Trinseo and BASF to cooperate on circular styrenic plastics

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders and synthetic rubber, and BASF, the world's largest petrochemical company, have announced the intention to expand their businesses with the production of styrene monomer (SM) based on circular feedstock, said BASF in its press release.

The enhanced collaboration between Trinseo and BASF aims to increase efforts by both companies in the development and management of SM featuring an improved environmental profile.

Trinseo has recently been procuring first supplies of the synthetical chemical styrene based on circular feedstock from BASF for use in its Solution-Styrene Butadiene Rubber (S-SBR) and polystyrene (PS) products. Trinseo supplies S-SBR to major tires manufacturers while its PS products are used in applications such as food packaging and appliances. The first few customers have already processed the material.

“By creating synergy across the value chain, the Trinseo-BASF collaboration is an important move towards helping our customers reach their sustainability goals as well as the development of a truly circular economy,” said Nicolas Joly, Vice President, Plastics & Feedstocks of Trinseo. “The initiative is also in line with Trinseo’s 2030 Sustainability Goals announced earlier this year.”

“CO2 emission reduction and a circular economy are BASF’s paramount targets. Using circular feedstocks instead of virgin fossil resources contributes directly or indirectly to an improved CO2 footprint of subsequent products,” says Klaus Ries, Vice President for BASF’s Styrenics Business Europe. “While our customer Trinseo procures biomass balanced (BMB) styrene for their downstream business already, styrene Ccycled will be available in the near future”.

As MRC reported earlier, Trinseo and its affiliate companies in Europe have announced a price increase for all PS, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (SAN) in Europe. Effective April 1, 2021, or as existing contract terms allow, the contract and spot prices for the products listed below rose as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) -- by EUR330 per metric ton;
- STYRON and STYRON A-Tech and STYRON X- Tech and STYRON C- Tech high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR330 per metric ton;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR300 per metric ton;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR350 per metric ton.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately USD3.0 billion in net sales in 2020, with 17 manufacturing sites around the world, and approximately 2,600 employees.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF extended partnership with Omya (Oftringen, Switzerland), in the paper & board coating area and will continue to make joint use of BASF’s pilot coating center at Ludwigshafen, Germany for at least four more years, said the company.

Omya offers mineral filler solutions and innovative coating concepts based on Calcium Carbonate, complementary pigments, and additives, for the production of paper and board. BASF supplies a comprehensive and innovative product range of binders and coating additives for the formulation of paper and board coatings.

In 2003, both companies decided to join forces and bundle their know-how in the area of paper & board coating. The centerpiece of the partnership is BASF’s Pilot Coating Center in Ludwigshafen, Germany, which offers state-of-the-art pilot coating equipment – including 2 pilot coaters, one Supercalender and lab testing equipment – operated by a highly skilled team. The existing partnership would have expired by the end of 2021. Both Omya and BASF are now happy to announce that their existing partnership will be prolonged for a minimum of four years. Their customers will continue to benefit from world-class technical service and coating expertise of the two market leaders.

BASF’s pilot coating center offers “state-of-the-art pilot coating equipment,” including 2 pilot coaters, one supercalender and lab testing equipment, the company says. “The pilot coating center facilitates the efficient transfer of technical solutions, new product developments and optimized recipes from lab to paper mill while reducing risk. This is even more important in today’s challenging times with increased competitive and cost pressure,” says Volker Scharffenberger, head of BASF’s pilot coating center.

As per MRC, BASF Sonatrach PropanChem (BSP), a joint venture between German BASF and Algerian Sonatrach, closed the propane dehydrogenation unit in Tarragona (Tarragona, Spain) on April 15 for unscheduled repairs. Market sources said the propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit with a capacity of 350 ktpa of propylene joint venture between BASF and Sonatrach has been shut down for maintenance until mid-May.

As MRC informed before, in mid-February, BASF said it was restarting one of its steam crackers at its Ludwigshafen complex in Germany after operations were halted last Wednesday due to a technical issue. The naphtha cracker produces ethylene and propylene, and is one of two crackers on the site. One has a production capacity of 420,000 metric tons/year, with the other's capacity at 240,000 metric tons/year, according to IHS Markit data.

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

According to MRC"s ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated polyethylene (PE) consumption totalled 356,370 tonnes in the first two month of 2021, down by 9% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market was 246,870 tonnes in January-February 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF (Ludwigshafen), the world's petrochemical major, will keep in place a force majeure (FM) declared on low-viscosity nylon-6 manufactured at its production site in Antwerp, Belgium, until further notice, reported Kunststoffweb with reference to a spokesperson.

After a fire in the production plant for PA 6 in Antwerp/Belgium, BASF has declared force majeure. Deliveries of the polyamide 6 types "Ultramid B24", "Ultramid B27" and qualities with low viscosity are affected, a spokeswoman said when asked.

The fire occurred in a reactor building in the early evening of March 26, 2021 and was quickly extinguished, the spokeswoman said.

There were no environmental impacts for the neighborhood and no injuries. The repair work was already underway. However, the duration of the FM cannot yet be estimated. The force majeure affects the already limited availability of PA 6.

Nylon-6 is used in the production of compounds for automotive parts, electrical and electronics components, and in the manufacturing process of industrial goods, appliances and consumer goods.

As MRC informed before, in mid-February, BASF said it was restarting one of its steam crackers at its Ludwigshafen complex in Germany after operations were halted last Wednesday due to a technical issue. The naphtha cracker produces ethylene and propylene, and is one of two crackers on the site. One has a production capacity of 420,000 metric tons/year, with the other's capacity at 240,000 metric tons/year, according to IHS Markit data.

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

According to MRC"s ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated polyethylene (PE) consumption totalled 356,370 tonnes in the first two month of 2021, down by 9% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market was 246,870 tonnes in January-February 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asian refining margins for jet fuel decreased for a second straight session on Friday, weighed by worries that renewed coronavirus lockdowns in several markets would dampen aviation demand recovery, reported Reuters.

Refining margins, or cracks, for jet fuel dropped to USD4.59 per barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, 15 cents lower from Thursday. Jet cracks have gained 10% this week, but still remain 63% lower than the ten-year seasonal average for this time of the year, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

While pockets of demand have emerged from some domestic routes, a majority of international flights remain grounded due to prolonged border restrictions amid fresh virus waves in many parts of Asia. Business travel is still being avoided as much as possible across sectors.

Jet fuel supplies in the region are limited as refiners have kept a cap on production due to weaker refining margins, but persistent weakness in demand continues to put a damper on sentiment, market watchers said.

Cash discounts for jet fuel were at 36 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes on Friday, compared with a discount of 62 cents per barrel a day earlier.

As MRC informed before, slumping fuel consumption during the pandemic is accelerating the long-term shift of refining capacity from North America and Europe to Asia, and from older, smaller refineries to modern, higher-capacity mega-refineries. The result is a wave of closures, often centering on refineries that only narrowly survived the previous closure wave in the years after the recession in 2008/09.

We remind that PetroChina has nearly doubled the amount of Russian crude being processed at its refinery in Dalian, the company's biggest, since January 2018, as a new supply agreement had come into effect. The Dalian Petrochemical Corp, located in the northeast port city of Dalian, was expected to process 13 million tonnes, or 260,000 bpd of Russian pipeline crude in 2018, up by about 85 to 90 percent from the previous year's level. Dalian has the capacity to process about 410,000 bpd of crude. The increase follows an agreement worked out between the Russian and Chinese governments under which Russia's top oil producer Rosneft was to supply 30 million tonnes of ESPO Blend crude to PetroChina in 2018, or about 600,000 bpd. That would have represented an increase of 50 percent over 2017 volumes.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated polyethylene (PE) consumption totalled 356,370 tonnes in the first two month of 2021, down by 9% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market was 246,870 tonnes in January-February 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures slipped during mid-morning Asian trade April 19, as concerns on the COVID-19 pandemic front pulled the market back after it ended higher last week on bullish data releases and improved demand forecasts, reported S&P Global.

At 10:55 am Singapore time (0255 GMT), the ICE Brent June contract was 20 cents/b (0.28%) lower than the April 16 settle at USD66.57/b, while the May NYMEX light sweet crude contract was 11 cents/b (0.17%) lower at USD63.02/b.

COVID-19 cases in key European economies, such as Germany and France, remain elevated, while analysts expressed further concerns over the rise in case numbers in India and Japan. India reported a record high 261,394 cases on April 17, latest data from John Hopkins University showed. The data also showed that cases in Japan have crept up to 4,802 by April 17, the highest on record since late January.

"There is no real conviction in the market that the end of the pandemic is near, and that is limiting the upside for oil," David Lennox, resource analyst at Fat Prophets, told S&P Global Platts on April 19.

"After positive economic data releases forced a rally in oil prices last week, the market has grown cautious, and is now looking over its shoulder," he added.

In the week ended April 16, the June contract for Brent had edged 5.91% higher to settle at USD66.67/b on April 16, whereas the May contract for NYMEX light sweet crude rose 6.42% to USD63.13/b. Last week's rise came on the back of a confluence of bullish factors, including signs of improved economic conditions in oil-consuming behemoths, namely the US and China, an improvement in OPEC's and the International Energy Agency's demand outlooks, and a rapidly weakening US dollar.

A rebound in economic activity in the US and China, as demonstrated by a slew of data released last week, is expected to be accompanied by an increase in oil and energy demand. These effects are noted in the market, with ANZ analysts referencing the Department of Transportation's data in an April 19 note, which stated that New York City's toll traffic is set for its busiest April in seven years.

ANZ analysts also noted strong oil demand in China as its National Bureau of Statistics' April 16 data showed a 17.8% year-on-year growth in crude throughput in Q1 to 14.17 million b/d. Market sentiment had also received a boost last week when OPEC and the IEA raised their 2021 crude oil demand forecast by 190,000 b/d and 230,000 b/d from their previous forecasts, respectively.

While the US dollar weakness pushed the market higher last week, an appreciation in the dollar this morning has had the opposite effect. At 10:43 am, the June contract for ICE Dollar Index was trading at 91.680, up 0.149% from the previous settle.

As MRC informed earlier, COVID-19 outbreak has led to an unprecedented decline in demand affecting all sections of the Russian economy, which has impacted the demand for petrochemicals in the short-term. However, the pandemic triggered an increase in the demand for polymers in food packaging, and cleaning and hygiene products, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. With Russian petrochemical companies having the advantage of access to low-cost feedstock, and proximity to demand-rich Asian (primarily China) and European markets for the supply of petrochemical products, these companies appear to be well-positioned to derive full benefits from an improving market environment and global economy post-COVID-19, says GlobalData.

We remind that in December 2020, Sibur, Gazprom Neft, and Uzbekneftegaz agreed to cooperate on potential investments in Uzbekistan including a major expansion of Uzbekneftegaz’s existing Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex (SGCC) and the proposed construction of a new gas chemicals facility. The signed cooperation agreement for the projects includes “the creation of a gas chemical complex using methanol-to-olefins (MTO) technology, and the expansion of the production capacity of the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex”.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated polyethylene (PE) consumption totalled 356,370 tonnes in the first two month of 2021, down by 9% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) increased. At the same time, polypropylene (PP) shipments to the Russian market was 246,870 tonnes in January-February 2021, up by 30% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased.
MRC