” he said, adding: "I regard this as a political order, the purpose of which is to destroy a strong market competitor [and] break negotiations with investors."

In February, reports surfaced of Khudainatov’s intention to sell a stake in NNK, with interested parties including state-controlled Russian oil giant Rosneft, where he previously served as chairman. Russian daily Vedomosti quoted unnamed sources close to the negotiations as saying earlier this week that the Qatari sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), was close to acquiring a 25% interest in NNK.

The fuel supplies cited by the US Treasury would have come from NNK’s Khabarovsk refinery, which is its only downstream facility. The plant lies in Russia’s Far East, operating with a total throughput capacity of 5 million tpy (100,000 bpd) of crude. Production is typically marketed to the surrounding Russian regions of Primorsk, Khabarovsk and Kamchatka as well as the Asia-Pacific region, including China.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indian oil Corp Ltd (IOCL) has delayed the shutdown at its polyethylene (PE) plant at Panipat in northern India, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is likely to be taken off-stream in mid-July 2017 for a period of around 30 days. As per earlier schedule, the plant was to undergo maintenance in early-July 2017.

Located at Panipat in the northern Indian state of Haryana, the PE plant comprising of HDPE line with a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year and HDPE/LLDPE swing line with a production capacity of 175,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, IOCL took-offstream its HDPE unit at Panipat refinery for a brief maintnenance on April 22, 2016. The plant was shut until April 26, 2016.

Indian Oil Corporation Limited, or IndianOil, is an Indian state-owned oil and gas corporation with its headquarters in New Delhi, India.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP announced that the two polyethylene (PE) units of its USD6 B petrochemical investment on the US Gulf Coast successfully achieved the major milestone of mechanical completion, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The PE units are now undergoing a series of rigorous commissioning activities, system checks and final certifications to ensure a safe and reliable start-up, and consistent, high-quality production. Once operational, each PE unit will produce at least 500,000 metric tons of product annually.

"These new units allow us to utilize the abundant natural gas liquid feedstocks provided by the development of shale resources in the United States to meet the growing demand for polyethylene from our global customers producing performance films, high-pressure pipe and packaging," said Peter Cella, president and chief executive officer of Chevron Phillips Chemical. "The hard work of the project team and thousands of engineering, procurement and construction workers, as well as the terrific support from the community surrounding Old Ocean, have made today possible."

The PE units are in Old Ocean, Texas. Ethylene feedstock for the new units will be supplied via the company’s ethylene pipeline and storage system that was also expanded as part of this project. Along with the PE units, the company purchased nearly 3,000 rail cars and constructed a state-of-the-art rail facility with the capacity to store 1,500 rail cars to ship PE pellets to customers around the world.

The final element of the company’s USD6 B US Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project entails the construction of a new ethane cracker in Baytown, Texas, that is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017.

"Achieving mechanical completion of the PE units is a significant step toward bringing the entire investment on line," said Steve Prusak, commercial director, US Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project. "We remain focused on safely starting up these new assets and look forward to completing the entire project in 2017."

As MRC informed before, in early June 2017, Chevron Phillips Chemical announced it had successfully completed a low viscosity polyalphaolefins (PAO) capacity expansion at its Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas. The 20% capacity expansion enables the company to meet the increasing demand for lubricants in automotive and industrial applications. Chevron Phillips Chemical develops and produces PAOs, marketed under the brand name Synfluid PAO, which are used for a variety of applications including engine oils, gear oils and greases.

Chevron Phillips Chemical, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston), US, is one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, piping, and proprietary plastics. Chevron and Phillips 66 each own 50% of Chevron Phillips Chemical.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's output of products from polymers continued to increase in May year on year by 8% under the pressure of seasonal factors. Thus, this figure grew by 5% in January-May 2017, reported MRC analysts.

According to the Russian Federal State Statistics Service, May production of of plastic pipes, hoses and fittings dropped to 44,400 tonnes from 46,600 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of these products totalled 185,200 tonnes in the first five months of 2017, down by 1.3% year on year.

Last month's production of unreinforced and non-combined films was 96,200 tonnes, compared to 84,100 tonnes in April. Output of films products grew in January-May 2017 by 7.3% year on year to 410,600 tonnes.

May production of non-porous boards, sheets and films decreased to 27,300 tonnes from 29,200 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of these products rose in January-May 2017 to 133,300 tonnes, up by 10.7% year on year.

Last month's production of porous boards, sheets and polymer films was 23,000 tonnes, whereas this figure was 21,700 tonnes a months earlier. Overall output of these polymer products fell over the stated period by 1.1% year on year to 97,200 tonnes.

May production of plastic windows and window sills, and door blocks increased to 1.8 million square metres and 74,700 square metres, respectively, versus 1.6 million square metres and 67,900 square metres a month earlier. Output of these products was 6.6 million square metres in the first five months of the year (up by 0.9% year on year) and 319,700 square meteres (down by 8.8% year on year), respectively.
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