Brenntag to split into two divisions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ingredients, says that in January 2021 it will split into two global divisions: Brenntag Essentials and Brenntag Specialties. Each division will have a focus on customer- and supplier needs, said Chemweek.

The new operating model forms part of the company’s previously announced transformation program, Project Brenntag. Brenntag says that with the two new divisions it will better leverage on its strengths and sharpen its profile toward relevant industry segments. “We are in a leading position globally and have a resilient business model. However, the requirements of our business partners and industry change,” says Christian Kohlpaintner, CEO of Brenntag. The company is “setting up two global champions with a differentiated steering approach and addressing the diverse market needs and expectations," he says.

Brenntag Essentials will market a portfolio of process chemicals across a range of industries and applications. The division will leverage scale with flexible and cost-efficient delivery at competitive prices and an efficient business process back-end, Brenntag says.

Brenntag Specialties will focus on ingredients and value-added services that are directly used in the production of the customers' end-products. The division will focus on selected industries: nutrition; pharmaceuticals; personal care/home, industrial, and institutional; material science consisting of coatings and construction chemicals, polymers, and rubber; water treatment; and lubricants. These industries are characterized by high regulatory requirements, Brenntag says.

The two divisions’ “differentiated market approach is backed by a globally consistent and advanced customer segmentation and a customized sales organization,” Brenntag says. Brenntag has announced management board changes to reflect the reorganization, effective 1 January 2021. Besides Kohlpaintner and CFO Georg Muller, the company has announced a chief operating officer for each of the new divisions who will both be board members. Steven Terwindt will take over responsibility for Brenntag Essentials as COO and Henri Nejade will lead Brenntag Specialties as COO.

Brenntag says it also plans to appoint a chief transformation officer (CTO), who will join the management board and increase its membership to five. The CTO will, among other responsibilities, lead the company’s overall transformation process, drive functional excellence, and Brenntag’s digital transformation.

As MRC informed earlier, Brenntag says it has acquired the operating assets of Suffolk Solutions’ (Suffolk, Virginia) caustic soda distribution business. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

As MRC informed earlier, Russia's output of chemical products rose in June 2020 by 2.6% year on year. However, production of basic chemicals increased year on year by 4.9% in the first six months of 2020. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the output in January-June. Production of benzene was 106,000 tonnes in June 2020, compared to 110,000 tonnes a month earlier. Overall output of this product reached 721,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 3.9% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SK Innovation announced on Sept. 22 that it plans to hire more than 1,000 skilled American workers by the end of 2021 as it prepares for initial production at the first of two electric vehicle (EV) battery plants in Georgia, the United States, said Businesskorea.

SK Innovation's EV battery plant is one of the largest economic projects in Georgia’s history. The company affirmed its long-range investment plans for the facility that would make Georgia one of the largest hubs of EV battery manufacturing in the world.

SK Innovation, through SK Battery America, its battery business subsidiary in the U.S., recently reached a hiring milestone with the on-boarding of its first 60 employees at the plant site in the city of Commerce. These employees include production supervisors, production/process/electrical engineers and quality/logistics specialists who will set up, work and serve as the trainers for the EV battery production workforce at the two SK Battery America plants.

SK Battery America’s EV plants will directly create more than 2,600 permanent jobs in the Jackson County area by 2024. The company began initial hiring and training employees at the Georgia site with plans to have more than 150 employees by the end of this year. In addition, about 900 employees are expected to be recruited next year. The new jobs will include a range of technical roles from production operators to senior engineers focused on manufacturing highly sophisticated lithium-ion battery cells at scale. To help begin the process of hiring and training workers, SK Battery America has signed a partnership agreement with Quick Start and Lanier Technical College in Georgia.

As MRC reported earlier, SK Global Chemical, a subsidiary of SK Innovation, plans to shut down its production processes for ethylene and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) within its naphtha cracking center in Ulsan, South Korea. The 200,000-t/y naphtha cracker, which started commercial operation in 1972, and the EPDM unit, which began commercial operation in 1992, will be mothballed from December 2020 to shift the company's focus to high-value added chemicals.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.

SK Innovation also recently achieved key construction milestones at the Georgia site with the completion of the exterior of its first manufacturing plant and groundbreaking on the second plant at the same site. The two EV battery plants at Georgia are part of SK Innovation’s USD2.6 billion investment in its U.S. battery business. The first plant is scheduled to begin initial operations in 2021 with mass production in 2022, and the second one is expected to begin mass production in 2023. Together, the two SK Battery America plants will have total annual capacity of 21.5 GWh, which is enough to power more than 300,000 electric vehicles. As the market for EVs continues to grow, SK Innovation is committed to making Georgia a world leader in EV battery manufacturing.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lummus Technology, LLC (Houston) announced that it has been awarded a contract for technology licensing, process design package, training and advisory services, and proprietary catalyst and equipment supply by Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Company LLC (DRPIC), a joint venture between OQ S.A.O.C (OQ) and Kuwait Petroleum Europe B.V., said Chemengonline.

"Our customers benefit from our comprehensive technology portfolio, as we provide them with multiple technologies for one project, combining and integrating these technologies, proprietary equipment, catalyst and services,” said Leon de Bruyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lummus Technology. “This helps our customers reduce their capital and operating costs and assures them that they are working with an aligned project team that minimizes interfaces."

The contract is for the planned new petrochemical complex in Oman with multiple units, including the largest natural gas to liquids unit licensed by Lummus to Oman Oil Facilities Development Company LLC a wholly owned subsidiary of OQ with a capacity of 48 MMSCMD, one of the world’s largest ethylene units with 1,600,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr) ethylene capacity, a butadiene extraction unit with 161,000 m.t./yr butadiene capacity, and a CDMtbe unit (145,000 m.t./yr of MTBE) and 1-Butene separation (51,000 m.t./yr of 1-butene capacity) licensed to DRPIC. The arrangements also include the supply of Lummus’ proprietary catalyst and SRT (Short Residence Time) cracking heaters to the Duqm Petrochemicals Project.

The units are part of the Duqm Petrochemicals Project, which is the second stage of DRPIC’s integrated refinery and petrochemical complex, and will be located at Duqm on the Arabian Sea coast of Oman, approximately 600 km south of Muscat. Other technology licensors on the Duqm Refinery project include OQ Chemicals and LyondellBasell.

As MRC informed earlier. Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL), a flagship company of The Chatt­erjee Group (TCG), alo­ng with its international partner Rhone Capital has acquired US-based Lummus Technology at an enterprise value (EV) of USD2.725 billion (around Rs 20,590 crore) from McDermott International. In the joint acquisition, HPL’s share is at 57 per cent, the balance would be held by Rhone Capital. Under the new dispensation, Lummus Technology wou­ld function as a ‘standalone’ autonomous entity.

As MRC informed earlier, in late March 2020, India's private-sector Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) shut its naphtha cracker after ports in the country declared force majeure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The European Commission says it has proposed today, in the fourth revision of its carcinogens and mutagens directive, the introduction of new limit values for acrylonitrile and nickel compounds, and a revised downward limit value for benzene, to limit further the exposure of EU workers to cancer-causing chemicals, said Chemweek.

The proposal is the first initiative of the Commission's commitment to fight cancer under the upcoming Europe's Beating Cancer plan, it says. The proposal will now be negotiated by the European Parliament and European Council. "A workplace should be a safe place and yet cancer is the cause of half of the deaths linked to work. Today's update to the carcinogens and mutagens directive is one of the first steps in our ambitious plan to beat cancer. It shows that we are determined to act and will not compromise on workers' health,” says Nicolas Schmit, EU commissioner/jobs and social rights.

Each year, about 120,000 work-related cancer cases occur in the EU as a result of exposure to carcinogens, leading to approximately 80,000 fatalities annually, the Commission says. Introducing new or revised occupational exposure limits for acrylonitrile, nickel compounds, and benzene will prevent work-related cases of cancer and other serious illnesses, it says.

Estimates show that more than 1.1 million workers in a wide range of EU sectors will benefit from improved protection thanks to the new rules, the Commission says. The proposal is also expected to benefit companies by reducing costs caused by work-related ill health and cancer, such as absences and insurance payments, it says.

"Today we are taking an important step to protect our workers from the exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace and start our work under our upcoming Europe's Beating Cancer plan. With the plan, we will aim to tackle the main risk factors of cancer for everyone, but also to guide patients at every step of their journey and contribute to improving the life of those affected by this disease," says Stella Kyriakides, EU Commissioner/health and food safety.

The carcinogens and mutagens directive is regularly updated in line with new scientific evidence and technical data, and this new initiative has been developed in close collaboration with scientists and with representatives of workers, employers, and EU member states, the Commission says. Trade unions and employers' organizations were also involved through a two-phase consultation, it says.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's overall PE production totalled 1,712,400 tonnes in the first seven months of 2020, up by 58% year on year. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) accounted for the greatest increase in the output. At the same time, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Nanjing?Thyssenkrupp has won an order from an unnamed client to build a new polylactide (PLA) plant in South China based on its patented PLAneo technology, according to Apic-online.

The facility, scheduled to begin operation in fall of 2021, will produce 30,000 t/y of PLA, a compostable bioplastic made from 100% renewable biomass, making it an "eco-friendly, low-carbon dioxide and economic alternative" to conventional oil-based plastics, Thyssenkrupp noted.

Thyssenkrupp will be responsible for designing the plant and supplying the key components.

Value of the contract was not given.

As MRC wrote before, this summer, Thyssenkrupp and BASF said that they had signed a joint development agreement to expand their cooperation on the STAR dehydrogenation process. The proprietary technology developed by Thyssenkrupp produces propylene from propane feedstock, or iso-butylene from iso-butane feedstock. Under the collaboration, the partners aim to significantly increase the resource and energy efficiency through targeted improvements in catalyst and plant design. Thyssenkrupp will focus on process and BASF on catalyst development. The aim is to lower plant investment and operating costs and to reduce CO2 emissions in the in the future.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, overall PP production in Russia increased in January-July 2020 by 24% year on year to 1,063,700 tonne. ZapSibNeftekhim accounted for the main increase in the output.
MRC