Equipolymers improves Viridis PET grade, now made with 30% recycled feedstock

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Equate’s Equipolymers (EQP) subsidiary has launched Viridis 30, a food-grade polyethylene terephthalate (PET) manufactured with 30% chemically recycled PET as feedstock, accoridng to GV.

The Viridis grade was started in 2009, with the support of the Coca-Cola Co., when EQP launched Viridis 10, made with 10 % chemically recycled PET. Last January, it produced its first successful batch of Viridis 25, which uses up to 25% chemically recycled PET. Viridis 30 is expected to be commercially available to the European market from the first quarter of 2021.

“Viridis 30 is a significant achievement for EQP and for the petrochemical industry,” said Muayad Al Faresi, global business director for PET at EQP. “As global demand increases, the transformation of our industry is necessary to create new products that are more sustainable in the long term. The development of Viridis 30 is aligned with the EU’s (European Union) target to achieve 25 % rPET (recycled PET) in packaging by 2025, and 30 % by 2030. It highlights our commitment towards innovation – this is a breakthrough that will have far reaching environmental, social and business benefits.”

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption reached 61,110 tonnes in November 2020, up by 1% year on year. Overall consumption of PET in Russia reached 648,110 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020, down by 18% year on year.

Equipolymers is a company dedicated to the manufacture and marketing of PET resins. The company is a fully owned subsidiary of MEGlobal.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India’s state run oil and gas explorer ONGC’s plan to merge its refining subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd ( MRPL ) with Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) has got delayed, according to Kemicalinfo with reference to a report by IANS.

The process is now expected to be complete by 2024.

The merger was aimed at aligning ONGC’s upstream and downstream operations into two verticals. But ONGC has decided to consolidate its refining and petrochemicals business around MRPL first before going for the merger.

According to IANS, the process of merging the two oil refining subsidiaries would start only after the company completes merging ONGC Mangalore Petrochemical Ltd (OMPL) with MRPL.

Company sources said that the merger of HPCL and MRPL under conservative assumptions could happen by end of 2024 as the MRPL-OMPL merger has to happen first and that the business should continue for five years with late 2019 as the effective date of their merger at the least.

The merger could begin within next two years as OMPL is likely to get merged with MRPL by then.

Last October, MRPL board approved the acquisition of 49% stake in OMPL making OMPL a 100% subsidiary of MRPL.

As MRC informed earlier, in 2015, MRPL initiated its downward integration by amalgamation with OMPL.

OMPL is the largest single stream unit in Asia producing 914 KTPA paraxylene and 283 KTPA Benzene.

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), is an oil refinery at Mangalore and is a subsidiary of ONGC, set up in 1993. The refinery is located at Katipalla, north from centre of Mangalore city. The refinery was established after displacing five villages of Bala, Kalavar, Kuthetoor, Katipalla, and Adyapadi.

PX is a feedstock for the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA). PTA is used to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which, in its turn, is used in the manufacturing of plastic bottles, films, packaging containers, in the textile and food industries.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PET consumption reached 61,110 tonnes in November 2020, up by 1% year on year. Overall consumption of PET in Russia reached 648,110 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020, down by 18% year on year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a move designed to expand its distribution area, Italian compostable bioplastics supplier Novamont has acquired BioBag Group, a Norway-based supplier of low-impact solutions for waste collection and packaging, said Canplastics.

The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Both companies have worked together for more than two decades, and Novamont expects the acquisition to increase its geographic reach to areas where it is less present.

BioBag has developed a growing eCommerce platform, which is an important market channel for their existing applications and for the expanded product range that will be derived from Novamont’s innovations and upstream integration.

“This agreement allows Novamont to expand its model of circular bioeconomy,” Novamont CEO Catia Bastioli said in a Jan. 12 statement. “By joining our best skills and energies and fully integrating our supply chains we can better serve our partners upstream and downstream while further accelerating circular solutions for different market sectors and for communities pursuing our goal of producing more with less."

As MRC informed earlier, Mater-Bi, a company wholly controlled by the Novamont group, is a manufacturer of ORIGO–BI, biopolyesters with a high level of renewables, components of MATER-BI compostable bioplastics. The plant has been built to manufacture PET by reconversion of the former Mossi & Ghisolfi plant. The renovation included regeneration, modification and in some cases wholly renewal of its various sections to implement innovative technologies developed by Novamont in the form of a continuous process.

As per MRC's ScanPlast, Russia's estimated PET consumption reached 61,110 tonnes in November 2020, up by 1% year on year. Overall PET consumption in Russia reached 648,110 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020, down by 18% year of year.

Headquartered in Novara, near Milan, Novamont has commercial offices in Germany, France, Spain, and the U.S., and operates through its own distributors in 40 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- OQ Chemicals (Monheim am Rhein, Germany) is to increase the price of 2-ethylhexanoic acid (2-EHA) in the US, effective 1 February 2021 or as contracts allow, citing supply and demand, reported Chemweek.

The price of 2-EHA will rise by 5 cents per pound, it says.

The company announced price hikes in the Americas last week for neopentyl glycol and oxo intermediates, citing increasing raw material costs and strong demand, also to be implemented on 1 February.

As MRC wrote before, in September 2020, OQ Chemicals entered into an agreement to license its advanced proprietary technology for the production of ethylene and propylene derivatives to Duqm Refinery and Petrochemicals Industries Company (DRPIC) in Oman. DRPIC, a joint venture between Oman Oil Company and Kuwait International Oil Company, is a planned grassroots petrochemical complex at Duqm, Oman. In all, DRPIC awarded twelve license packages to international licensors.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

OQ Chemicals, formerly Oxea, is a global manufacturer of oxo intermediates and oxo derivatives, such as alcohols, polyols, carboxylic acids, specialty esters, and amines. These products are used for the production of high-quality coatings, lubricants, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, flavours and fragrances, printing inks and plastics. OQ Chemicals is part of OQ, an integrated energy company that delivers sustainability and business excellence. OQ operates in 16 countries and covers the entire value chain from exploration and production to the marketing and distribution of its products.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Germany-based chemical giant BASF has opened its ASEAN Technical Development Center adjacent to its existing polyurethane (PU) system house at its Bangpoo site in Thailand, said Canplastics.

In a news release, BASF said the new facility houses a state-of-the-art pre-polymer reactor technology to produce hardeners (component B) that are keys component to boost product development efficiency, thereby enabling faster time-to-market of PU materials and solutions.

The advanced reactor technology is further designed to deliver on a much larger capacity, meeting most demanding customer requirements across all grades. The new pre-polymer reactor technology is additionally capable of developing customized PU System products, which helps improve the commercialization of these specialized solutions.

"The ASEAN Technical Development Center also boasts several new service upgrades, such as more advanced testing and software capabilities,” BASF said. “With the new pre-polymer reactor technology, the ASEAN Technical Center strengthens and complements our technical support network in China, Korea, and Germany."

“Through the ASEAN Technical Development Center, we are better positioned to support our customers and help them capitalize on growth opportunities in ASEAN across key industries and applications,” said Andy Postlethwaite, senior vice president, performance materials Asia Pacific, BASF. “Together with the expanded polyurethane system house, we are demonstrating our commitment to ASEAN, with even more reliable supply, as well as technical expertise and innovation capabilities."

BASF previously increased the production capacity of its polyurethane system house in Bangpoo as part of a move to better meet the growing demand across automotive, consumer, construction, and industrial markets in ASEAN. With a total production area of 2,700 m2, the redesigned system house includes additional mixing vessels, reactors, and storage tanks.

The ASEAN car market by production volume continues to grow with differentiated products and emerging applications, BASF said. “Thailand and Indonesia are among the largest automotive industries in Southeast Asia, while Vietnam is already one of the world’s largest footwear exporters, and its industry is expected to grow as more manufacturers are relocating their manufacturing base there,” the company added.

As per MRC, BASF announced that the implementation of the methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) capacity increase programme for production facilities at its Verbund site in Geismar, LA, USA, is progressing on schedule. Over time, the company targets to double the capacity from 300,000 t/y to approximately 600,000 t/y. BASF said with this stepwise capacity addition, it will support the ongoing growth of its North American MDI customers.

As MRC reported earlier, nn 17 December, 2020, BASF opened its ASEAN Technical Development Center adjacent to its existing polyurethane (PU) System House at Bangpoo site in Thailand. The new facility houses a state-of-the-art pre-polymer reactor technology to produce a hardener (component B) - a key component to boost product development efficiency, thereby enabling faster time-to-market of PU materials and solutions.

We remind that German chemicals maker BASF said in early November it had put a project to build a petrochemicals complex in India worth up to USD4 billion on hold due to the economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. BASF signed a memorandum of understanding with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Adani Group and Borealis AG in October 2019 to evaluate a collaboration to build the chemical site in Mundra, in India’s Gujarat state.

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

According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC