BPCL is investing nearly USD18 billion in the petrochemical and gas business

Indian Oil Refining and Marketing Company Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) plans to invest 1.4 trillion rupees (USD17.65 billion) in petrochemicals, city gas and clean energy businesses in the next five years, a new agency Press Trust of India (PTI), reported Industry-update.

The investment is part of the firm’s efforts to develop its non-fuel business. BPCL Chairman and Managing Director Arun Kumar Singh, according to PTI’s latest annual report, said the company is “revising its strategies to capitalize on new opportunities while reducing risks”.

Singh said: “The company has strengthened plans to diversify and expand related and alternative businesses to generate additional revenue streams and hedge against any possible future downturn in the liquid fossil fuel business."

In the petrochemical industry, the firm has identified two new petrochemical projects integrated into the refinery.

These include a 1.2 million tonne per annum (MTPA) ethylene cracker at the Bina refinery located in the Bina Etava district of Madhya Pradesh and a 0.4 Mtpa polypropylene plant at the refinery Kochi in the Indian state of Kerala, the report said.

BPCL, which owns 20,217 of the country’s 83,685 petrol stations, is also looking at providing electric vehicle (EV) charging as well as future fuels such as hydrogen.

As per MRC, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) began operations at its 100 kilolitres/day (Kl/day) second generation (2G) ethanol plant at Panipat in the northern Haryana state on 10 August. Built at a cost of over Indian rupee (Rs) 9bn (USD113.4m), the ethanol plant is located near IOC’s Panipat refinery complex. Once fully operational, the plant is expected to produce around 30m litres of ethanol using 200,000 tonnes/year of paddy straw as feedstock. Commercial production at the plant is expected by December, and this should help India achieve its target of blending 20% ethanol with auto fuel by 2025.
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PPG announced PPG INNOVEL PRO, an enhanced internal spray coating that uses no bisphenol-A (BPA) or bisphenol starting substances and provides more robust application properties for the infinitely recyclable aluminium beverage can, said the company.

PPG Innovel PRO is a next-generation, high-performance acrylic coating that draws on PPG Innovel's nearly 10 years as the market's most widely used non-BPA internal beverage spray coatings. The company estimates that PPG Innovel coatings have been used on more than 220 bn cans in more than 40 countries to date.

PPG Innovel PRO coating complies with all global food contact standards for consumer safety, and its improved application properties provide operational benefits for can plants around the world. Validated with the PPG SAFEASSURE protocol for safe food-contact coating development, PPG Innovel PRO coating reliably supports the ever-widening range of filling goods that beverage brands want to can.

It features a lower migration profile than standard epoxy and epoxy-mimic coatings, and all PPG Innovel internal spray coatings have achieved Platinum CRADLE-TO-CRADLE material health certification from the Cradle-to-Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

As per MRC, PPG announced that it will feature its recently acquired Vanberg Specialized Coatings line of agriculturally focused protective coatings and repair mortars at the World Pork Expo, June 8-10, 2022, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. PPG added the Vanberg product portfolio as part of its acquisition of VersaFlex Inc. in February 2021. For 33 years, Vanberg coatings have provided long-lasting, cost-effective restoration and protection of concrete and metal surfaces in pork production facilities.
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The Dutch paint producer AkzoNobel posted significantly higher sales in 2Q 2022 and lower profits than what analysts had anticipated because of high expenses, said the company.

The company, owns the brands Polycell, Cuprinol, and Dulux, generated sales of EUR 2.85 bn in 2Q 2022 against EUR 2.51 bn in 2Q 2021.

Analysts had only estimated sales at EUR 2.73 bn. On the other hand, net profit considerably dropped to only EUR 106 M from EUR 261 M in 2Q 2022. Analysts had expected more for this figure at EUR 177 M.

Adjusted EBITDA stood at EUR 337 M, which was also lower than the market estimate of EUR 356 M.

We remind, AkzoNobel bolsters its performance coatings portfolio after reaching an agreement to acquire the wheel liquid coatings business of Lankwitzer Lackfabrik GmbH. Completion of which is subject to regulatory approvals, is expected before end-2022. Lankwitzer's Rims and Wheel business operates out of a manufacturing site in Leipzig, Germany. Its products are approved for use by car manufacturers such as Daimler, Audi, VW, Opel, Fiat and Renault.
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Business line Coating Additives of Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany) is expanding production capacity of ACEMATT precipitated matting agents at its Taiwan manufacturing facility, said the company.

The significant capacity increase will help meet growing demand for matting agents in Asia, with the capacity expansion expected to be completed by the second half of 2023.

"Expanding the capacity of our leading matting agents in Taiwan further underscores our commitment to the growing markets of Asia. Add a new one and to all our regional and multinational customers,” says Maximilian Morin, Head of Industrial and Transport Coatings at Evonik Coating Additives. “We are constantly expanding our position as a truly global partner for our coatings customers, offering equally high quality products from manufacturing plants in different regions. At a time of increasing logistics challenges, such an investment will directly benefit our partners and customers around the world by further improving our global supply situation."

As per MRC, the Oil Additives business line of Evonik has restructured its distribution setup for its products in CIS countries, announcing ADCO as its new distribution partner. The lubricant additives business develops formulation solutions and base oil technologies that improve fuel economy and flow efficiency of automotive lubricants for passenger cars and commercial vehicles and increase energy efficiency and productivity of industrial lubricants for construction, mining, agricultural, and manufacturing equipment.

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MEGlobal announced that its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) will be USD820/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival August 2022, said the company.

The August 2022 ACP reflects the short term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.

We remind, MEGlobal announced that its Asian Contract Price (ACP) for monoethylene glycol (MEG) will be US$910/MT CFR Asian main ports for arrival July 2022. The July 2022 ACP reflects the short term supply/demand situation in the Asian market.

MEGlobal is a fully integrated supplier of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and diethylene glycol (DEG), collectively known as ethylene glycol (EG).
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