Covestro, Mitsui Chemicals, and Mitsui complete first delivery of certified renewable raw materials in Asia

Covestro, Mitsui Chemicals, and Mitsui complete first delivery of certified renewable raw materials in Asia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Covestro has entered into an agreement with Mitsui Chemicals on the supply of raw materials phenol and acetone from ISCC Plus certified mass-balanced sources, said the company.

Both components will be used for the production of polycarbonate at Covestro's Asian sites in Shanghai, China, and Map Ta Phut, Thailand. The high-performance plastic is used, for example, in car headlights, LED lights, electronic and medical devices and automotive glazing. Japan's Mitsui Chemicals and Mitsui & Co., Ltd are already a long-standing supplier to Covestro.

"With this agreement, Covestro, Mitsui Chemicals, and Mitsui & Co., Ltd are taking their partnership to a new level, with the goal of supplying customers along the process chain with more sustainable raw materials from mass-balanced, renewable sources," says Sucheta Govil, Chief Commercial Officer of Covestro. "I am very pleased that we are now also gradually converting our production in Asia to products with renewable raw materials. In this way, we are helping customers achieve their sustainability goals and offering them a drop-in solution that they can use immediately without a major changeover."

Recently, the first shipment of mass-balanced phenol produced by Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., from its Osaka site arrived at the production site of Covestro in Caojing, Shanghai. Further shipments are to follow, also including bio-attributed acetone. Mitsui Chemicals uses bio-feedstock from waste and residues as raw material basis for its bio-attributed phenol and acetone products.

In mass balancing, bio-based raw materials are used at an early stage of production and mathematically allocated to finished products. This saves fossil raw materials and reduces greenhouse gas emissions, while the quality of mass-balanced products remains the same compared to purely fossil-based ones.

ISCC ("International Sustainability and Carbon Certification") is an internationally recognized system for sustainability certification of biomass and bioenergy, among others. ISCC Plus includes additional certification options e.g. for techno-chemical applications, including biomass-based plastics.

We remind that Covestro closed the sale of its European polycarbonates (PC) sheets business to the Munich-based Serafin Group effective January 2, 2020. This includes key management and sales functions throughout Europe as well as production sites in Belgium and Italy.

Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) is an independent subgroup within Bayer. It was created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG. Covestro manufactures and develops materials such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, polycarbonates (CDs, DVDs), polyurethanes (automotive seating, insulation for refrigerating appliances) etc. With 2020 sales of EUR 10.7 billion, Covestro has 33 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 16,500 people (calculated as full-time equivalents).
MRC

Exxon makes new contract offer to locked-out Texas refinery workers

Exxon makes new contract offer to locked-out Texas refinery workers

MOSCOW (MRC) -- ExxonMobil made a new contract offer to union workers at its Beaumont, Texas, refinery who have been locked out since May, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The new offer follows meetings this week aiming to bring back more than 600 refinery workers represented by the United Steelworkers union (USW) to a plant that produces motor fuels and Mobil 1 motor oil. Production has continued using managers and temporary workers. Top officials of the union representing Exxon workers will meet on Monday to consider calling a vote on the proposal, USW International Representative Bryan Gross told Reuters.

A vote by Local 13-243 workers could be held within two weeks after Monday's meeting, Gross said. Exxon said the new proposal adds a new holiday, updates language regarding a union committee and adds a job description for operators in the lubrication oil plant. Locked-out employees in October had rejected an earlier Exxon contract offer.

Exxon has said it began the lockout to avoid disruption from a threatened strike at the 369,024 bpd refinery and lubrication oil plant. The two sides were unable to reach an agreement before the lockout because the company insisted on removal of job seniority provisions, union officials have said. Those provisions provide workers a say in job assignments.

Exxon in the past said it wanted a contract that would give it the flexibility to operate in low-margin environments. It has offered to end the lockout when workers ratified its offer or the union was removed from the refinery. A vote on the union's removal was conducted by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board in November and December. But the ballots were impounded on Dec. 29 by the board so it could review charges filed by the USW alleging Exxon undertook the lockout to force the union's removal.

As per MRC, ExxonMobil, America's largest private petrochemical company, shut down production at its Baytown cracker on February 2 due to a technical breakdown. The shutdown in Baytown at a cracker with a capacity of 1.04 mln tonnes of ethylene and 445,000 tonnes of propylene per year was short and occurred due to a decrease in pressure in the compressor. The company resumed operation of the cracking unit on the same day.

Exxon Mobil Corporation is the largest American private oil company, one of the largest corporations in terms of market capitalization in the world. The company produces oil in various regions of the world, including the USA, Canada, the Middle East, Azerbaijan, etc.
MRC

Olin Corporation posts Q4 net income of nearly USD307 mln versus net loss of USD33 mln

Olin Corporation posts Q4 net income of nearly USD307 mln versus net loss of USD33 mln

MOSCOW (MRC) - Olin Corporation (Clayton, Missouri) has reported fourth-quarter net income of USD306.6 million or USD1.89 per share, compared to last year's net loss of USD33.0 million or USD0.21 per share, as per the company's statement.

Sales for the quarter rose to USD2.43 billion from USD1.65 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of USD2.44 per share and revenues of USD2.38 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.

As MRC informed earlier, in October, 2021, Olin Corporation announced that it plans to permanently shut down the remaining diaphragm-grade chlor-alkali capacity at its McIntosh, Alabama facility, by the end of third quarter 2022. The closure of approximately 200,000 electrochemical unit (ECU) tons is in addition to the 200,000 ECU tons shutdown at McIntosh in first quarter 2021.

We remind that in July 2021, Olin Corporation entered into an agreement with ASHTA Chemicals, Inc. to purchase and sell the chlorine produced at ASHTA's Ashtabula, OH facility. Existing contracts will be honored for chlorine customers of both companies.

Olin Corporation is a leading vertically-integrated global manufacturer and distributor of chemical products and a leading US manufacturer of ammunition. The chemical products produced include chlorine and caustic soda, vinyls, epoxies, chlorinated organics, bleach, and hydrochloric acid. Winchester's principal manufacturing facilities produce and distribute sporting ammunition, law enforcement ammunition, reloading components, small caliber military ammunition and components, and industrial cartridges.
MRC

NatureWorks selects Sulzer PLA bioplastics production technology

NatureWorks selects Sulzer PLA bioplastics production technology

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sulzer is delivering customized production technology to NatureWorks’ latest biopolymer manufacturing facility, which will be located in Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex, Thailand, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Developed to support the increasing global demand for polylactic acid (PLA) bioplastics, the fully integrated plant will utilize Sulzer Chemtech’s advanced lactide purification and polymer production technology to produce 75,000 tpy of Ingeo PLA annually, which is used in applications like compostable food packaging.

Selected to design and supply lactide purification, polymerization and devolatilization units at NatureWorks’ newest facility, Sulzer Chemtech will provide technology, engineering services and key equipment to design and supply fully customized production solutions meeting NatureWorks’ specific requirements.

As part of the Company’s global manufacturing expansion plan, the new facility will increase NatureWorks’ overall production capacity of lactic acid, lactides and advanced Ingeo PLA biopolymers. Made from renewable resources, these biomaterials have a lower carbon footprint than average petroleum-based plastics and support a wide range of applications, including compostable food packaging and serviceware, fibers, filaments for 3D printing, hygiene masks and household appliances.

As MRC reported earlier, Sulzer Chemtech has recently finalized an agreement with Encina Development Group, LLC to provide technology to recover high purity circular aromatics from cracked oil products derived from Encina’s mixed-plastics-to-aromatics catalytic conversion platform. Encina’s 1000 tpd waste plastics recycling facility will be located in Northeast US, and is expected to be operational in 2024.

We remind that India’s national objective of achieving self-sufficiency in energy and reducing its fossil fuel footprint is being supported by Sulzer’s expertise in pump manufacturing and refinery processes. The country’s first bio-refinery, Assam Bio Refinery Pvt Ltd., built by Chempolis' technology, is a ground-breaking JV that will be the only refinery in the world to create bioethanol from bamboo - available in abundance in north-eastern India. To help realize this pioneering endeavor, Sulzer is delivering a range of engineered application pumps as well as core technology such as column internals for the refining process.

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.
MRC

BASF replaces plant for 2-Mercaptoethanol in Ludwigshafen

BASF replaces plant for 2-Mercaptoethanol in Ludwigshafen

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A new BASF production plant for the intermediate 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) at the Ludwigshafen Verbund site started regular operations in the fourth quarter of 2021, said the company.

After a trial run of several months, it replaces the previous plant at the Ludwigshafen site, which is being closed after more than 40 years of operation. The new plant is fully integrated into BASF's production Verbund and, with more than 10,000 metric tons of 2-ME per year, has the same production capacity as the previous plant. 2-ME has proven its value in the production of plastics, crop protection products, oilfield chemicals (Basocorr ME) and coatings.

"The new plant will enable us to supply our customers all over the world with 2-mercaptoethanol even more reliably. Our global logistics network, which our customers can further rely on, also contributes to this," says Frank Stein, head of the Regional Business Unit Europe in BASF's Intermediates division.

As MRC wrote before, BASF will build a battery recycling prototype plant in Schwarzheide, Germany, at the site of its cathode active materials (CAM) plant.

We also remind that n June, 2021, Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, and BASF announced the intention to expand their businesses with the production of styrene monomer (SM) based on circular feedstock. Trinseo has procured first supplies of SM 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 tyre manufacturers while its PS products are used in applications such as food packaging and appliances. The first few customers have already processed the material, said the company.

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