June chemical exports rise 19.6% in Japan

Japan's chemical exports rose by 19.6% year on year to yen (Y) 1,058bn in June, supporting the overall increase in shipments abroad, as per official data of Ministry of Finance of Japan.

The country's exports of organic chemicals rose by 22.8% year on year to Y196bn in June, while shipments of plastic materials were up by 13.9% at Y283bn. On a volume basis, exports of plastic materials fell by 4.2% year on year to 474,344 tonnes.

Japan's overall exports rose by 19.4% year on year to Y8,628bn in June, while imports were up by 46.1% at Y10,012bn. This resulted in a trade deficit of close to Y1,400bn, the 11th straight month of shortfalls.

Exports to China, Japan's largest trade partner, rose by 8.3% year on year while shipments to the US were up by 15.7%.

As per MRC, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. announced that it has formed an agreement to acquire the pellicle business of Asahi Kasei Corporation. According to Mitsui Chemical’s Long-Term Business plan VISION 2030, it is aiming with creating and growing a "unique" ICT Solutions business to grow products that will let it create and grow operations here into our third pillar of earnings under the business portfolio transformation.

We remind, Neste and ITOCHU are celebrating the first delivery of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel to Etihad Airways, one of the airlines of the United Arab Emirates, in Japan. The delivery of Neste MY SAF to Etihad marks the first time in Japan that SAF will be supplied to an overseas airline at an airport in Japan.
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Bayport Polymers LLC (Baystar) has started commercial operations at its 1m tonne/year ethane cracker at Port Arthur in Texas, parent firms Borealis and TotalEnergies said.

The almost USD2bn project was built on the site of TotalEnergies’ refinery in Port Arthur. The ethylene produced by the cracker will be used as feedstock to supply Baystar’s existing polyethylene (PE) units, as well as a new PE unit currently under construction in Bayport, Texas. Baystar’s Bayport site has 400,000 tonnes/year of PE capacity.

Baystar is currently constructing a 625,000 tonne/year PE unit in Bayport which uses Borealis’ proprietary Borstar technology. “The start-up of the new ethane cracker is an important milestone for Baystar becoming a fully integrated polyethylene company. The focus is on growing the polymers market in North America and leveraging the power of partnerships, " Borealis said in a statement.

As per MRC, TotalEnergies signed with Sonatrach, Occidental and Eni an extension of its Production Sharing Contract for a period of 25 years for onshore Blocks 404a and 208 in the Berkine basin, in Eastern Algeria. This contract, signed under the new Algerian Hydrocarbon Law published in 2019, will allow to develop additional liquids hydrocarbon resources, while reducing these fields carbon intensity through a dedicated carbon reduction program. The opportunity to develop and valorize associated gas resources will be studied by the partners, thus increasing export potential towards Europe.
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Cepsa Quimica has supplied consumer goods major Unilever with the first linear alkylbenzene (LAB) surfactant to be both renewable and biodegradable, said the company.

The LAB is made using green carbon derived from biomass instead of conventional fossil fuels and has been created using the Mass Balance approach for use in cleaning in laundry applications. Through Mass Balance, black carbon sources are blended and co-processed with green carbon from plant-based feedstocks of certified origin to make linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS).

Renewable LAB surfactant has identical properties and performance compared to traditional material, and lowers the carbon footprint of the final products.

We remind, Cepsa will invest up to EUR5 billion in Andalucia to produce green energy. It represents 60% of the total amount (EUR8 billion) that the company will invest to lead the generation of sustainable energy in Spain and Portugal and to be a benchmark in the energy transition. The investment will place Andalusia at the forefront of Europe in the latest technologies for the generation of green hydrogen and biofuels.

Cepsa is a Spanish petrochemical company. Full name Compania Espanola de Petroleos S.A. The company is headquartered in Madrid. Refining is one of the main activities of CEPSA. The production of asphalt and other road surfaces is another of the company's core activities; nine CEPSA factories are engaged in the production of these products.
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Linde plc (Woking, U.K.) announced it has signed a long-term agreement to supply high-purity industrial gases to PT Freeport Indonesia, a leading mining company in Indonesia, said Chemengonline.

Linde will build, own and operate an air separation unit (ASU) to supply oxygen and nitrogen to PT Freeport Indonesia’s new copper smelter and refinery in Manyar, Indonesia. The new copper smelter, the largest copper processing site in the world, will process concentrates from PT Freeport Indonesia’s Grasberg mine. The new on-site facility is expected to start up in mid-2024 and will be one of the largest ASUs in Indonesia.

"Copper plays a key role in the electrification of transportation and industrial processes. We are excited to help PT Freeport expand its processing capacity in Indonesia,” said Moloy Banerjee, President, ASEAN & South Asia, Linde. “By deploying Linde’s advanced technology, we will deliver a customized plant which will significantly improve energy efficiency."

“Linde’s track record for the safe and reliable supply of industrial gases made it our partner of choice as we expand our operations,” said Tony Wenas, President Director, PT Freeport Indonesia.

As per MRC, Linde has completed their efforts as part of implementing the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (AGCC) construction project. "Linde has completed its work within the AGCC project framework. We are dealing with its adaptation to new conditions together with partners from Sinopec," the Russian chemical giant said. Early in 2020, Linde made the contract for provision of pyrolysis services for AGCC. The Amur Gas Chemical Complex is the joint venture of Sibur (60%) and China’s Sinopec (40%) for polyethylene and polypropylene production. The capacity of the plant will be up to 2.7 mln tonnes of polymers annually.
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Chemicals company Eastman announced a planned increase of its Therminol 66 heat transfer fluid manufacturing capacity in Anniston, USA. The plant expansion is expected to be complete in 2024, said Process-worldwide.

With the expansion of its capacity for Therminol 66, Eastman increases its production volume for this heat transfer fluid in the US by 50?%. The expansion of the company’s plant in Annistion, USA, is expected to be completed in 2024.

"We are significantly investing in the expansion of our worldwide capacities to ensure we meet the needs of our customers around the world for years to come,” said Sharon Dunn, Eastman’s general manager for specialty fluids and energy.

In addition to its Therminol site in Anniston, Eastman manufactures the product at its Newport, Wales, U.K., facility. Eastman also manufactures other Therminol products in Suzhou, China, under a joint venture.

As per MRC, Eastman has entered an exclusive negotiation with Port-Jerome-sur-Seine as the preferred location of the molecular recycling facility it plans to build in France. This is an important step toward a significant milestone in the company's plan to invest up to USD1 B and build the world's largest material-to-material molecular recycling plant in France - a facility that will recycle approximately 160,000 tpy of hard-to-recycle polyester waste.

We remind that Eastman is increasing capacity for its Naia-brand cellulosic filament yarn at its plant in Barcelona, Spain. Eastman is increasing its capacity to produce Naia cellulosic filament yarns at its plant Barcelona, by 30% by mid-2021, and by more than 50% by the end of 2022.

Eastman is a multinational chemical company serving customers in approximately 100 countries. Sales in 2015 amounted to around USD9.6 Billion. The company is headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, USA. The company employs approximately 15 thousand people around the world.
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