Mitsubishi Chemical restarts cracker as scheduled

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical Corp said on 3 July it will restart its 539,000 tonnes per year naphtha cracker as scheduled following planned maintenance, reported Reuters.

The maintenance on the cracker, which has been shut since May 9, was set to be finished on Tuesday, a company spokesman said.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, in December 2017, Ube Industries, JSR Corp. and Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC) received European Commission (EC) approval for the planned integration of their acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) subsidiaries.

Mitsubishi Chemical with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, is a diversified chemical company involved in petrochemicals, polymers, agrochemicals, speciality chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The company's main focus is on three business pillars: petrochemicals, performance and functional products, and health care.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) announced that the Polybutylene Terephthalate Plant (PBT), owned by Sipchem Chemical Company, an affiliate of Sipchem, commenced commercial operations, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The plant is located in Jubail Industrial City. The PBT plant performance tests were completed successfully ensuring efficiency, capacity and product quality. The financial impact of full commercial operations will be reflected in the company financial results as of the third quarter of 2018.

The total production capacity of the PBT Plant is 63,000 MT/year. PBT is a high specialty thermal engineering polymer used in many applications, such as for car manufacturing, electrical/electronic products, and engineering plastic.

On this occasion, Eng. Ahmad Al-Ohali, Chief Executive Officer of Sipchem, commented that the commercial operation of the PBT plant, the first of its kind in the Middle East, is an important step in Sipchem expansion and growth strategy. The addition of the PBT plant will allow Sipchem to further realize the benefit of its integrated package of products and will strengthen the added value chain.

The PBT plant uses Butanediol produced by International Diol Company (IDC), an affiliate of Sipchem, as a feed material for producing the PBT.

Sipchem owns 100% of the capital of Sipchem Chemical Company.

As MRC informed before, in March 2018, Sipchem said it was planning to resume proposed merger talks with Sahara Petrochemical 2260.SE in a deal that could create a 14.7 billion riyals (USD3.9 bln) chemicals company. The two companies called off a planned merger in 2014, citing an inadequate regulatory framework in the kingdom for the collapse.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Covestro has started a cooperation with Chinese internet giant Alibaba. As of 23 April 2018, the company offers its polymer materials in a flagship store on 1688.com, an online platform of Alibaba, as per GV.

The platform is the biggest online business-to-business marketplace in China. Under the link covestrochina.1688.com, polycarbonate as well as pre-products for polyurethane foams, coatings and adhesives will become available. With a maximum quantity order, the flagship store is more tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized customers. Therefore, transactions will be of relatively small volume. As a start, Covestro will offer around 50 products on the Chinese online platform. The second wave of products to launch is already in planning. The company announced that new forms of online commerce will contribute up to EUR 1 billion in accumulated sales until end of 2019.

"Digitalisation rapidly changes customer needs and preferences and offers new business opportunities, especially in the fast growing Chinese economy," said Dr. Markus Steilemann, Chief Commercial Officer and future CEO of Covestro. "For us, China plays a more and more important role not only in terms of market size but also with regard to innovation in relevant markets and technologies. With the launch of an online store on Alibaba we follow our strategy by innovating our business models in close cooperation with our customers."

"We want to make the customer experience more convenient and efficient. Particularly in a market like China, which is at the forefront of digitalisation, we need to be where the customers are and will be. 1688.com is that place," added Xiaobin Zhong, Head of Commercial Operations for the Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties business of Covestro in the Asia Pacific region.

As MRC reported earlier, on 1 September, 2015, Bayer MaterialScience became known as Covestro. The plans for the carve-out of Bayer MaterialScience were announced in September 2014.

Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) is an independent subgroup within Bayer. It was created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG. Covestro manufactures and develops materials such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, polycarbonates (CDs, DVDs), polyurethanes (automotive seating, insulation for refrigerating appliances) etc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Rotork has received major contracts to supply electric and pneumatic valve actuators and valve gearboxes to Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co. Ltd. for flow control in its new refinery and petrochemicals complex, one of the largest in China, at Changxing Island in Dalian City, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The latest contract involves approximately 2,000 explosion-proof electric actuators to operate gate valves and ball valves in tank farms. All these units are Rotork IQ non-intrusive intelligent multi-turn actuators with double-sealed IP68 watertight protection for enhanced reliability, an important consideration in the site’s saline ambient environment. In addition to providing optimum reliability, the IQ actuator is also designed for advanced functionality, particularly in those areas associated with predictive maintenance and asset management.

IQ actuator dataloggers record detailed operating data including valve torque profiles, the number of valve operations and alarms. The ability to download and analyze this information can make a vital contribution to effective long-term asset management of the refinery. The IQ actuators are combined with Rotork Gears IB multi-turn and IW quarter-turn secondary gearboxes to meet the operating demands of the wide range of valve sizes and types.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe has announced price increases for all polycarbonate (PC) grades, as per the company's press release.

Effective July 1, 2018, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below will increase as follows:

- CALIBRE PC resins - by EUR100 per metric ton.

As MRC informed before, Trinseo last raised its prices for PC grades on 1 May 2018, as stated below:

- CALIBRE PC resins - by EUR70 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD4.4 billion in net sales in 2017, with 16 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,200 employees.
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