North American plastics machinery shipments up in third quarter over last year

North American plastics machinery shipments up in third quarter over last year

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The shipments of plastics injection molding and extrusion machinery in North America increased in the third quarter of 2021, according to a new report from the Committee on Equipment Statistics (CES) of the Plastics Industry Association, said Canplastics.

According to CES, the preliminary estimate of shipment value from reporting companies totaled US$333.8 million for July through September, which is an increase of 8.8 per cent compared to the same quarter of 2020, and up four per cent over the second quarter of 2021.

The value of shipments of twin-screw extruders rose significantly by 44.4 per cent in the third quarter, CES said, and was 61.2 per cent above the third quarter last year. “In the third quarter, shipments of single-screw extruders rose by 7.2 per cent from the previous quarter and 15.9 per cent from the third quarter last year,” CES said. “Injection molding shipments edged up 1.6 per cent from the second quarter and 5.7 per cent from a year earlier."

"Plastics equipment shipments picked up in the third quarter as the economy continued to emerge from the pandemic,” said Perc Pineda, Ph.D. the chief economist of the Washington, D.C.-based Plastics Industry Association. “Moreover, the increase in shipments was consistent with higher plastics production, which in the third quarter rose 4.2 per cent or 5.9 per cent from a year earlier. The upward-sloping demand for plastics equipment has not changed."

The CES also conducts a quarterly survey of plastics machinery suppliers that asks about present market conditions and expectations for the future. In the third quarter survey, 75.5 per cent of respondents expect market conditions to either improve or hold steady in the coming quarter – lower than the 92.7 per cent of respondents who expressed the same view in the second quarter’s survey. “As for the next 12 months, 75.0 per cent expect market conditions to be steady-to-better,” CES said. "This is lower than the 78.7 per cent of respondents in the previous quarter’s survey who were expecting growth in the next 12 months."

“While the survey results show that growth expectations have moderated, it also reveals that plastics machinery suppliers remain optimistic about market conditions four quarters ahead,” Pineda said.

As it was written earlier, the shipments of primary plastics machinery (injection molding and extrusion) in North America decreased in the first quarter of 2020.

Shipments of primary plastics machinery – injection molding and extrusion – in North America increased by double-digits in the third quarter.
MRC

Royal Dutch Shell delays sale of Texas refinery to Pemex until 2022

Royal Dutch Shell delays sale of Texas refinery to Pemex until 2022

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A sale of Royal Dutch Shell's controlling interest in a Texas refinery to Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos has been delayed until next year, reported Reuters with reference to a statement of two people familiar with the matter on Thusday.

A review of the deal by US Committee on Foreign Investment in the US had been expected to wrap up this month. However, there have been additional delays, the people said. A person working on the deal for Pemex said there was not enough time left to reach an agreement this year.

In May 2021, Shell disclosed an agreement to sell its 50% interest in the 302,800-bpd Deer Park, Texas, refinery outside Houston to partner Pemex for about USD596 MM. The closing was expected this month, officials have said.

Deer Park refinery employees have been told a closing "has been pushed back to the beginning of next year," one person who works at the Deer Park refinery said on condition of anonymity because the information is not public.

Pemex was not immediately available to comment. A spokesperson for Shell did not immediately reply on Thursday to a request for comment.

As MRC informed previously, Royal Dutch Shell plc. said in November that its petrochemical complex of several billion dollars in Western Pennsylvania is about 70% complete and in the process to enter service in the early 2020s. The plant's costs are estimated to be USD6-USD10 billion, where ethane will be transformed into plastic feedstock. The facility is equipped to produce 1.5 million metric tons per year (mmty) of ethylene and 1.6 mmty of polyethylene (PE), two important constituents of plastics.

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

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,047,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 17% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,226,530 tonnes in January-October 2021, up by 26% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding stat-copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) decreased significantly.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

Chevron Phillips subsidiary purchases stake in two leading circular plastics recyclers

Chevron Phillips subsidiary purchases stake in two leading circular plastics recyclers

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Six Pines Investments LLC, a wholly-owned, sustainable investment subsidiary of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (CPChem) has announced its equity investment in two leading circular plastics recyclers, Nexus Circular LLC (Nexus) and Mura Technology Ltd. (Mura), according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

In October 2020, CPChem announced success in its first commercial scale production of polyethylene (PE) using advanced recycling technology. The company markets its new circular PE under the name Marlex Anew Circular Polyethylene and is working toward an ambitious annual production goal of 1 B pounds of circular PE by 2030.

Mura and Nexus are leading plastics recyclers that convert waste plastics into high quality feedstock used in advanced recycling technologies to produce circular plastics. These strategic investments made from its Six Pines subsidiary reflect CPChem’s commitment to foster innovation and accelerate the transition to a circular economy for plastics.

Benny Mermans, vice president of sustainability at CPChem said, “We are excited about the capabilities and opportunities at Mura and Nexus. We share a common goal to keep plastic waste out of the environment. Waste plastics should not end up in the environment, as they can be sustainably recycled to create new plastics again and again. Investing in Nexus and Mura will accelerate our efforts to produce Marlex Anew Circular Polyethylene and the expansion of our circular product portfolio.”

As MRC reported before, Chevron Phillips Chemical will make a final investment decision on a new cracker in far southeast Texas in 2022, followed by an FID in 2023 on an USD8 billion joint venture petrochemical complex along the US Gulf Coast in 2023, said Phillips 66 CEO Greg Garland in early August.

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,047,100 tonnes in the first ten months of 2021, up by 17% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased.

CP Chem is a joint venture of Phillips 66 and Chevron.

Headquartered in San Ramon, California, Chevron Corporation is the the second-largest integrated energy company in the United States and among the largest corporations in the world. Chevron is involved in upstream activities including exploration and production, downstream activities including refining, marketing and transportation, and advanced energy technology. Chevron is also invested in power generation and gasification processes.
MRC

Arkema appointed Megafarma as its exclusive distributor for coating applications in Mexico

Arkema appointed Megafarma as its exclusive distributor for coating applications in Mexico

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema Inc., a manufacturer of specialty polyamide coating additives, has appointed Megafarma, the Mexican affiliate of Azelis Americas, LLC as its exclusive distributor for coating applications in Mexico, effective Jan. 1, 2022, said the company.

The Orgasol and Rilsan® D polyamide products are high performance coating additives designed for liquid and UV coatings. Based on Arkema’s specialty polyamide chemistries and proprietary processing, these additives improve multiple performance aspects of coating formulations such as abrasion, stain and chemical resistance while also providing gloss control and texture. These advanced materials are utilized extensively across a wide range of high performance market segments including coil, wood, flooring, automotive, electronics and transfer paper. The Orgasol® product line includes polyamide 6, polyamide 12 and polyamide 612 powders and are designed with an exceptionally narrow particle size distribution. The range of polyamide 11 powders is marketed under the Rilsan® trademark, a completely bio-circular polymer derived from renewable and sustainable castor oil.

"Since 2016, the Azelis team has done a terrific job promoting these products in Canada,” said Steve Serpe, North American market manager at Arkema Inc. “The technical and commercial expertise of the Megafarma team ideally positions them to penetrate the high performance coatings industry in Mexico."

Arkema recently commissioned a new production line for Orgasol® polyamide powders at the Mont plant in France, increasing its global capacity by over 50 percent to support the increased market demand for these materials in fast-growing industrial applications.

As per MRC, Arkema is further increasing its fluoropolymer production capacities in Changshu, China, by 35% in 2022. The increase in capacity is scheduled to come on stream before the end of 2022, the company said in a statement. Financial and overall capacity details of the expansion project were not disclosed.

As per MRC, Arkema has brought on stream new Kynar PVDF capacities in its Calvert-City plant in the United States. With this 20% increase in its US production capacities, Arkema will further support its customers’ strong demand in the region. Through this investment and following the successful start-up of a similar expansion at its Changshu, China plant in 2017, Arkema, which operates fluoropolymer production facilities on the three major continents - Europe, North America, and Asia, further consolidates its world-leading position in PVDF.

Arkema is one of the world's leading chemical manufacturers headquartered in Colombes (near Paris, France). Founded in 2004 as a result of the restructuring of the French oil company Total, Arkema, with a turnover of EUR6.5 billion, has operations in 40 countries, 10 research centers around the world, and 85 factories in Europe, North America and Asia.
MRC

COVID-19 - News digest as of 16.12.2021

1. Crude oil prices rise on consumer demand, inventory declines

MOSCOW (MRC) -- :Oil prices edged higher on Wednesday, rebounding from early losses after US inventory data showed strong consumer demand and as the Federal Reserve said it would end its pandemic-era bond purchases in March to slow rising inflation, reported Reuters. Prices had been pressured most of the day due to ongoing concerns that supply growth will outpace demand next year and worries that COVID-19 vaccines may be less effective against the spreading Omicron variant. Brent crude futures settled up 18 cents, or 0.2%, to USD73.88 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended up 14 cents to USD70.87 a barrel. The Federal Reserve said it would end its pandemic-era bond purchases in March and begin raising interest rates as unemployment remains low and inflation has risen.

MRC