Evonik sells TAA derivatives business to SABO

Evonik sells TAA derivatives business to SABO

With the sale of its TAA derivatives business to SABO, Evonik is taking the next step in focusing its portfolio on specialty chemicals, said the company.

The Italian chemical company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of light stabilizers, for which TAA derivatives are a raw material. On the sales price, no details are disclosed. The transaction is subject to approval by the competent Evonik committees. The closing is expected to be in early 2023.

“We want to continue our profitable growth in specialty chemicals,” says Christian Kullmann, Chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik. “That includes divesting businesses that do not longer fit to our strategic focus. We are thus concentrating our investment resources and at the same time enabling these businesses to better develop the future under new ownership."

The TAA business is part of Evonik's Specialty Additives Division. Around 250 people are working at the two production sites in Marl, Germany, and Liaoyang, China.

TAA derivatives are essential precursors to produce light stabilizers. The resulting additives are used in low concentrations to protect and stabilize polymers against decomposition by light, oxygen, and heat, and can significantly increase the service life of plastics. The TAA derivatives are used in many products, for example in the automotive and construction industries and in the production of agricultural films.

“We are handing over a strong business to an experienced partner,” says Claudine Mollenkopf, Head of the Specialty Additives division. “The sale to SABO opens the TAA business new opportunities for future growth."

With the acquisition, SABO strengthens its own backward integration in the light stabilizer market and its global footprint, through the acquisition of the Chinese site in Liaoyang.

We remind, business line Coating Additives of Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany) is expanding production capacity of ACEMATT precipitated matting agents at its Taiwan manufacturing facility. 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.

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of EUR15 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of EUR2.38 billion in 2021. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable and sustainable solutions for customers.
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The head of KazMunayGas held meetings with the leadership of a number of companies in Seoul

The head of KazMunayGas held meetings with the leadership of a number of companies in Seoul

KazMunayGas said the country’s authorities would support possible polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) joint projects with South Korean companies, said the company.

KazMunayGas chairman Magzum Mirzagaliyev discussed possible joint projects to produce PP and PE with executives of South Korea's DAELIM and Samsung Engineering, KazMunayGas said in a statement.

Petrochemical and gas chemical projects in Kazakhstan can benefit from “systemic measures of government support,” according to the statement dated 21 October.

KazMunayGas is currently moving towards finalising implementation of its new 500,000 tonnes/year PP project in Atyrau, Western Kazakhstan.

It is also considering a possible project to build a 1.25m tonne/year PE unit in Kazakhstan.

We remind, Chevron Corporation, through its subsidiary Chevron Munaigas Inc. (Chevron), and JSC NC KazMunayGas (KMG) have announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore potential lower carbon business opportunities in Kazakhstan. Chevron and KMG plan to evaluate the potential for lower carbon projects in areas such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS); hydrogen; energy efficiency and methane management; and carbon financial disclosure methodology.
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Alpek increased its revenue for Q3 by 42%

Alpek increased its revenue for Q3 by 42%

Alpek's revenue for the third quarter was USD2.9 billion, up 42% from the year-ago-period, said the company.

Strong results for polyester and expandable polystyrene offset weakness in polypropylene, says the company. Alpek Polyester S.A. de C.V (Alpek) reported an all-time high Comparable EBITA of USD424 million, a 15% increase quarter on quarter.

In April of this year, Alpek finalised its acquisition of Octal Petrochemicals which added over 1m tonnes of installed capacity over four sites. As a result of this acquisition, Alpek reported that volume increased to 1.36m tonnes, an increase of 8% quarter on quarter.

Additionally, the 81% increase in Comparable EBITA year on year was driven by higher-than-expected margins as a result of decreased feedstock costs, particularly for the PET sector.

Alpek expects a continuation of the strong Q3 results for the remainder of 2022, remaining in line with guidance, affected by the normal demand seasonality expected in Q4.

We remind, Alpek, Indorama and FENC announced earlier that Corpus Christi Polymers (CCP) will resume construction on the facility in August. 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.
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Neste, Bugaboo, DSM Engineering Materials, and Fibrant partner to enable industry-first stroller portfolio made with bio-based materials

Neste, Bugaboo, DSM Engineering Materials, and Fibrant partner to enable industry-first stroller portfolio made with bio-based materials

Bugaboo, DSM Engineering Materials, Fibrant and Neste announce that their cross-value chain partnership has successfully enabled the launch of an entire Bugaboo stroller portfolio made with bio-based materials, said Polymerupdate.

Specifically, the majority of the strollers’ plastic parts are made using DSM Engineering Materials’ Akulon® 100% bio-based B-MB polyamide 6 (PA6), which in turn is made using bio-based feedstock from both Fibrant and Neste. DSM Engineering Materials uses a mass-balancing approach with renewable waste and residue raw material to enable a ~75% PA6 carbon footprint reduction compared to conventional PA6 and up to 24% of the entire stroller.

Earlier in 2022, Bugaboo announced ambitious targets to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2035. As most of Bugaboo’s impact derives from its Scope 3 emissions, a transition toward lower fossil carbon materials is a key element of the company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy. This aligns closely with the ambitions of the other partners: DSM Engineering Materials’ ongoing ambition of a full alternative portfolio of bio-based and circular solutions, helping to defossilize the economy as part of its SimplyCircular™ initiative, Fibrant’s commitment to make the entire value chain more sustainable and Neste’s offering of Neste RE™ feedstock for polymers and chemicals.

While conventional Akulon® PA6 is already an excellent-in-class for carbon footprint, switching to Akulon® 100% bio-based B-MB PA6 offers a significant carbon footprint reduction compared to conventional PA6 and helps to further de-fossilize the value chain. Used in the entire stroller line, the new material was developed by DSM Engineering Materials in collaboration with its partners Fibrant and Neste. Specifically, Neste provided renewable Neste RE™, a feedstock for polymers made 100% from bio-based materials such as waste and residues, which was used to replace fossil feedstock in the value chain. DSM Engineering Materials, Fibrant, and Neste are all ISCC-PLUS certified.

We remind, Neste Corporation and Marathon Petroleum Corporation (Marathon) announced an agreement to establish a 50/50 joint venture to produce renewable diesel following a conversion project of Marathon's refinery in Martinez, California. All required closing conditions have been met, including the receipt of the necessary permits and regulatory approvals, and Neste and Marathon have today closed the transaction for the establishment of the joint venture to be called Martinez Renewables.
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Linde expands Jindal Stainless steel deal in India

Linde expands Jindal Stainless steel deal in India

Linde is scaling up its supply of industrial gases to support India’s stainless steel industry following the expansion of its existing long-term agreement with one of India’s largest stainless steel producers, said Gasworld.

Building upon a previous agreement, Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL) purchase oxygen, nitrogen and argon from Linde to be used at its air separation unit (ASU) at the Kalinganagar Industrial Estate in Odisha, East India.

The expansion will see Linde triple the plant’s capacity by building a second ASU, a move that aims to support the ‘significant’ expansion of JSL’s facility upon its start up in the first half of 2024.

Commenting on the new deal, Moloy Banerjee, President ASEAN & South Asia, Linde, said, “We are proud to develop our partnership with JSL as it embarks on a significant expansion of its stainless steel production facility at Kalinganagar."

“By building additional capacity to support JSL’s growth, we will increase Linde’s own network density in one of India’s most important industrial regions."

Industrial gases are essential to produce stainless steel. A key component in Linde’s Argon Oxygen Decarburisation technology, argon is used to create over 75% of world’s stainless steel.

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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