Morssinkhof-Rymoplast to build flexible R-LDPE plant in Germany

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Plastic recycler Morssinkhof-Rymoplast will build a 30,000 tonne/year flexible recycled low density polyethylene (R-LDPE) plant in Markranstadt, Germany, said the company.

The new unit is scheduled to come onstream in Q1 2023. Once the plant is onstream it will bring Morssinkhof-Rymoplast’s overall R-LDPE flexible pellet capacity to more than 100,000 tonnes/year. The company is investing EUR30m in the new unit.

The R-LDPE flexible pellet market remains structurally short, and consumption from the packaging sector high - despite concerns of an impact on demand from any economic downturn created by the cost of living crisis.

There has been talk this month of delays to the onboarding of new capacity in the market from 2023 to 2024 because of delays to equipment delivery and building schedules because of wider backlogs in the construction industry. Some sellers are already sold out of material for the remainder of 2022.

As per MRC, PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) shut its No. 2 linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant in Map Tai Phut complex last week after encountering an unexpected technical issue. At present, it is unclear on the restart schedule for this plant with the production capacity of 400,000 mt/year LLDPE. The company also operates No. 1 LLDPE plant at the same site, which has an annual output of 410,000 mt/year. Overall, PTT has a total capacity of 800,000 mt/year of high density polyethylene (HDPE), 345,000 mt/year of LDPE and 800,000 mt/year of LLDPE at the same site.

As MRC reported earlier, PTTGC was in plans to undertake a brief shutdown for maintenance at its LDPE plant in October, 2021. However, the exact dates of the turnaround were not given.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Lubrizol Corporation announces a global collaboration project with Suzano, the world’s leading eucalyptus pulp and paper producer, according to Kemicalinfo.

This market-leading partnership will co-develop natural-based ingredients using renewable materials to the beauty, personal and home care markets.

The new relationship combines Lubrizol science, formulation, and market expertise with Suzano knowledge in all varieties and applications of eucalyptus bioproduct cellulosic biomaterials.

This collaboration allows the combined technical teams the ability to explore, innovate, and grow the combined portfolio of offerings for the beauty, personal, and home care markets.

“We are excited to partner with Suzano to bring sustainable innovation to our customers,” said Bernardo Medeiros, Vice President, Beauty and Home for Lubrizol. “This is another step in our journey to develop high-performing ingredients and become a leader in delivering naturally derived, biodegradable, and sustainable solutions.”

Working with Suzano will bring complementary technologies and synergies to our current portfolio and ecosystem of partners, the company said.

These actions are part of Lubrizol’s strategy to become a leading supplier of sustainable solutions, leveraging our expertise and combining technologies to bring innovation to the marketplace.

As MRC reported before, this summer, Lubrizol announced the next phase of its staged, multi-million dollar investment in thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) capacity and capabilities to serve the rapidly growing global Paint Protection Films (PPF) market. This comes on top of investments of over USD20 million over the last three years in capacity, application and testing capabilities, and market insights.

We remind that more than 5,250 tons of chemicals, oil and fuel additives burned in a massive fire at US specialty chemical firm Lubrizol in Rouen, France, in late September, 2019. Lubrizol managed to resume operations at its plant at Rouen in northwest France after the fire only in late December, 2019.

The Lubrizol Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is an innovative specialty chemical company that apart from its production develops and supplies technologies to customers in the global transportation, industrial and consumer markets. Lubrizol is providing innovative solutions for its customers high-performance application needs and remains committed to ongoing investment in its CPVC capabilities that support future growth. With headquarters in Wickliffe, Ohio, Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. Founded in 1928, Lubrizol has approximately 8,000 employees worldwide.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Linde announced it is expanding its La Porte, Texas, facility, effectively doubling the facility’s merchant liquid production capacity, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Starting up in 2024, the increased capacity will help Linde to meet growing demand from the petrochemicals, clean energy, manufacturing, food and aerospace sectors in the U.S. Gulf Coast. It will also supply Linde’s existing Gulf Coast pipeline system, which includes nitrogen and oxygen pipelines extending from the Houston ship channel south to Freeport, Texas.

“This investment will further strengthen our robust supply capabilities in the U.S. Gulf Coast, allowing Linde to take advantage of growing demand,” said Jeff Barnhard, Vice President South Region, Linde. “This project provides significant productivity benefits by building on the unique infrastructure Linde has already established in the U.S. Gulf Coast."

Linde has signed a long-term agreement with BASF to supply BASF’s planned hexamethylenediamine (HMDA) project in Chalampe, France, with hydrogen and steam. As part of the contract, Linde will design, build, own and operate a new hydrogen production facility at Chalampe, doubling its capacity there. The new Linde plant is expected onstream in the first half of 2024. Financial details were not disclosed.

We remind, BASF, SABIC and Linde have signed a joint agreement to develop and demonstrate solutions for electrically heated steam cracker furnaces. The partners have already jointly worked on concepts to use renewable electricity instead of the fossil fuel gas typically used for the heating process.

As per MRC, JSC SIBUR-Neftekhim and JSC Linde Gas Rus signed an agreement on the utilization of carbon dioxide formed in the technological process of SIBUR.

Linde is a global leader in the production, processing, storage and distribution of hydrogen. It has the largest hydrogen liquefaction capacity and gaseous hydrogen pipeline distribution system anywhere in the world. The company operates the world's first high-purity hydrogen storage cavern plus pipeline networks totaling approximately 1,000 kilometers globally, to reliably supply its customers. Linde is at the forefront in the transition to clean hydrogen and has installed 200 hydrogen fueling stations and 80 hydrogen electrolysis plants worldwide. The company offers the latest electrolysis technology through its world class engineering organization, key alliances and partnerships.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- India’s state-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T), and renewable energy player ReNew Power have announced a joint venture (JV) company to develop the nascent green hydrogen sector in India, according to Kemicalinfo.

The tripartite venture is a synergistic alliance that brings together the strong credentials of L&T in designing, executing, and delivering EPC projects, IndianOil’s established expertise in petroleum refining along with its presence across the energy spectrum, and the expertise of ReNew in offering and developing utility-scale renewable energy solutions.

Additionally, IndianOil and L&T have signed a binding term sheet to form a JV with equity participation to manufacture and sell Electrolyzers used in the production of Green Hydrogen.

SN Subrahmanyan, chief executive officer and managing director of L&T, said the JV would focus on developing the projects in a time-bound manner to supply green hydrogen at an industrial scale.

“While L&T will bring its strong EPC credentials to the table, IOC being India’s premier oil refiner with extensive capabilities in chemical processes and refining has established deep R&D capabilities in many aspects of the green hydrogen value chain. ReNew Power has in a short time established itself as a leading renewable energy supplier and has built itself a very strong reputation,” he said.

Additionally, IndianOil and L&T have signed a binding term sheet to form a JV with equity participation to manufacture and sell electrolyzers used in the production of green hydrogen.

“Both these JVs aim to enable the nation’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ mission to rapidly build, expand, and bring in economies of scale to make green hydrogen a cost-effective energy carrier and a chemical feedstock for many sectors,” Subrahmanyan said.

The planned JVs aim to enable India’s transition from a grey hydrogen economy to a greener economy that increasingly manufactures hydrogen via electrolysis powered by renewable energy.

The central government in February notified the Green Hydrogen policy aimed at boosting production of green hydrogen and green ammonia to help the nation become a global hub for the environmentally friendly version of the element.

Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries recently announced setting up a facility to produce green hydrogen. Adani Enterprises also announced a new company - Adani Petrochemicals - to venture into green fuels.

As MRC informed before, IOC, the country's top refiner, will increase crude purchases from Iraq by 11.5% in 2022 to 390,000 bpd, partly to make up for a shortfall from Mexico and a possible supply cut from Kuwait. Iraq is the top supplier of oil to India and its market share there is set to rise as another refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp. will also buy more crude from the Middle Eastern nation. India is the world's third biggest oil importer.

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, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Avantium N.V., announces that it has reached financial close for the construction of its FDCA flagship, plant in Delfzijl, the Netherlands, according to SpecialChem.

The world’s first commercial FDCA factory is set to produce 5 kilotonnes of FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) per annum, the key building block for the 100% plant-based, recyclable polymer PEF (polyethylene furanoate).

Avantium CEO, Tom van Aken comments, “Reaching Financial Close is the culmination of a decade’s worth of hard work to bring Avantium’s lead product - PEF - to market.

"It is a huge step forward in bringing a new, revolutionary material to the market, and a milestone in the sustainability transition of the packaging, fibre and specialty markets,” adds Aken.

With financial close, engineering company Worley and the Groningen Consortium have become minority shareholders in the Avantium subsidiary Avantium Renewable Polymers, responsible for the FDCA flagship plant.

Furthermore, the €90 million debt financing package has been signed with the consortium of Dutch banks, comprising ABN AMRO Bank, ASN Bank, ING Bank and Rabobank, as well as with impact investment fund InvestNL. Avantium will now immediately start the construction of the FDCA Flagship Plant, planned to be completed by the end of 2023.

This will enable the commercial launch of PEF from 2024 onwards. On 9 December 2021, Avantium announced that it had taken a positive Final Investment Decision (FID) to construct the FDCA flagship plant, after obtaining, amongst other, sufficient financing. Worley and the Groningen Consortium together have acquired a 22.6% shareholding in Avantium Renewable Polymers, while Avantium continues to hold 77.4% of the equity.

As MRC informed before, in 2011, Avantium (Amsterdam) raised EUR 30 million, money it says it will use to develop and commercialize a next-generation polyester based on bioderived Furanics building blocks. Avantium will apply the funds to the construction and operation of its pilot plant in Geleen, the Netherlands, as well as to develop more green materials, including a polyamide, on the basis of its YXY building blocks.
MRC