Solvay to deliver record Q2 2022 results well ahead of expectations

Based on unaudited preliminary figures, Solvay announces that it expects to report net sales of around EUR3.4 to 3.5 billion and underlying EBITDA of EUR855 to €865 million for the second quarter of 2022, said the company.

The performance in the quarter was driven by both volume and pricing, helping to overcome variable cost inflation. All three segments of Materials, Solutions, and Chemicals contributed to the strong results.

Following the stronger than expected results, Solvay plans to increase its full-year 2022 guidance on July 28, 2022 when it releases its full second quarter earnings results. The increase in full year guidance will reflect a combination of confidence in short term trading momentum and potential risks associated with the uncertain macro environment.

As per MRC, Solvay has started works related to expansion plans that include installing equipment to increase sulfone polymers capacity at its plant in Marietta, Ohio, according to a mid-May publication by the USW Oil Workers union.

We also remind that in August, 2020, through the acquisition of the Solvay polyamide (PA) business, BASF enhanced its R&D capabilities in Asia Pacific with new technologies, technical expertise, and upgraded material and part testing services. BASF is planning to integrate the R&D centers from Solvay into its R&D existing facilities in Shanghai, China, and Seoul, Korea. The enhanced capabilities will boost BASF’s position as a solution provider to develop advanced material solutions for key industries.

Solvay is a science company whose technologies bring benefits to many aspects of daily life. With more than 24,100 employees in 64 countries, Solvay bonds people, ideas and elements to reinvent progress. The Group seeks to create sustainable shared value for all, notably through its Solvay One Planet plan crafted around three pillars: protecting the climate, preserving resources and fostering better life. The Group’s innovative solutions contribute to safer, cleaner, and more sustainable products found in homes, food and consumer goods, planes, cars, batteries, smart devices, health care applications, water and air purification systems. Founded in 1863, Solvay today ranks among the world’s top three companies for the vast majority of its activities.
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Azelis, a leading global innovation service provider in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry, announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Chemical Solutions Sdn Bhd (“ChemSol”), one of the leading distributors of raw materials in the Personal Care, Cosmetics and Household markets in Malaysia, said the company.

The acquisition strengthens Azelis’ presence in the domestic market, further reinforcing the group’s in-depth coverage of the Asia Pacific region. The addition of ChemSol’s extensive and well known product portfolio, specifically in actives and functional ingredients, significantly expands Azelis’ lateral value chain for the local Personal Care market. With this acquisition, Azelis is ideally placed to benefit from the growing Personal Care market in Malaysia, especially in the attractive Halal cosmetic industry.

Founded in 2001, ChemSol’s 21 years in the Malaysian market enabled the establishment of a strong network of customers, with the support of globally renowned principals, from its headquarters in Shah Alam. With a dedicated Personal Care application laboratory, ChemSol is well-positioned to provide innovative solutions to its partners. Chemsol’s full team of employees will become part of the Azelis family, supporting the business and the integration process. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the third quarter, after fulfilment of customary closing conditions.

As per MRC, Azelis, a leading global innovation service provider in the specialty chemicals and food ingredients industry, announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire the specialty lubricant (L&MWF1 ) distribution assets of Ak-tas in Turkey.

As per MRC, Azelis announces that it has reached an agreement to acquire Chemo India and Unipharm Laboratories’ distribution assets. Both companies are renowned local distributors of specialty chemicals and ingredients for the CASE (coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers), L&MWF (lubricants & metalworking fluids) and pharmaceutical market segments in India.
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BASF has introduced products for the purification of complex pyrolysis oils from plastics waste - though also with potential applications in tire recycling, said the company.

The Gerrnan group’s PuriCycle catalysts and adsorbents selectively remove or convert contaminants in the oils that occur as secondary raw materials in chemical plastics recycling. The products, said BASF, enable closed-loop, downstream processing of plastics, helping recyclers to meet industry standards for the composition of pyrolysis oils.

This, stated the chemicals maker, allows “highly efficient” cleaning and processing of the process streams, as well as greater flexibility in chemical plastics recycling. After treatment, pyrolysis oils can be fed back in at the beginning of the value-chain for the production of polymers, said BASF.

The group went on to describe pyrolysis oil purification as “one of the most demanding challenges” in chemical plastics recycling. Impurities such as halogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulphur compounds, as well as reactive components such as dienes, can make downstream use more difficult, it explained

The chemical composition also significantly limits the possibilities for further processing of these product streams in the production of new materials, it added. Asked if the technology can be applied to rubber/tire pyrolysis, BASF informed ERJ that certain PuriCycle adsorbents 'could be used in tire-based feeds.'

As per MRC, BASF and Sinopec are further expanding their joint Verbund site in Nanjing, China. It is manufactured by BASF-YPC Co., Ltd. (BASF-YPC), a 50:50 joint venture between the two companies. The capacities of several downstream chemical plants will be expanded for the growing Chinese market. This also includes the construction of a new tertiary butyl acrylate plant.

As per MRC, BASF completed a double-digit million euro investment to increase production capacity for Tinopal CBS optical brighteners at its Monthey site. Following phase one of the stepwise capacity increase in 2021, the recent completion of the investment program has now brought significantly increased capacity on stream to meet growing global customer demand.

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.
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Huntsman Corporation announced the start of commercial operation of a new methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) splitter at its Geismar site in Louisiana, said the company.

The USD180 million splitter gives Huntsman the ability to produce more high value, differentiated grades from the crude MDI manufactured at the plant, thereby enabling growth in key customer applications. "The new splitter reinforces our strategy of delivering value over volume by creating a more differentiated product portfolio,” said Tony Hankins, President of Huntsman’s Polyurethanes division. “It enables us to provide our customers in automotive, furniture, construction, adhesives and coatings markets with more options for innovative, sustainable polyurethanes products."

The completion of the MDI splitter project was celebrated at a special event on Wednesday, July 13, at the Geismar facility hosted by Huntsman Chairman, President and CEO, Peter Huntsman. Guests included Attorney General of Louisiana Jeff Landry, local officials, key customers, suppliers, members of Huntsman’s senior leadership team, and Geismar employees.

Speaking at the event, Jan Buberl, Polyurethanes’ Vice President for the Americas region said “Our new splitter bridges the gap between our upstream MDI manufacturing assets and the downstream needs of our customers – both domestic and international. Our mission is to deliver what our customers need to help them innovate and grow. This investment will strengthen our ability to meet, and exceed, those expectations."

Mark Dearman, Site Leader at Geismar, recognized the hard work of the many people associated with the project. “Our thanks go to our construction partners, suppliers and every associate and contractor involved in the new splitter,” he said. “Even without factoring in the additional health and safety measures we needed to put in place for COVID, and the extreme weather events such as Hurricane Ida, the construction of a new splitter is a major undertaking. The project was completed on time, incident free, demonstrating Huntsman’s focus and commitment to safe working practices."

As per MRC, Huntsman announced that it has launched a new range of low-emission MDI-based foam systems for automotive interiors. The ACOUSTIFLEX LE and RUBIFLEX® LE polyurethane product lines. These innovative technologies allow global automotive formulators and foam manufacturers to produce high-performance polyurethane foams, while significantly reducing interior emissions levels to meet OEMs’ requirements.

Also, Huntsman is expanding its performance products facility in Petfurdo, Hungary. The multimillion-dollar investment project will expand capacity for polyurethane (PU) catalysts and specialty amines, scheduled for completion in mid-2023.

Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals with 2020 revenues of approximately USD6 billion. Our chemical products number in the thousands and are sold worldwide to manufacturers serving a broad and diverse range of consumer and industrial end markets.
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For the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational (GLBI), Midland, Michigan-based Dow Chemical Co. has worked with partners across the value chain to reuse and recycle plastic mesh fencing—equivalent to 1 ton of plastic—to create golf tools as part of Dow’s GLBI closed loop initiative, said Recyclingtoday.

Dow; recycler KW Plastics of Troy, Alabama; molder Core Technology Molding Corp. of Greensboro, North Carolina; and sustainable golf company Evolve Golf of Wilmington, North Carolina, collaborated to reuse high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic mesh fencing from the previous year’s GLBI in the form of 20,000 ball markers and 5,500 divot tools for this year’s event. “As the world’s largest plastics recycler, finding innovative ways to recycle used HDPE and PP plastics with partners like Dow is at the core of what we do best,” says Scott Saunders, general manager, KW Plastics. “Finding new life for last year’s plastic mesh fencing was an exciting challenge and a continuation of our collaboration to create more sustainable solutions."

Each company plays a vital role in recycling and reusing critical materials from the annual tournament, from collecting and cleaning the used plastic mesh, to palletizing the HDPE and molding the recycled plastic into useful tools, Dow says. Last year’s closed loop initiative recycled more than 1,500 pounds of plastic mesh fencing molded into more than 20,000 golf tees, according to Dow.

“Our partners at KW Plastics, Evolve Golf and Core Technology Molding Corp. went above and beyond to create the ball markers and divot tools for this year’s Dow GLBI,” says Toby Smith, senior customer manager, Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics. “It’s only by working together with other like-minded organizations like these that we’ll continue to discover and scale sustainable solutions that extend the useful life of materials and the resources that go into making them. I can’t thank them enough for the collaboration."

As the first ever Golf Environment Organization- (GEO-) certified Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) event, the GLBI is planned and executed with sustainability in focus, Dow says. GEO certification requires a five-year sustainability plan and commitment to establish sustainability initiatives and best practices. Previous tournaments recycled or reused 77 percent of postindustrial material generated, 80 percent of signage was reusable in the future and 26 percent of Dow GLBI shirts were made from recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic.

As per MRC, Dow signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese food and beverage firm Want-Want for zero-solvent emissions and to develop a circular economy for flexible packaging, said the company.

The agreement intends to strengthen value-chain partner cooperation with customised adhesives solutions to meet the demands of the industry for more eco-friendly packaging options. With Dow’s water-based and solventless adhesives technologies, Want-Want will shift to more sustainable laminating adhesives for all of its flexible packaging.
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