Dow to expand its global alkoxylation capacity in the US and Europe to meet stronger demand

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow has announced plans to expand its global alkoxylation capacity in the US and Europe to meet increasing demand across a wide range of fast-growing end-markets where the company is delivering 10% to 15% annual growth rates, from home and personal care to industrial and institutional cleaning solutions and pharmaceuticals, according to CISION.

The faster-payback, higher return investments announced today will increase Dow's capacity, while maintaining current carbon emissions levels through the use of efficient technologies and site improvements. These investments in the US and Europe are backed by supply agreements with customers, including leading consumer brands, and expected to come online in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

This announcement builds on the company's alkoxylation capacity expansions announced in 2018 in Louisiana and in 2019 in Spain, which are both on track to come online this year. In total, these and other efficiency projects are expected to generate more than USD150 million in run-rate EBITDA by 2025, with returns greater than 20%. Collectively, Dow's investments will result in approximately 70% global capacity growth for Dow and its customers since 2020.

Dow's versatile alkoxylation assets upgrade basic materials science building blocks to produce safe and sustainable ingredients for cosmetics, household and industrial cleaning, home and personal care, crop defense, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, paints and many other products for everyday use in a number of product lines, including TERGITOL, UCON, ECOSURF, and CARBOWAX SENTRY.

As MRC informed before, earlier this month, Dow and Plastogaz SA announced a strategic investment which will help simplify the process of converting plastic waste to feedstock and provide another carbon-efficient option to keep plastic waste out of landfills and the environment. The collaboration marks another milestone in Dow’s ongoing mission to protect the climate and close the loop on plastic waste.

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.

Dow combines global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation and leading business positions to achieve profitable growth. The Company's ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive and sustainable materials science company, with a purpose to deliver a sustainable future for the world through our materials science expertise and collaboration with our partners. Dow's portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated science-based products and solutions for its customers in high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer care. Dow operates 106 manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employs approximately 35,700 people.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo will use gasification technology to depolymerize post-consumer polystyrene waste into pure styrene, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

It’s a first-of-its-kind project on an industrial scale. Trinseo’s plant will process 15 kilotons of recycled polystyrene flakes every year. These will be transformed into high-quality recycled styrene and used for the production of new polystyrene and/or styrene derivatives, including acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and styrene acrylonitrile (SAN).

ABS and SAN are thermoplastics polymers. They’re durable and impact resistant, making them useful in the manufacture of car parts, medical devices, consumer electronics and more. We completed the pre-FEED services for the project in 2021. Our FEED scope covers the engineering of the feedstock, storage, condensation and distillation areas, utilities and hot oil unit. It also includes the cost estimate for the project.

“Circularity in the chemical industry will be key if producers want to retain their license to operate in the coming years and decades,” said Geert Reyniers, Senior Director Process and Technology. “Our work today means we can help customers, like Trinseo, to implement first-of-a-kind technologies so they can realize their sustainability objectives.”

“Trinseo chose Worley to move forward with because of its recognized leadership in the industry,” said Francesca Reverberi, SVP and Chief Sustainability Officer at Trinseo. “Worley’s strong commitment to sustainability is critical for us as we continue our journey and goal of delivering sustainable material solutions while maintaining high quality and performance.”

Plant construction is planned to begin at the end of 2022.

As per MRC, Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex binders, and synthetic rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe, have announced a price increase for all polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer (SAN) in Europe.

According to ICIS-MRC Price report, Russian PS producers did not adjust their prices in mid-April. Prices of Nizhnekamskneftekhim's GPPS remained at Rb204,750-215,700/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, whereas HIPS prices remained at Rb217,250-228,200/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT. Penoplex contracted all April GPPS quantities at Rb225,000-227,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

Trinseo is a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber. Trinseo's technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Formerly known as Styron, Trinseo completed its renaming process in 1Q 2015. Trinseo had approximately $4.8 billion in net sales in 2021 and has 26 manufacturing sites and one recycling facility around the world and approximately 3,400 employees.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indorama Ventures completed the acquisition of Ngoc Nghia Industry, one of Vietnam’s leading PET packaging companies, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The acquisition will boost IVL's market position as it continues to expand its integrated offering of PET products to major multinational customers throughout the region.

Ngoc Nghia is a trusted market leader in PET, preforms and closures, with long-term partnerships with major global and Vietnamese brands in the beverage and non-beverage industries. It has four manufacturing facilities in Vietnam's north and south with a total production capacity of 5.5 B units of PET preforms, bottles and closures, totaling 76,000 tpy of PET conversion.

IVL plans to sustainably grow the business to better serve customers in Vietnam, a high-growth new market, as well as IVL’s major PET packaging customers across the region including global household beverage brands. Ngoc Nghia’s family business roots, led by its founder for over 30 years, was integral to IVL’s decision to invest in the company as a strategic match. The existing team’s extensive local market knowledge will be further augmented by leadership from IVL’s PET packaging business unit, bringing a powerful combination of local, regional and global expertise to the market.

Mr. D K Agarwal, CEO at IVL, said, “We are glad to embark on our journey in Vietnam, which is one of the high-growth markets in the region. This acquisition is complementary to our long-term strategy of extending our global footprint and resilient business platform. With long-standing experience in the integrated PET business, IVL will bring more competitive advantages to NN. The development will also enable us to better serve our large regional customers, many of which are major household brands who depends on a reliable, consistent supply of PET packaging products across the region.”

“NN is a market leader in PET, preforms and closures in Vietnam, where we can increase our focus on customers in the ASEAN regional champion market, offering a full range of PET packaging solutions with enhanced operational excellence. This includes potential to expand our world-leading recycled PET (rPET) business into Vietnam. As a family business, it is a very good fit for IVL, and adds a new domestic market to our growing business,” said Mr. Sunil Marwah, business head for IVL’s packaging vertical.

As per MRC, Indorama Ventures Ltd (IVL) has completed the USD1.3bn acquisition of Brazil-based surfactants and specialty chemicals maker Oxiteno. The acquisition of Oxiteno, formerly a subsidiary of Brazilian firm Ultrapar, was announced in August last year and is effective from 1 April 2022 after the transaction was approved by Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), IVL said.

We remind, Carbios and Indorama Ventures jointly announce a collaboration to build a manufacturing plant operating Carbios’ polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bio-recycling technology at Indorama Ventures’ PET production site in Longlaville, France.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, listed in Thailand (Bloomberg ticker IVL.TB), is one of the world’s leading petrochemicals producers, with a global manufacturing footprint across Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and Americas. The company’s portfolio comprises Integrated PET, Olefins, Fibers, Packaging and Specialty Chemicals. Indorama Ventures products serve major FMCG and automotive sectors, i.e. beverages, hygiene, personal care, tire and safety segments. Indorama Ventures has approx. 24,000 employees worldwide and consolidated revenue of US$ 11.4 billion in 2019. The Company is listed in the Dow Jones Emerging Markets and World Sustainability Indices (DJSI).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil processing by Indian refiners rose 6.4% year-on-year in March to 5.28 MMbpd (22.34 MMt), provisional government data showed, corresponding with a rise in consumption in the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, reported Reuters.

India's fuel demand rose to a three-year high in March as the market accumulated supplies foreseeing price spikes while easing COVID-related curbs boosted demand.

With demand increasing, refiners are prompted to boost runs to meet demand, said Ehsan Ul Haq, an analyst from Refinitiv.

However, crude production fell over 3% to about 598,000 bpd (2.53 MMt), the data showed.

This was largely due to output from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation being 12.6% lower for the month and 1.84% lower versus March 2021 due to a delay in mobilization of the Mobile Offshore Production Unit Sagar Samrat, located in the Mumbai High Field, the release stated.

Annual oil imports in March marginally rose to 4.4 MMbpd from last year, tanker tracking data from industry sources showed.

As MRC informed earlier, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country's top refiner, is currently facing unspecified issues at the upstream fluidized catalytic cracking unit (FCCU). Given the feedstock supply disruption, the producer plans to take its polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) plants offline on 25 April, 2022. Meanwhile, it is unclear on their restart schedule.

We remind that IOC 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) -- Evonik's first-quarter (Q1) earnings rose 25%, year on year, as higher selling prices offsetting higher input costs, said the company.

Evonik's Q1 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in above analysts' consensus at EUR652m.

“Across all divisions, we were able to adjust selling prices successfully and therefore offset the increase in variable costs. Although business conditions were dominated by uncertainty and bottlenecks, Evonik made a good start to the year,” said Christian Kullmann, Evonik's CEO.

The company's performance materials division posted healthy growth in Q1 thanks to higher demand and improved selling process for C4 products, the company said. The nutrition and care divisions posted strong growth as essential amino acids for animal nutrition benefited from rising demand and higher selling prices.

The segment also benefited from significant earnings growth from drug delivery systems and for active ingredients for cosmetics applications, said the company. The war in Ukraine has pushed energy prices higher over the first quarter, and Evonik’s naphtha-based price clauses have helped the producer to pass costs downstream.

Although raw material costs have risen, the company has increased its inventory levels as a precaution in the face of volatile supply chains which could disrupt production and send feedstock costs even higher. “We are living in a period of unusual economic uncertainty. Higher energy prices and considerable uncertainty about the supply of raw materials are weighing on industry and the entire economy,” said Kullmann.

“Based on our strong start to the year and assuming there will be no further escalation in the geopolitical situation, we are confirming our outlook for the full year."

We remind, Evonik has invested a double-digit million euro sum to increase production capacity for isobutene derivatives at its Marl location. The isobutene part of the C4 production network produces the petrochemical specialties Tertiary Butanol (TBA), Di- isobutene (DiB) and 3,5,5-Trimethylhexanal (TMH). The expansion, which was recently completed, increases capacity for isobutene derivatives by more than 50 percent. In addition, the expansion improves security of supply, flexibility and product quality for the customers.

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of EUR15 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of EUR2.38 billion in 2021.
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