BASF gives final approval for the construction of the Zhanjiang Verbund site

BASF gave final approval for the construction of its Zhanjiang chemical complex, the company said, with the focus now on building a steam cracker and several plants for producing petrochemicals and intermediates.

The site, which will be the company's third-largest globally once complete, is due to be fully operational by 2030.

The company will focus on building the core of the site, which will include a steam cracker and several other petrochemicals and intermediates, BASF said.

The company plans to invest up to EUR10bn by 2030 to build the new site, it said. By then, the site should be fully operational. It will be BASF’s third largest Verbund site, after Ludwishafen, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium.

BASF had started construction of the first plants at the site in 2020. It is starting up the first engineered plastics unit. A plant that will make thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) should start up in 2023.

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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Nouryon, a global specialty chemicals leader, announced that five manufacturing sites are carbon neutral1, said the company.

This achievement supports the company’s sustainability agenda, ‘Commitment to a Sustainable Future’, which includes targets to reduce operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 2 by 40% by 2030, versus a 2019 base year, as well as Nouryon’s aspiration to be a net-zero organization by 20503.

The five carbon neutral sites in Brazil operated by Nouryon (Imperatriz, Eunapolis, Tres Lagoas (2) and Jacarei), are part of the company’s Integrated Manufacturing Model, offering on-location sodium chlorate and/or chlorine dioxide production. Modern pulp mills normally generate excess utilities (e.g., such as steam and water from the pulping process) that can be used as fuel in other manufacturing processes. Nouryon uses renewable energy from our customers sourced primarily from biomass. These reused resources effectively lower the carbon footprint of the site while producing chemicals more efficiently. Simultaneously, on-site production reduces transportation requirements.

These five sites have low Scope 1 GHG emissions and reported zero Scope 2 GHG emissions, which has been independently assured 4 by ERM CVS. These low, remaining emissions are offset by the purchase of certified 5 carbon offsets, created from renewable energy projects.

"Nouryon is proud to deliver products produced by carbon neutral manufacturing sites in close partnership with our customers,” said Ann Lindgarde, Vice President Renewable Fibers. “We are committed to continuously improving our sustainability performance and offering, while delivering essential solutions to the pulp, tissue and packaging industry."

“Nouryon recognizes that this is an important step in our sustainability journey. We will continue to look for GHG emissions reduction opportunities throughout our operations, and in collaboration with customers, suppliers and partners as part of our longer-term commitments,” said Eduardo Nardinelli, Senior Vice President, South America & Global Carbon Business Leader. “Our plans include improving efficiency in our operations, optimizing our fuel mix, as well as increasing our use of renewable energy through power purchase agreements, on-site renewable projects, utility programs and renewable electricity certificates."

As per MRC, Nouryon, a global specialty chemicals leader, has received multiple awards from the Texas Chemical Council (TCC) and Association of Chemical Industry of Texas (ACIT) recognizing the company’s manufacturing facilities for continuous improvement in safety, emergency response, security, and environmental stewardship in 2021.

As per MRC, Nouryon (formely AkzoNobel Specialy Chemicals), a global specialty chemicals leader, has started production at a new manufacturing facility located at its site in Ningbo, China, to meet increasing demand in the Asia region for polymers used in the Packaging, Paints and Coatings and Construction end-markets. The facility, which began development in 2020, has an annual capacity of 35,000 tons and will produce two key intermediates - tert-Butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) and tert-Butyl alcohol (TBA) - which are essential ingredients in the production of polymers and composites.
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Alpek, Indorama and FENC announced earlier that Corpus Christi Polymers (CCP) will resume construction on the facility in August, said the company.

The plant is expected to begin production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) in early 2025. Construction of the state-of-the-art plan is resuming following a period of pandemic-related disruptions.

The new facility is expected to be the largest vertically integrated PTA-PET production plant in the Americas, with annual capacities of 1.1m tonnes of PET and 1.3m tonnes of PTA. It will employ three state-of-the-art technologies: PTA: IntegRex; PET melt: Invista; and PET solid state: Easy Up (HCIRR – horizontal continuous slightly inclined rotary reactor).

The plant’s vertical integration optimises PTA-PET production and ensures additional capacities are available to the PTA and PET markets. Russell Wilson will leave his role with IVL as Head of Manufacturing Americas, Combined PET, to take up a new role as CEO of CCP from 18 July.

PET resins can be broadly classified into bottle, fibre or film grade, named according to the downstream applications. Bottle grade resin is the most commonly traded form of PET resin and it is used in bottle and container packaging through blow molding and thermoforming. Fibre grade resin goes into making polyester fibre, while film grade resin is used in electrical and flexible packaging applications.

PET can be compounded with glass fibre for the production of engineering plastics. DAK Americas, Indorama, Nan Ya Plastics Corporation and Far Eastern New Century (FENC) are PET producers in the US.

It was previously reported that Alpek and its joint venture partners may restart construction of their polyethylene terephthalate (PET) project in Texas in 2022. Production could start in two years, which means a launch in early 2024.

Alpek is the largest petrochemical company in Mexico and the second largest in Latin America. Its business is divided into two main segments: "polyesters" (terephthalic acid, polyethylene terephthalate and polyester fibers) and "plastics and chemicals" (polypropylene, expanded polystyrenes, caprolactam, polyurethanes and other specialty and industrial chemicals). Alpek is the world's leading manufacturer of purified terephthalic acid and PET; it owns the largest expanded polystyrene plant on the continent and one of the largest polypropylene plants in North America. Alpek currently has 19 factories in Mexico, USA and Argentina. Alpek is part of the Mexican conglomerate Grupo Alfa. Alpek also owns DAK Americas.
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MRC --Thailand’s SCG Packaging has entered the packaging materials recycling business in the Netherlands, via the 100% acquisition of Peute Recycling BV for EUR78.2m, said the company.

The purchase was done through SCGP Solutions (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of SCGP, the Thai firm said in a statement on 18 July. Based in Dordrecht, Peute is the largest independent packaging materials recycling and trading company of paper and plastic in the Netherlands, SCG Packaging said.

Peute currently has the ability to competitively source 1m tonnes/year of recovered paper and 100,000 tonnes/year of recovered plastic in Dordrecht. There is an ongoing project to relocate the facility to Alblasserdam, which is near the Rotterdam port, “in order to double the sourcing capacity and improve cost efficiency”, SCG Packaging said.

In 2021, Peute generated EUR3.2m in profit, with revenues at EUR249m in revenues. “The prominent packaging materials recycling and sourcing capabilities from this transaction would allow SCGP to fulfil emerging demand of recycled materials which are driven by changes in customers and consumers’ behaviour,” SCG Packaging said.

In view of SCG Packaging’s expansion of its diversified and integrated packaging business, the company deems recovered paper the key strategic raw material for fibre packaging operations. “At present, SCGP’s annual usage of RCP [recovered paper] reaches 4.4 million tonnes and is expected to increase along with the expansion of packaging paper capacity going forward,” it said.

The Thai firm expects demand for recycled contents will continue to grow on the back of the global surge in sustainability awareness. “The ability to directly access the sources of recovered paper would also provide SCGP the opportunity to enhance the efficiency of recycling operations in ASEAN, with good practices of the advanced waste management model in Europe from the established player in its fields," SCG Packaging added.

As per MRC, SCG Chemicals Pcl, a unit of Siam Cement Pcl, is seeking to raise as much as USD3 billion in what could be Thailand's largest ever initial public offering (IPO). The group submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for approval the proposed listing of up to 3.85bn shares of SCG Chemicals on 27 April. The shares represent 25.2% of SCG Chemicals, which accounted for about 45% and 40% of SCG group’s first-quarter 2022 sales and profit, respectively.
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BASF is moving forward with the final phase of the expansion project for the methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) plant at its Verbund site in Geismar, Louisiana, said the company.

With this third step of its multiphase capacity expansion, BASF will increase production capacity to 600,000 metric tons per year by the middle of the decade and support the ongoing growth of its North American MDI customers. The company kicked off the expansion project in 2018 with a staggered approach consisting of three investment phases. The investment in the final expansion phase from 2022 to 2025 amounts to USD780 million.

"This investment underlines our commitment to North America and strengthens BASF’s supply reliability and the competitiveness of our customers’ value chains in the region,” said Michael Heinz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BASF Corporation. “As one of BASF’s Verbund sites, the Geismar location is ideally suited for the expansion of our MDI production thanks to its existing infrastructure, reliable raw material supply, skilled workforce and strong community support."

Leveraging state-of-the-art technology, the expansion will showcase the highest safety standards combined with advanced digitalization in its operations. BASF is now entering the final phase of the expansion, targeted for completion by the end of 2025.

"BASF is committed to growing and partnering with our North American MDI customers, be it in the construction and appliance, transportation, automotive, footwear or furniture sectors,” said Ramkumar Dhruva, President of BASF’s Monomers division. “With this integrated facility, we will continue to support our North American MDI customers by growing our capacity to meet their needs."

The first phase of the expansion project involving the construction of a new MDI synthesis unit was put in operation in October of 2020. The second phase, which started operations in 2021, expanded several existing upstream units. With the third and final expansion phase, which includes several new upstream units and a splitter, the new overall MDI output of the Geismar complex will increase to 600,000 metric tons.

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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