ExxonMobil tests advanced recycling of plastic waste at Baytown

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil has completed the initial phase of a plant trial of an advanced recycling process for converting plastic waste into raw materials for production of polymers, said Chemweek.

ExxonMobil intends to use results from the trial, at existing facilities in Baytown, Texas, to scale-up advanced recycling capabilities at other global facilities, targeting a circular solution for converting difficult-to-recycle plastic waste into feedstock for virgin-quality plastic.

ExxonMobil also announced today that it has formed a joint venture with Agilyx's Cyclyx International business to develop solutions for aggregating and pre-processing large volumes of plastic waste that can be converted into feedstocks. ExxonMobil holds a 25% equity interest in Cyclyx with Agilyx owning the remaining 75%. Advanced recycling involves breaking down plastic waste to its molecular building blocks which are then used as raw material in the process of making virgin-quality plastic.

"This advanced recycling initiative brings together the strength of ExxonMobil’s integrated petrochemical facilities and our deep technology expertise in chemical processing to capture value from plastic waste and meet our customers’ growing demand for high-performance, certified circular polymers," said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Chemical.

Pending successful completion of the next phase of the Baytown plant trial, ExxonMobil Chemical plans to market commercial volumes of certified circular plastics later this year. Cyclyx will help supply ExxonMobil’s advanced recycling projects and aims to do the same for other customers. “This is a significant milestone for Agilyx and Cyclyx, as it marks the beginning of an entirely new approach to plastic waste recovery," said Tim Stedman, Agilyx CEO.

Cyclyx is seeking other companies to join as members, connecting waste producers with advanced and mechanical recyclers. Members could include retailers, brand owners, waste management companies, petrochemical companies, municipalities and others looking for solutions to address plastic waste in the environment.

As MRC informed before, earlier this week, ExxonMobil Corp said it will close its 72-year-old Altona refinery in Australia, the country’s smallest, and convert it to a fuel import terminal as refiners struggle with low demand.

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.

ExxonMobil is the largest non-government owned company in the energy industry and produces about 3% of the world"s oil and about 2% of the world's energy.
MRC

1. Siegfried reports higher profits, sales with growth in all businesses

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Siegfried says its core net profit for 2020 increased 10.4%, to 72.2 million Swiss francs (USD79.6 million) on sales up 1.4%, to SFr845.1 million, said Chemweek. Core EBITDA also grew by 6.2%, to SFr149.4 million. The positive performance was driven by growth in the company’s two businesses with sales in drug substances going up 1.4%, to SFr647.8 million, and drug products’ sales increasing 1.2%, to SFr197.2 million. Fourth-quarter figures have not been disclosed. Siegfried expects “a significant jump” in sales in 2021, to well above SFr1 billion, driven by robust organic growth in all business areas, the contributions of the two former Novartis sites, and the additional business from a cooperation and supply agreement with BioNTech for the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The shortage of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) remained in the world, and in recent weeks it has been exacerbated by a series of force majeure shutdown of the largest US producers. Many producers announced further price rise for March shipment; Russian producers also announced price increase for March shipment, according to the ICIS-MRC Price Report.

World PVC prices have been dynamically growing since the middle of last year due to tight supply. Export prices fell slightly in some regions in January, including in China. But already in the second half of February, the situation changed dramatically due to a series of unplanned shutdowns of key producers in the United States.

After a short pause, Russian producers also announced their plans to increase prices by roubles (Rb) 4,000-5,000/tonne in March. Domestic PVC prices in China decreased in January, so export prices were also cut, including for Russian buyers.

The lower price level in China in comparison with domestic material led to a surge in demand from Russian companies.
And by mid-February, the first volumes of Chinese acetylene PVC began to appear on the Russian market this year.
Russian converters have a hope that the arrival of an imported PVC will temporarily stop the rise in PVC prices, which has not stopped since June last year.

But since this week, the situation in the Chinese domestic market began to change sharply, PVC prices began to rise dynamically. During the week, prices rose by more than 15%.

And along with the rise in domestic prices, Chinese producers began to adjust export prices, one of the producers announced an increase in export prices for March shipments by USD200/tonne compared to the level at the beginning of February.

Despite the winter period, when the demand for polyvinyl chloride in the market is at a minimum, Russian producers do not have an excess of polymer. Moreover, PVC with K70 is in small shortage. At the same time, there was virtually no import alternative.

Negotiations over March shipments of Russian PVC began on Tuesday, deliveries of Russian PVC with K64/67 were discussed in the range of Rb116,000-120,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, for quantities of less than 500 tonnes versus Rb112,000-115,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Last Saturday, after a long break at the State Commodity and Raw Materials Stock Exchange of Turkmenistan, the export trades for Turkmenbashi refinery's polypropylene (PP) were resumed. 1,000 tonnes of PP were sold at record high prices over the past two years, according to the ICIS-MRC Price Report.

According to the bidders, on Saturday, 20 February, at the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of Turkmenistan, 1,000 tonnes of PP raffia grade produced by the Turkmenbashi refinery was offered for export shipment. The starting price was set at USD1,050/tonne FOB / FCA.

During the trades, the price of polypropylene grew dynamically and reached USD1,515/tonne FOB / FCA, the total volume of PP was sold in one day. The previous export trades of PP produced by the Turkmenbashi refinery were held on December 8 and 9 last year, and then 5,000 tonnes of PP raffia grade were sold at prices of USD1,046-1,050/tonne FOB / FCA.

It is also worth noting that in March 2020, export sales of polypropylene from the Kiyanlyn Polymer Plant ended at USD750/tonne FOB / FCA.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Russia slightly exceeded 500 tonnes in January, down by 68% year on year. At the same time, exports decreased by 15%, according to MRC's DataScope report.

Last month's external supplies of SPVC in Russia fell to 500 tonnes against 1,600 tonnes and 6,000 tonnes in January and December last year.
High prices of PVC in the foreign markets and long New Year holidays put serious pressure on import purchases of PVC from Russian companies.

Thus, overall imports were 40,800 tonnes in January-December 2020, compared to 50,900 tonnes a year earlier, with PVC from China and the United States accounting for the main reduction in imports. At the same time, despite rather high prices for PVC in foreign markets, Russian producers have reduced export sales in favour of the domestic market.

Thus, the total export of Russian suspension PVC in January amounted to about 14,500 tonnes (excluding shipments to Belarus and Kazakhstan) against 17,000 tonnes and 11,700 tonnes a year earlier in January and December last year. Thus, overall exports of PVC from Russia totalled 192,700 tonnes in 2020 versus 204,400 tonnes a year earlier.
MRC