Nexam signs a new agent in South Korea

Nexam Chemical - which invents, develops, produces and sells additives to the plastics industry worldwide - signs a new agent in Seoul, South Korea, said the company.

An order to carry out a larger industrial trial to repair recycled plastic with Nexam Chemical's Reactive Recycling solution has been placed. The Reactive Recycling solution significantly improves the properties of plastics and polymers.

The order for reactive recycling for recycled PET (r-PET) to Korea is worth SEK 140,000. The upgraded r-PET is to be used in automotive applications with a sales potential for Nexam Chemical of SEK 14 million per year.

"With a new agent and in a new market, we look forward to more projects and new business. Being able to repair recycled plastic has many advantages - in this case providing the automotive industry with new applications," says Johan Arvidsson, CEO of Nexam Chemical.

"In 2020, South Korea banned the import of PET bottles to encourage and improve domestic collection and recycling of PET. From 2022, they will ban the import of plastic waste from abroad, which could be a good business opportunity for us. This is because it puts more focus on domestic recycling and can accelerate demand for Nexam's products," said Mr. Saan-Soo Cha.

The agent, Mr. Sang-Soo Cha, has almost 30 years of experience from the chemical industry and has previously, among other things, worked for several years as sales director and general manager for Perstorp AB within the Korean division.

"For the product portfolio for reactive recycling, Mr. Cha is also developing our NEXIMID portfolio with a focus on the electronics industry, an area where a lot of research and development is going on in South Korea," says Johan Arvidsson.

As per MRC, Nexam Chemical has received an order from an existing customer in the area of PET additives for deliveries to the USA. The customer is a market-leading manufacturer of PET foam. It is the single largest order in the United States and also one of the largest ever for Nexam Chemical globally. Nexam Chemical has previously delivered products to this customer and this order confirms good growth in the business.
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The spread between European 90 percent mixed polyolefin bale values and monomaterial polyolefin bale values is at its lowest on record, said Recyclingtoday.

This is with the exception of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) postcommercial flexible bales, where the spread has been at its narrowest since January.

The value of 90 percent mixed polyolefin bales is at 50 euros per metric ton on average below that of monomaterial high-density polyethylene mixed-colored bales, 75 euros per metric ton on average below postconsumer polypropylene (PP) bales and 100 euros per metric ton on average below black postindustrial PP bales and natural LDPE flexible postcommercial 98/2 bales.

In addition, there was talk in recycled polyolefin markets as of the week of Sept. 5 that players are starting to restrict activity to core markets. This is amid high energy costs, macroeconomic weakness, substitution to virgin and narrowing margins for nonpackaging markets such as construction and automotive.

Meanwhile, downstream spot recycled mixed polyolefin pellet prices—typically used by nonpackaging mechanical recycling applications such as construction—were heard as low as 760 euros per metric ton ex-works northwest Europe as of the week of Sept. 5.

Despite these factors, players are not currently seeing downward pressure on 90 percent mixed polyolefin values. This was, in part, attributed to low availability and partly attributed to pyrolysis-based chemical recyclers absorbing demand loss from mechanical recycling, as pilot plants continue to scale up. The onboarding of pyrolysis-based chemical recycling is expected to further tighten availability.

The 90 percent mixed polyolefin merchant market availability has narrowed throughout the year as waste managers have increasingly onboarded capacity to reprocess material captively. Most of the chemical recycling market remains precommercial. Although volumes are expected to increase significantly in 2023 and 2024, most expect it to take at least five years for the market to reach scale.

Multiple market players have voiced concern in recent months that waste availability in Europe remains insufficient to cover future volume needs from the chemical recycling industry in 2023 and 2024. Although chemical recycling can take waste fractions that are not possible to mechanically recycle, there are still a number of technical requirements for waste input.

Pyrolysis, for example, typically requires the minimization of chlorine content (typically to 0.1 percent or less) due to its corrosive effect. In addition, it requires the removal of polyethylene terephthalate because it oxygenates the process and does not depolymerize using pyrolysis. It also requires the avoidance of nylon and flame retardants.

Coupled with this, the ongoing lack of clarity over chemical recycling’s legal status continues to concern industry players and, along with access to waste, remains one of the key risk factors to industry growth. Current European Union regulations typically use the definition of recycling set out in Directive 2008/98/EC in which recycling is any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes. It includes the reprocessing of organic material but does not include energy recovery and the reprocessing into materials that are to be used as fuels or for backfilling operations.

This leaves the regulatory status of chemical recycling under the proposals uncertain.

We remind, Repeats Group B.V., a Netherlands-based plastics recycling platform focused on producing high-quality recycled low-density polyethylene (LDPE), has acquired Polimero Srl, a producer of recycled LDPE based in northern Italy. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Polimero uses a mechanical process to convert plastic scrap into resin suitable for commercial and industrial applications. As part of Repeats Group, Polimero will continue to expand its production to meet demand for recycled LDPE in Europe.

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During Huntsman's second quarter earnings conference call, the Company provided third quarter adjusted EBITDA guidance of between approximately USD310 million and USD355 million, excluding Textile Effects, said the company.

The Company now expects third quarter adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations to be between USD260 million and USD280 million. As previously announced, Huntsman will begin reporting Textile Effects as discontinued operations following the announced agreement to sell the division to Archroma, a portfolio company of SK Capital Partners.

Peter Huntsman, Chairman, President, and CEO commented: "Huntsman is feeling the same pressures as others in the industry as we are being impacted by persistent and extraordinary cost of energy in Europe, together with lower than expected demand across segments in our portfolio, primarily within Polyurethanes and Performance Products. The economy in China continues to lag our expectations due to continued Covid-related lockdowns. While the United States remains our most resilient market, demand in residential housing has slowed.

"We remain on track to exceed our previously announced cost optimization and synergy program and expect to deliver an annualized run rate of approximately $170 million by year-end. Given the current operating environment, we are evaluating further cost reduction and optimization opportunities and we are actively moving product into Europe from our facilities in the United States and Asia."

We remind, Huntsman Corporation announced the start of commercial operation of a new methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) splitter at its Geismar site in Louisiana. 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.
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Building on its capability of proactive transformation, Neste launches a strategic study on transitioning its refinery in Porvoo, Finland to non-crude oil refining and into a globally leading renewable and circular solutions site, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Through co-processing and retrofitting of units, and benefiting from available refining assets, experience and know-how, Neste targets to significantly grow its renewables and circular production in Porvoo long term. The transformation under study would start with the co-processing of both renewable and circular feedstock and could continue with retrofits of existing units at a later stage, with a long-term capacity potential of 2 to 4 million tonnes per year. The targeted transformation would lead to a discontinuation of crude oil refining in Porvoo in the mid-2030s. Neste will also continue to actively study opportunities of green hydrogen at its Porvoo refinery. These developments would significantly contribute to the realization of Neste’s climate commitments, and make Neste a global frontrunner in the transformation of the fossil fuel industry.

"Neste’s growth strategy is centered on renewable and circular solutions. We continue to set our ambition level high, launching this study on the long-term transformation path for our Porvoo refinery and targeting to ultimately replace crude oil with alternative feedstocks. The Porvoo site provides a flexible and large-scale base that can grow into a major site for our renewables and circular business,” says Matti Lehmus, President and CEO of Neste.

Transformation of such scale would create the need for significant investments over the coming decade. Separate investment decisions would be taken as the planning proceeds. As the time span of the plan is more than a decade, it would be built on modularity and flexibility and could be adjusted to reflect variations in the pace of change in both the renewable and circular businesses as well as in traditional refining. Independently of the planned transition, Neste will continue to provide access to fossil fuel products for its customers.

As per MRC, Technip Energies has been awarded a significant contract by Neste for the expansion of their renewable products production capacity in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as part of the existing Partnership Agreement between Technip Energies and Neste. The contract covers Engineering, Procurement services and Construction management (EPsCm) for the expansion of Neste’s existing renewables refinery in Rotterdam which will increase Neste’s overall renewable product capacity by 1.3 MMtpy.
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Smurfit Kappa, one of the world’s leading suppliers of paper-based packaging, announced it has signed an agreement to acquire PaperBox, a packaging plant located in Saquarema, 70 kms east of Rio de Janeiro, said Recyclingtoday.

The transaction, which is subject to the approval of regulatory bodies, is expected to close at the end of October.

Brazil is the largest corrugated cardboard market in Latin America, with 7.4 bn sq m produced annually, and the Southeast region, where PaperBox is located, equates to 46% of this volume. This acquisition represents a further expansion of Smurfit Kappa’s operational footprint in Brazil as it currently operates in three other states: Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul and Ceara.

"We are very proud to expand our footprint in Brazil to meet the growing demand for innovative and sustainable packaging. This acquisition will broaden and strengthen our presence in the country, improve our production capabilities and enable us to continue to create new opportunities and form new partnerships with customers,” said Laurent Sellier, CEO of Smurfit Kappa in the Americas.

Manuel Alcala, CEO of Smurfit Kappa in Brazil, added: “Smurfit Kappa believes in Brazil and in the opportunities to deliver growth by continuing to add value to our customers business.

PaperBox has a distinguished history in the region and a special commitment to all stakeholders. This is a legacy that Smurfit Kappa will build upon."

We remind, Huhtamaki and Stora Enso, both based in Finland but with global operations, say they have joined forces to launch a paper cup recycling initiative called The Cup Collective. The EU has set recycling target for paper and board packaging of 85 percent by 2030, say the two companies. Stora Enso is a paper and board producer that recently purchased a containerboard mill in the Netherlands. Huhtamaki makes packaging products with molded pulp and other materials, some with recovered paper content.
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