Alpla and Coca-Cola plan to build a new PET recycling plant in southeastern Mexico

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The USD60-million Planta Nueva Ecologia de Tabasco project will have the capacity to process 50,000 tonnes of post-consumer PET bottles per year, said Canplastics.

Austria-based packaging supplier Alpla and Coca-Cola FEMSA, said to be the largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the world, are partnering in a joint venture to build a new PET recycling plant in Southeast Mexico. The USD60-million recycling plant Planta Nueva Ecologia de Tabasco – better known as PLANETA – will have the capacity to process 50,000 tonnes of post-consumer PET bottles per year, Alpla officials said in a Jan. 26 news release, which will result in 35,000 tonnes of recycled PET material ready for reuse.

Alpla said the location of the new facility is “in the region with the greatest potential for solid waste recycling…that will integrate 18 collection centres throughout south and Southeast Mexico." "The big challenge today is the handling of the materials after the consumption phase,” Alpla CEO Philipp Lehner said. “We are currently investing worldwide in systems to give plastic packaging a value – because then it is collected and recycled. With strong partners like Coca-Cola FEMSA at our side, we will be able to set up the necessary infrastructure and close the bottle cycle in as many regions as possible."

In collaboration with all of the companies that make up the Coca-Cola Mexican Industry (IMCC), Coca-Cola FEMSA is part of the global World Without Waste initiative launched by the Coca-Cola Co., which aims to make all packaging 100 per cent recyclable by 2025, integrate 50 per cent recycled PET resin into bottles, and collect 100 per cent of the packaging by 2030.

Alpla has had a presence in Mexico since 2005, when Alpla Mexico, Coca-Cola Mexico and Coca-Cola FEMSA opened Industria Mexicana de Reciclaje (IMER), said to be the first food-grade PET recycling plant in Latin America. The IMER facility has a production capacity of 15,000 tonnes of flakes from post-consumer PET per year. “Since its foundation, it has processed more than 140,000 tonnes of this material, which has been returned to the production cycle of new bottles,” Alpla said.

Coca-Cola, Nestle, Unilever and other major international brands have teamed up to fight a global problem. More than 70 companies have called for a reduction in the production of plastic in the world in order to protect the planet from the catastrophic consequences of the climate crisis.

Coca-Cola HBC has again been rated Europe’s most sustainable beverage company, and for the 11th consecutive year has been ranked among the top three beverage industry performers globally. The news was disclosed in S&P Global’s Annual Yearbook, which confirms the 2021 Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), one of the world’s leading sustainability benchmarks. Coca-Cola HBC was also given a Silver Award by S&P Global.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a focused, sustainable and innovative specialty chemicals company, has signed definitive agreements to divest its 50 % stake in the joint venture (JV), which owns Scientific Design Company Inc., to its long-term JV partner, SABIC, as per Clariant's press release.

SABIC is executing a call option raised in 2015 to acquire this stake, originally purchased by Sud-Chemie AG in 2003 and acquired by Clariant in 2011, pursuant to a change-of-control clause in the Joint Venture agreement.

Clariant reports a book value for the 50 % stake in Scientific Design Company Inc. of CHF 108 million as of 31 December 2020. Both Clariant and SABIC completed a comprehensive, arms-length due diligence process to value Scientific Design at USD 260 million and Clariant’s 50% share at USD130 million. Together with a profit-sharing agreement beginning on January 1, 2021 until the closing of the transaction, this represents an attractive valuation for Clariant’s 50% stake at around 12 times Scientific Design’s 2021 expected EBITDA, assuming a mid-2022 closing.

The final amount is payable at closing, which is subject to the receipt of the required regulatory approvals. The closing is expected to take place in mid-2022.

In 2020, Scientific Design Company Inc. generated sales of CHF 121 million. Scientific Design Company Inc., headquartered in Little Ferry, New Jersey, United States, is present in the development, licensing and catalyst supply of proprietary processes for the production of ethylene oxide (EO), ethylene glycol (EO/EG), bio-ethylene, bio-EO, bio-EG, EO derivatives, polyols and maleic anhydride. In addition to these technologies, Scientific Design Company Inc. produces proprietary catalysts and equipment for use in their own and other industrial processes.

As MRC reported earlier, in October 2020, Clariant announced the construction of a new state-of-the-art catalyst production site in China. This project represents a significant investment which further strengthens Clariant’s position in China and enhances its ability to support its customers in the country’s thriving petrochemicals industry.

The new facility will be primarily responsible for producing the Catofin catalyst for propane dehydrogenation, which is used in the production of olefins such as propylene. Thanks to its excellent reliability and productivity, Catofin delivers superior annual production output compared to alternative technologies, resulting in increased overall profitability for propylene producers, says the company. Construction at the Dushan Port Economic Development Zone in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province was scheduled to commence in Q3 2020, and Clariant expects to be at full production capacity by 2022.

Propylene is the main feedstock for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.

SABIC is a diversified company manufacturing chemicals, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is the largest state-owned company in Saudi Arabia. Sabic is currently the world's second largest ethylene glycol producer, the third largest polyethylene producer, and the fourth largest polypropylene producer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF will start marketing several polyamide (PA) and polyphthalamide (PPA) grades in Europe that it acquired as part of the takeover of Solvay’s PA66 business, said the company.

These engineering plastics, previously sold as Technyl®, will continue at BASF under the established brand name Ultramid®. Customers globally will benefit from an extensive plastics portfolio including both PA66 grades and Ultramid® One J, a PPA based on PA66/6T. Thus, BASF will support its customers in developing innovative plastics solutions across all industries, for example for E&E applications like connectors and circuit breakers, for consumer and household electronics, and for autonomous driving and emobility.

The European Commission granted BASF approval for the acquisition of Solvay’s polyamide business subject to certain conditions. As a result, BASF started to successfully sell the integrated engineering plastics in growth markets in Asia as well as North and South America.

BASF and Solvay signed an agreement on the acquisition of Solvay’s integrated polyamide business in September 2017. The European Commission approved the acquisition in January 2019 under certain conditions, including the sale of Solvay’s polyamide 66 production plants in Europe. BASF concluded the acquisition of the polyamide business on January 31, 2020. Because of the backward integration for the key raw material adiponitrile (ADN), BASF now covers the entire value chain for polyamide 66 and improves its supply reliability. The business has been integrated into BASF’s Performance Materials and Monomers divisions.

BASF's Intermediates division develops, produces and markets an extensive range of more than 600 intermediates worldwide. The most important product groups include amines, diols, polyalcohols, acids and specialties. Intermediates serve, for example, as starting materials for coatings, plastics, pharmaceuticals, textiles, detergents and crop protection products. Innovative intermediates from BASF help to improve the properties of the products manufactured with them and the efficiency of production processes. The ISO 9001-certified Intermediates division operates from sites in Europe, Asia and North America. In 2020, the business sector generated sales to third parties of approximately EUR2.6 bn.
MRC

1. ExxonMobil posts mixed Q4 2021 financial results

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exxon Mobil Corporation, the world's petrochemical major, has reported Q4 FY 2021 earnings that were mixed, according to Investopedia. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at USD2.05, above what analysts had forecast for the quarter and climbing to the highest levels in at least four years. However, Exxon's revenue gains, while substantial, came up short compared to predictions. Analysts had expected the company's revenue to roughly double to USD90.8 billion amid recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Exxon's revenue instead climbed by 82.6% year over year to USD85.0 billion. Additionally, the company posted its highest cash flow from operating activities since 2012, indicating a robust recovery process.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Exxon Mobil Corporation, the world's petrochemical major, has reported Q4 FY 2021 earnings that were mixed, according to Investopedia.

Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at USD2.05, above what analysts had forecast for the quarter and climbing to the highest levels in at least four years. However, Exxon's revenue gains, while substantial, came up short compared to predictions. Analysts had expected the company's revenue to roughly double to USD90.8 billion amid recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Exxon's revenue instead climbed by 82.6% year over year to USD85.0 billion. Additionally, the company posted its highest cash flow from operating activities since 2012, indicating a robust recovery process.

Investors look to the key metric of net income for ExxonMobil's upstream segment, which is one of the company's three main business segments and a strong indicator of its overall success. Upstream operations are involved in the exploration and development of oil and natural gas properties as well as the extraction and production of crude oil and natural gas. ExxonMobil's upstream segment generated USD6.1 billion in net income for Q4 FY 2021, slightly below the predicted USD6.2 billion for the quarter but the best performance in this area since Q4 FY 2019.21

ExxonMobil shares fell by about 0.8% in extended hours trading immediately following the earnings release but quickly recovered. The company's stock has consistently outperformed the market in the past year and has dramatically widened that gap with a strong rally early in 2022. As of Feb. 1, 2022, ExxonMobil shares have provided a one-year trailing total return of 83.1%, well ahead of 19.6% for the S&P 500.3 In its Q4 FY 2021 earnings statement, ExxonMobil did not provide forward guidance.

Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Kathy Mikells said during a conference call that the increase in cash flow will allow ExxonMobil to accelerate the schedule for the company's planned 10 billion share buyback. The plan initially was announced as taking place over two years. Now, the company expects the buybacks to be “faster than that 12-24 month pace,” Mikells said.

As MRC reported before, earlier this month, ExxonMobil and SABIC successful started up Gulf Coast Growth Ventures world-scale manufacturing facility in San Patricio County, Texas. The new facility will produce materials used in packaging, agricultural film, construction materials, clothing, and automotive coolants. The operation includes a 1.8 MM metric tpy ethane steam cracker, two polyethylene (PE) units capable of producing up to 1.3 MM metric tpy, and a monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit with a capacity of 1.1 MM metric tpy.

Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.

According to MRC''s ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,265,290 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2021, up by 14% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 1,363,850 tonnes in January-November, 2021, up by 25% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.

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.
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