MOSCOW (MRC) -- Amidst the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine in Eastern Europe, key industry players are releasing announcements regarding their stand on this topic. From taking firm actions such as retracting services to provide humanitarian resources, there is a lot happening around the globe, according to SpecialChem.
In this curated piece, get a clear understanding on plastic additives industry’s take and the measures they are adopting that will alter the market trends and developments moving forward.
Clariant announced that it will suspend business with Russia in response to the Russian state’s intolerable acts of violence in Ukraine with immediate effect. Clariant’s operations in Russia include a sales office and a laboratory in Moscow and contribute approximately 2% to the company’s annual sales.
Honeywell has substantially suspended sales, distribution and service activities in Russia and Belarus. The company prioritizes the safety and security of the employees and partners in the region and responding to their immediate needs.
Solvay has decided to suspend its operations and new investments in Russia. Further, Solvay will suspend dividend payments from Rusvinyl, an independent 50:50 joint venture in Russia.
Effective immediately, LyondellBasell will not enter into any new business transactions or relationships with Russian state-owned entities. LyondellBasell also intend to discontinue business relationships with Russian state-owned entities to the extent legally possible. The company is in the process of assessing how this will affect the operations, including feedstocks, utilities, supply chain providers, and customers. Additionally, they are complying with all US and international sanctions which have been put into place because of this crisis.
ExxonMobil discontinues operations and developing steps to exit the Sakhalin-1 venture. The company’s operations in Sakhalin-1 project was on behalf of an international consortium of Japanese, Indian and Russian companies. The process to discontinue operations will be carefully managed and closely coordinated with the co-venturers to ensure it is executed safely.
As MRC wrote earlier, in July, 2021, Neste and LyondellBasell announced a long-term commercial agreement under which LyondellBasell will source Neste RE, a feedstock from Neste that has been produced from 100% renewable feedstock from bio-based sources, such as waste and residue oils and fats. This feedstock will be processed through the cracker at LyondellBasell’s Wesseling, Germany, plant into polymers and sold under the CirculenRenew brand name.
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 2,487,450 tonnes in 2021, up by 13% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market totalled 1,494.280 tonnes, up by 21% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whreas.shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
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