Broanmain Plastics sees increase of new enquiries for its Trudec tile system

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Broanmain Plastics has seen a significant number of new enquiries for its flexible interlocking Trudec floor tile system as manufacturers, educators, retailers, offices, the hospitality sector and gyms start taking tentative planning steps to emerge from lockdown, said Britishplastics.

Used in indoor areas, including factories, warehousing, corridors, shop floors, changing rooms, garages and even high footfall dining areas, such as work and school canteens, employers can swiftly introduce directional messages, reinforce two-metre distancing measurements and safety warnings, which can be easily changed as COVID-19 guidelines evolve.

The bespoke, REACH-compliant interlocking Trudec floor tile system can be designed to meet the most stringent Health & Safety and wellbeing requirements. Available in multiple colours and textures, leaders and facility managers can clearly mark out one-way walkways and queuing systems. Colour zones can also be used to delineate collaborative workspaces.

Made to order in the UK from hygienic, easy clean polyvinyl chloride (PVC), providing the existing flooring is level, the Trudec tile system can even be laid on top of existing tiles and hard surface areas - even heritage tiles and parquet flooring.

The use of interlocking translucent tiles means that as social distancing messages change, the tiles can be lifted, new instructions or directions printed and inserted, and each tile re-laid. By using it successfully in its own production facility, Broanmain staff have continued to operate productively throughout the entire crisis while maintaining social distancing.

Sustainable eco-friendly options are available, using reground plastic materials within the PVC mix that doesn’t compromise the robustness or durability of the tiles’ performance. When the flooring reaches the end of its lifespan, the tiles are fully recyclable.

Broanmain’s managing director Jo Davis, said: “Clearly people need a sign that their employers are invested in their wellbeing. And flooring is one of the first visual things that people see.”

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of unmixed PVC was 249,190 tonnes in January-March 2020, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of emulsion and suspension PVC to the market grew both due to domestic producers and higher imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qatar Petroleum, one of the world’s biggest energy companies, plans a new wave of job cuts and spending reductions to cope with the slump in oil and gas demand which has hit global economies, reported Reuters with reference to two sources familiar with the matter.

Economic lockdowns brought on by the coronavirus pandemic look set to cut global energy demand sharply with business activity stalling across much of the globe as the containment measures hammer the world economy, cementing economists’ views of a deep global recession.

Qatar Petroleum’s (QP) Chief Executive Saad al-Kaabi told the company’s employees in an internal memo of the planned staff cuts which would be finalised after Eid-al-Fitr religious holiday for Muslims, which is towards the end of May, the sources said.

"Like all oil and gas companies QP is looking at reducing expenditure due to the market downturn which... will be weak for some time," one of the sources said, adding that QP’s planned cuts would not impact its energy development plans.

Qatar, a tiny but wealthy country is one of the most influential LNG market players with annual production of 77 million tonnes. It plans to increase its LNG production to 126 million tonnes a year by 2027.

QP will postpone the start of production from its new gas facilities until 2025 following a delay in the bidding process, but is not downsizing the world’s largest LNG project, the North Field expansion, Kaabi told Reuters earlier in April.

The planned job and cost cuts will be the third wave of restructuring by QP over the past 6 years. In 2015, the company said it has reduced its staff numbers in a restructuring and decided to exit all non-core businesses after a plunge in oil and gas prices increased financial pressures on Qatar.

In 2018, it has also merged state-owned LNG producers Qatargas and RasGas into one company.

Kaabi told Reuters in 2018 that QP’s operating costs would be 4 billion Qatar riyals ($1.1 billion) a year lower due to its earlier restructuring, which included cutting as many as 8,000 jobs to create a more streamlined operation.

As MRC informed earlier, Qatar Petroleum said Monday it joined with France's Total to acquire a 45% participating interest in exploration blocks offshore of Cote d'Ivoire. The blocks CI-705 and CI-706 are located in the Ivorian-Tano basin, covering an area of about 3,200 sq. kilometers, Qatar said in a statement. The farm-in agreement marks QP's first foray into Cote d'Ivoire. Terms were not disclosed.

We remind that Total has recently disclosed that it is evaluating construction of a new gas cracker at its Deasan, South Korea, joint venture (JV) with Hanwha Chemical.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 557,060 tonnes in the first three month of 2020, up by 7% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments rose because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. Demand for LDPE subsided. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 267,630 tonnes in January-March 2020, down 20% year on year. Homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers accounted for the main decrease in imports.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell, one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world, has recently announced a USD1.3 million donation to support the COVID-19 response efforts of the Global FoodBanking Network and United States local food banks, according to the company's press release.

"Even in the best of times, hunger and food insecurity is a challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic has made this need even more severe as food banks around the world have experienced an increase in demand and a decline in food donations," said LyondellBasell CEO Bob Patel. "In addition to the work our team is doing to supply materials that are used in medical applications, we wanted to help those who are finding it difficult to put food on the table by supporting these vitally important organizations."

LyondellBasell's donation will support food banks in 17 countries and communities where the company has major operations.

"The pandemic has disrupted various facets of our lives and millions of people, many who have not needed relief before, are depending on our food banking organizations to keep food on the table," said Lisa Moon, President and CEO of The Global FoodBanking Network. "Our network of food banks all over the world is on the front lines of this international pandemic. LyondellBasell's support will help ease the strain food banks are currently feeling and help us reach more people facing hunger during this difficult time. "

Donating funds to supply food for those in need is just one way LyondellBasell has responded during this pandemic. The company recently donated isopropyl alcohol to Huntsman for production of 5-tons of hand sanitizer to help protect health care workers treating COVID-19 patients.

Additionally, LyondellBasell's materials are found in many applications critical to protecting and preserving health and safety such as medical devices, protective equipment, cleaning products, and various pharmaceutical applications. The company continues to supply its customers with a variety of materials including polypropylene resins, which are used to produce melt-blown fibers that provide filtration in facemasks; masterbatch products are used in breathable films for protective suits; and, polypropylene, ethylene oxide, and propylene oxide are used to make medical syringes, medical test kits, soaps, disinfectants, and many other products.

As MRC reported earlier, global petrochemical producer LyondellBasell has reduced rates across its system to accommodate lower demand wrought by shutdowns around the globe to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, said the company's CEO Bob Patel. LyondellBasell's overall global petrochemical and refining assets were expected to operate at 60% to 80% of nameplate capacity through the second quarter, Patel said during the company's first-quarter earnings call. European crackers were seen running at 80% to 85%, while US crackers were expected to run at about 75%, he said.

We also remind that to further aid in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, LyondellBasell (LBI) donated a key ingredient to Huntsman Corporation to produce hand sanitizer for US first responders.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 557,060 tonnes in the first three month of 2020, up by 7% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments rose because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. Demand for LDPE subsided. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 267,630 tonnes in January-March 2020, down 20% year on year. Homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers accounted for the main decrease in imports.

LyondellBasell is one of the largest plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world. Driven by its 13,000 employees around the globe, LyondellBasell produces materials and products that are key to advancing solutions to modern challenges like enhancing food safety through lightweight and flexible packaging, protecting the purity of water supplies through stronger and more versatile pipes, and improving the safety, comfort and fuel efficiency of many of the cars and trucks on the road. LyondellBasell sells products into approximately 100 countries and is the world's largest licensor of polyolefin technologies.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Braskem, the largest polyolefins producer in the Americas and leading producer of biopolymers in the world, and Advanced Laser Materials (ALM) a leader in materials development for additive manufacturing (AM), have announced the availability of polypropylene (PP) powder for Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) industrial 3D printing, as per Braskem's press release.

Braskem and ALM began their partnership in 2018, focusing on the development of innovative polyolefin-based powders for SLS. This new polypropylene powder for SLS is the first product launched under the joint collaboration. The launch brings enhanced benefits to the SLS AM process including lightweighting, moisture resistance, durable living hinge capabilities, improved recyclability, chemical resistance, enhanced processing stability, as well as elongation at break and flexibility is comparable to injection molding PP grades.

Jason Vagnozzi, Braskem Additive Manufacturing Leader, North America, commented, "Looking to the future, we see exciting new opportunities for innovation in the additive manufacturing markets. As a global leader in polyolefins, collaborating with ALM who offers the largest selection of laser sintering solutions and is a pioneer of materials development for industrial 3D printing was a natural fit, creating a powerful combination. Bringing these two organizations together made it possible to transform our innovative vision into reality, with our polypropylene for additive manufacturing delivering superior printing capabilities versus other available materials."

As the first commercial product launch between Braskem and ALM, today's announcement forms the foundation upon which both companies intend to expand their range of offerings to include additional polyolefins for laser powder bed fusion over time.

"ALM material variety has long been a limiting factor in the adoption of AM for serial production. We continue to partner with leading material manufacturers with the aim of diversifying the SLS portfolio unleashing the true potential of AM. Collaborating with Braskem as the leading provider of polypropylene in the US is the perfect match to offer a true PP solution to the additive market. We aim to offer a product that is superior in quality and reliability, that is also scalable in supply and very competitive in price," says Donnie Vanelli, Senior Vice President of EOS Life Cycle Solutions.

SLS is an AM process that uses lasers and thermal energy to sinter polymer powder to produce the highest quality three-dimensional, solid geometries. SLS technologies are used in industrial applications for a broad array of manufacturing segments such as automotive, aerospace, packaging, consumer goods, and more.

As MRC informed earlier, Braskem is no longer pursuing a petrochemical project, which would have included an ethane cracker, in West Virginia. And the company is seeking to sell the land that would have housed the cracker. The project, announced in 2013, had been on Braskem's back burner for several years.

Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 557,060 tonnes in the first three month of 2020, up by 7% year on year. High density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) shipments rose because of the increased capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. Demand for LDPE subsided. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 267,630 tonnes in January-March 2020, down 20% year on year. Homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers accounted for the main decrease in imports.

Braskem S.A. produces petrochemicals and generates electricity. The Company produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, xylenes, butadiene, butene, isoprene, dicyclopentediene, MTBE, caprolactam, ammonium sulfate, cyclohexene, polyethylene theraphtalat, polyethylene, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Overall imports of expandable polystyrene (EPS) to the Russian market fell in the first four months of 2020 by 17% year on year to 5,300 tonnes, according to MRC's DataScope report.

This figure was at 6,300 tonnes in January-April 2019.

The Finnish producer Styrochem's material accounted for the bulk of EPS shipments - 45% of the total EPS imports into the country. Imports of Finnish material decreased over the stated period by 3% year on year: to 2,350 tonnes from 2,430 tonnes a year earlier.

At the same time, one of the supply leaders, Loyal, halved its shipments to the region. The share of Loyal imports was 13% (660 tonnes) in January-April 2020 versus 23% (1,440 tonnes) a year earlier.

April EPS imports to Russia fell by 46% year on year to 1,020 tonnes from 1,890 tonnes a year earlier, imports of material into the country were 1,880 tonnes in March 2020.

MRC