Loop, Suez link up for proposed PET recycling plant in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Loop Industries (Montreal, Canada) and Suez (Paris, France) say they have formed a partnership with the aim of building a facility in Europe dedicated to the recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), according to Chemweek.

Site selection and engineering are targeted for completion by mid-2021, with commissioning of the facility projected for 2023, they say. No potential investment figure has been released.

The partnership will combine Suez’s resource management expertise and Loop’s patented low-energy technology for the production of 100% recycled plastics to help meet demand from global brands for recycled content for packaging, according to the companies in a joint statement. The facility “will respond to huge growth in demand in Europe from global beverage and consumer goods brand companies, committed to aggressive targets for a high level of recycled content in their products,” they say. The facility will have the potential to produce the equivalent of approximately 4.2 billion food-grade beverage bottles per year made of 100% recycled PET plastics, they say.

In 2019 Suez processed 450,000 metric tons of plastics in Europe, producing 150,000 metric tons of recycled plastics, Suez says. The company has been involved in mechanical plastics recycling for over 10 years, it says. Suez is “highly convinced by the complementarity between mechanical and chemical recycling solutions,” says Jean-Marc Boursier, the company’s COO.

Loop says that utilizing its technology at the proposed facility would enable savings of 180,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually, compared with producing virgin PET via a traditional petrochemical process. “Europe is leading the charge against petroleum-based plastics: through tougher regulations and taxes, they are setting a global example on transitioning to a more circular economy,” says Loop’s CEO Daniel Solomita.

Europe consumes approximately 5.5 million metric tons/year of PET, with less than 7% making its way back into bottles, the companies say. The proposed facility would bring an end-of-life solution to plastic waste not currently being recycled and directly increase recycling rates in the country where it is built.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption totalled 367,720 tonnes in the first six months of 2020, up by 19% year on year. Russian companies processed 62,910 tonnes in June.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials company, has increased September list and off-list selling prices for Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) sold in China, as per the company's press release.

The price increase is effective for orders shipped on or after 2 September, 2020, or as contracts otherwise allow, and is incremental to any previously announced increases.

Thus, September VAM prices rose for the Chinese region by RMB700/mt.

As MRC reported earlier, the company last raised its VAM prices for China on 8 July, 2020, by RMB300/mt.

According to MRC's DataScope report, June EVA imports to Russia fell by 22,5% year on year to 2,940 tonnes from 3,800 tonnes a year earlier, and overall imports of this grade of ethylene copolymer into the Russian Federation dropped in January-June 2020 by 8,16% year on year to 17,440 tonnes (18,980 tonnes a year earlier).

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,700 employees worldwide and had 2019 net sales of USD6.3 billion.
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1. Viva Energy warns it may shut refinery on demand plunge

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Australia’s Viva Energy Group announced it may be able to resume full output at its Victorian refinery if coronavirus lockdown curbs are eased, but warned a full shutdown is still in the cards given the dire long-term outlook for the industry, said Hydrocarbonprocessing. A virus-driven demand slump has battered Australia’s oil refiners and sparked threats of closures, prompting the government to launch talks with the industry on how to shore up the sector. Viva, which has already reduced production at its Geelong refinery, said if COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed as foreshadowed and fuel demand recovers, the refinery could return to full production in November 2020.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ufaorgsintez (UOS, a petrochemical asset of Bashneft), plans to begin shutting down its polypropylene (PP) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) polyethylene (LDPE) production capacities for maintenance from 12 September, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The plant's customers said UOS intends to completely shut its PP production for a scheduled turnaround, which will last until October 6, on 12 September. The plant's first LDPE line (108 grade polyethylene - PE) will be taken off-stream for maintenance on 12 September, the outage will be longer and will last until 11 October.

Ufaorgsintez's overall LDPE and PP production capacities are 90,000 and 120,000 tonnes per year, respectively.

It is also worth noting that the plant's second LDPE line (158 and 153 grade PE) was shut for a turnaround on 25 August. At the same time, the outage was originally planned until 17 September, but this week it became known that the turnaround was extended until 27 September.

As reported earlier, Kazanorgsintez will begin a gradual shutdown for maintenance at its LDPE production next week, the outage will also last until mid-October. The plant's annual production capacity is 225,000 tonnes.

PJSC Ufaorgsintez produces phenol, acetone, synthetic ethylene-propylene rubber, high and low pressure polyethylene, polypropylene, more than 30 types of petrochemical products and over 25 consumer products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil futures clawed back some of the losses they sustained in the previous session, but a rebound in COVID-19 cases in some countries undermined hopes for a steady recovery in global demand, reported Reuters.

Brent crude LCOc1 was up 29 cents, or 0.7%, at USD40.07 a barrel by 1339 GMT after dropping more than 5% on Tuesday to fall below USD40 a barrel for the first time since June.

US crude CLc1 was up 57 cents, or 1.6%, at USD37.33 a barrel, having fallen nearly 8% in the previous session.

Both major oil benchmarks are trading close to three-month lows.

The global health crisis continues to flare with coronavirus cases rising in India, Great Britain, Spain and several parts of the United States.

The outbreaks are threatening to slow a global economic recovery and reduce demand for fuels from aviation gas to diesel.

“Short-term oil market fundamentals look soft: the demand recovery is fragile, inventories and spare capacity are high, and refining margins are low,” Morgan Stanley said.

Yet, the bank raised its Brent price forecast slightly higher to USD50 a barrel for the second half of 2021 with the dollar weakening and rising inflation expectations, it said.

Record supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+ have helped support prices, but with grim economic figures being reported almost daily, the outlook for demand for oil remains bleak.

China’s factory gate prices fell for a seventh straight month in August although at the slowest annual pace since March, suggesting industries in the world’s second-biggest economy continued their recovery from the coronavirus-induced downturn.

Earlier this year, as MRC wrote before, BP said the deadly coronavirus outbreak could cut global oil demand growth by 40 per cent in 2020, putting pressure on Opec producers and Russia to curb supplies to keep prices in check.

And in September 2019, six world's major petrochemical companies in Flanders, Belgium, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Netherlands (Trilateral Region) announced the creation of a consortium to jointly investigate how naphtha or gas steam crackers could be operated using renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels. The Cracker of the Future consortium, which includes BASF, Borealis, BP, LyondellBasell, SABIC and Total, aims to produce base chemicals while also significantly reducing carbon emissions. The companies agreed to invest in R&D and knowledge sharing as they assess the possibility of transitioning their base chemical production to renewable electricity.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia dropped in January-June 2020 by 7% year on year to 328,000 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the main decrease in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia rose in the first six months of 2020 by 21% year on year to 105,300 tonnes. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
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