Kemira hikes prices in Americas for polymers, pulp, paper chemicals

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kemira (Helsinki, Finland) has announced price increases in the Americas for its entire range of polymer products for the water treatment and oil and gas industries, effective immediately or as contract terms allow, reported Chemweek.

Product prices will rise by between 3-18%.

“Recent economic rebound and positive developments in many downstream markets have led to unforeseen cost increases for key raw materials and energy,” it says.

Kemira also announced a separate price increase in the Americas for most process and functional chemicals for pulp and paper applications late last week. The 5-15% rise in prices is effective on shipments made on or after 1 March 2021 or as contracts otherwise allow. “Rapidly escalating costs for raw materials, energy, packaging, and transportation make this price adjustment necessary,” it says.

The company raised its polymer prices in the EAME region in January.

As MRC informed earlier, in September 2020, Kemira signed a multi year extension of its polymer supply agreement with Ithaca Energy. Kemira said it had signed a multiyear extension to its polymer supply agreement with Ithaca Energy (Aberdeen, UK). The agreement extends the contract between the two companies, signed in 2018, covering the supply of polymers to enhance oil extraction performance at one of the assets operated by Ithaca Energy in the UK North Sea.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. announced that its subsidiary Tecnimont SpA, through its Indian entity Tecnimont Private Limited, has been awarded an EPCC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning) contract by Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), for the implementation of new Acrylic Acid and Butyl Acrylate Units, for the production of relevant high added value products for the chemical market, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The units will be located in Dumad, near Vadodara, in the Gujarat state, in India. The overall value of the contract is about USD255 million. The project scope entails Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning activities up to the Performance Guarantees Test Run. Once completed, the new Acrylic Acid Unit will have a capacity of 90,000 tons per year, while the new Butyl Acrylate Unit will have a capacity of 150,000 tons per year. The time schedule is 26 months for Mechanical Completion.

"After the recent announcement of the MoU with IOCL to support the industrialization of green chemistry and circular economy in India, we consolidate a strategic relationship with such a prominent client also in the petrochemical business. Our technology-driven strategy enabled us once again to seize opportunities in a market with a very promising downstream investment cycle, thanks to the growing demand for petrochemical products. Finally, in sync with the strategic vision of the Government of India aimed at maximizing the “In Country Value”, our Indian entity will execute the job as a single point of responsibility, confirming its strong capabilities in managing big complex projects," Pierroberto Folgiero, Maire Tecnimont Group Chief Executive Officer said.

As per MRC, Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. announced that its subsidiaries Tecnimont S.p.A. and KT - Kinetics Technology S.p.A. have signed with SOCAR’s subsidiary Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery two Engineering, Procurement and Construction contracts, as part of the Modernization and Reconstruction of Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery in Baku, Azerbaijan. SOCAR is the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic. The overall contracts’ value equals to approximately USD 160 million.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A federal appeals court has handed a victory to environmentalists challenging the EPA’s registration of the insecticide, sulfoxaflor, said Chemweek.

The verdict also denies a request by the Agency to remand the approval to allow it to complete the required review of the potential impacts of legal uses of the insecticide on endangered species. The US Court of Appeals rejected the EPA’s motion to remand without comment, laying out a schedule for the case to proceed and for it to consider whether the Agency’s 2019 registration amendments for sulfoxaflor violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The legal dispute stretches back to the Agency’s 2013 unconditional registration for sulfoxaflor. That registration – granted to Corteva Agriscience legacy business Dow AgroSciences – swiftly drew litigation from a coalition of environmentalists and beekeepers led by the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the Center for Biological Diversity. They argued that the EPA had classified the insecticide as "very highly toxic" to bees and lacked adequate data on the risks to pollinators.

The EPA and Dow argued that the Agency should have been shown deference to make its judgement about the risks and benefits of sulfoxaflor, but the Ninth Circuit concluded that the EPA had simply failed to follow its own rules. In its September 2015 ruling, the Court found that the EPA had relied on "flawed and limited" data when it issued the registration and failed to adequately assess the impacts on pollinators. The Court called on the EPA to vacate the registration and obtain further studies and data regarding the effects of sulfoxaflor on bees.

The EPA revoked Dow’s registration in November 2015 and then granted an amended approval in October 2016 for uses on crops that are not attractive to bees – the new licence imposed several restrictions, including buffer zones and prohibitions on tank mixing.

The EPA moved to shift the debate in October 2020, acknowledging that it had failed to complete the required ESA review and asking the court to remand the registration to allow it to carry out its obligations. The Agency warned that farmers could turn to more harmful alternatives if sulfoxaflor was pulled from the market and suggested that it begin the ESA assessment by 2025.

The EPA argued that the ESA review could lead to additional actions under the FIFRA and said that the Court retain jurisdiction to allow for review of the pesticide law claims after the ESA analysis is complete. “Thus, EPA is not seeking to ‘get out of jail free’ or otherwise evade review,” the Agency told the Court.

The plaintiffs – along with a coalition of 11 states – pushed back, arguing that a remand would allow the EPA to indefinitely dodge legal review of the FIFRA allegations and urging the Ninth Circuit to deny the EPA’s request.

CFS senior attorney Sylvia Wu welcomed the decision, stating that “EPA does not get to put off its legal duty just so that pesticide companies can continue to sell their toxic products”. The Court’s order calls on the petitioners to file their opening briefs by February 16th.

As per MRC, US Environmental Protection Agency said it would propose to extend deadlines for refiners to prove compliance with biofuel laws, but signaled it would not decide on a slew of pending waiver requests submitted by the industry. The agency’s proposal represented mixed news for refiners hard hit by slumping energy demand during the coronavirus pandemic and eager to sidestep regulatory costs associated with US biofuel blending policy. It also marks one of the last actions from President Donald Trump’s EPA before he leaves office on Jan. 20.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chemical distributor Oqema (Korschenbroich, Germany) says it has taken a majority stake in CB Chemie (Drassburg, Austria), a company founded in 2016 by Christian Braunshier, reported Chemweek.

CB Chemie focuses on distributing specialty chemicals to the construction, and paints and coatings industry. It has a subsidiary, CB Nutrition, specialized in supplying natural ingredients to the food industry. The acquisition will “drive synergies in food and life sciences, especially in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria,” Oqema says.

The size of Oqema’s majority stake and financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Braunshier, CEO of CB Chemie, will continue to lead the company as a shareholder and managing partner.

“CB Chemie is a start-up with high ambitions for growth and an excellent track record for growth over the last three years,” says Hartmut Kunz, CFO of Oqema.

As MRC informed earlier, last month, the Oqema Group, a chemical distributor, said it had acquired Claus Nitsche & Sohn (Nitsche; Hamburg, Germany). Nitsche supplies essential oils, natural flavors, fragrance ingredients, and ingredient solutions, and the portfolio will complement Oqema’s flavor and fragrance range.

We remind that Russia's output of chemical products rose in November 2020 by 9.5% year on year. At the same time, production of basic chemicals increased in the first eleven months of 2020 by 6.6% year on year, according to Rosstat's data. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, polymers in primary form accounted for the greatest increase in the January-November 2020 output. November production of polymers in primary form rose to 896,000 tonnes from 852,000 tonnes in October. Overall output of polymers in primary form totalled 9,240,000 tonnes over the stated period, up by 17.1% year on year.

Oqema had 2019 sales of about EUR900.0 million USD1.1 billion).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- OQ Chemicals (Monheim am Rhein, Germany) says it will increase prices for several of its oxo alcohol and oxo acetate ester products in the Americas with immediate effect or as contracts allow, according to Chemweek.

The oxo intermediates price hike is due to strong demand and increasing raw material costs, it says. The company had previously announced price increases in the Americas for the same products in both January and February, and on 26 January further announced sales control due to increased demand and shortage of supply for its US oxo intermediate products produced at its Bay City, Texas, site.

OQ has increased the price of 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) by USD0.17/lb in North America and Mexico and by USD375/metric ton in South America. The prices of n-butanol and isobutanol have both been raised by USD0.15/lb in North America and Mexico, and by USD330/metric ton in South America, while n-butyl acetate and isobutyl acetate have both increased by USD0.10/lb in North America and Mexico, and by USD220/metric ton in South America.

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 ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,220,640 tonnes in 2020, up by 2% year on year. Only shipments of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market reached 1 240,000 tonnes in 2020 (calculated using the formula: production, minus exports, plus imports, exluding producers' inventories as of 1 January, 2020).

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