NOVA Chemicals launches high-performance PE-based sealant resins

NOVA Chemicals Corporation launches a new family of high-performance plastomer resins under the brand ASTUTE, said the company.

These high-performance ASTUTE brand resins - ASTUTE QPsK905 and ASTUTE QHsK908 - leverage NOVA Chemicals' proprietary Advanced SCLAIRTECH technology to produce polyethylene (PE)-based sealant resins.

The plastomer resins provide opportunities for downgauging and lightweighting while enabling excellent processability and sealant properties. This new product family will become a new building block for all PE recyclable packaging enabling converters and brand owners to reach their sustainability goals.

The two new ASTUTE offerings include ASTUTE QPsK905 plastomer is suitable for use as a single layer or in blends and offers superior package integrity and robust sealing on a broad range of packaging equipment, including high-speed packaging lines. It is also easier to handle than conventional plastomers, thanks to less pellet and film blocking, and is less prone to bridging in the feed throat or extruder, providing peace of mind to converters and material handlers.

ASTUTE QHsK908 showcases one of the broadest hot tack window and lowest seal initiation temperature, with excellent seal around contamination providing outstanding package integrity on high-speed packaging equipment. Its unique combination of dart and stiffness (secant modulus) and best-in-class puncture resistance, make it ideal for packaging sharp products such as crackers and bone-in meats.

In particular, ASTUTE products are suitable for a wide variety of product applications including food packaging, heavy duty sacks and e-commerce. NOVA continues to offer the full range of resins, from high-barrier/high-density to linear low-density PE (LLDPE), with the addition of very LDPE and plastomers, providing a full array of PE solutions for the entire value chain.

We remind, NOVA Chemicals Corporation (“NOVA Chemicals”) is introducing new resin technology for machine direction oriented (MDO) and biaxially oriented (BO) processes to help its customers and brand owners meet their sustainability goals. NOVA Chemicals’ innovative technology marks a major advancement in the pursuit of a plastics circular economy, as it enables recyclable all-polyethylene (PE) packaging.

NOVA Chemicals, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, has 2,400 employees worldwide and is wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
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Sonoco Products Company reported its financial results for 3Q 2022 ended 2 Oct 2022, said the company.

In 3Q 2022, net sales grew by 34% year-on-year to USD1.9 bn. Both GAAP operating profit and base operating profit improved year-over-year from strategic pricing benefits and acquisitions. GAAP net income and base net income grew from strong operating performance.

The company’s net sales increased 34 percent year over year to USD1.9 billion, while GAAP operating profit and base operating profit increased year over year to USD182 million and USD225 million, respectively.

Sonoco reports its financial results in two segments—consumer packaging and industrial paper packaging, with all remaining business reported as “all other.”

The consumer packaging segment new sales increased 72 percent year over year to USD1.03 billion, and Sonoco says a positive volume/mix growth was driven by global rigid paper containers and flexibles. The segment’s operating profit increased 93 percent to USD128 million.

In the industrial paper packaging segment, net sales increased 4 percent to USD661 million through what Sonoco says is strong strategic pricing performance that was partially offset by the impact of foreign currency exchange and lower volume/mix in both paper and converted products. It’s operating profit, however, increased more substantially to USD82 million, up 48 percent compared with the previous year’s quarter.

The all other business segment saw a 10 percent increase in net sales to USD198 million.

We remind, Sonoco has expanded the post-consumer recovery and recycling possibilities for its EnviroCan paper containers in the US. The announcement comes after Sonoco confirmed that all its US paper mills will accept rigid paper cans in mixed paper bales from residential Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs). Sonoco operates ten mills in various states including Wisconsin, Tennessee, California, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington and Kansas.

Founded in 1899, Sonoco is a global provider of a variety of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and displays and packaging supply chain services. With annualized net sales of approximately USD5 billion, the Company has 21,000 employees working in more than 300 operations in 33 countries, serving some of the world’s best known brands in some 85 nations. With a purpose focused on Better Packaging. Better Life., Sonoco ranked first in the Packaging sector on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies 2018 list.
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The Sherwin-Williams Company holds a ceremonial groundbreaking to mark the start of construction of a 36,000 square foot extension of its existing 200,000 sq ft manufacturing facility and new 800,000 square foot distribution and fleet transportation centre, said the company.

The project also adds four new rail spurs at the existing manufacturing site and leaves another 200,000 square feet available for future expansion at the distribution site. The project is expected to be completed by end-2024.

Sherwin-Williams plans to invest a minimum of $300 M in the project and add more than 180 full-time jobs at the site over the next three years, which would essentially double the existing workforce.

The company announced in Feb 2022 that it signed an agreement with the state of North Carolina, US, Iredell County and the City of Statesville to significantly expand its architectural paint and coatings manufacturing capacity and establish a larger distribution facility in Statesville, NC, US. The Statesville facility was chosen for its transportation infrastructure, the strength of the current workforce and depth of the local talent pool, the facility's ability to handle additional capacity, and a location that provides for the centralization of existing distribution opportunities for the company's regional operations.

We remind, Sherwin-Williams Company has announced an agreement to acquire Industria Chimica Adriatica (ICA), an Italian designer, manufacturer and distributor of industrial wood coatings used for kitchen cabinets, furniture and decor, building products, flooring and other specialty applications.
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MOL’s third-quarter clean current cost of supplies (CCS) earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for its petrochemical division fell by 90%, year on year, said the company.

The company said its margins for petrochemicals had slumped by 34% during the quarter, year on year. Despite this, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT, or operating profit) more than doubled.

MOL’s petrochemical integrated margin fell to €438/tonne in Q3 2022 from €600/tonne in Q2 2022 and EUR663/tonne in Q3 2021. The quarter-on-quarter decline was mainly attributed by the company to lower polymer/monomer spreads.

Q3 2022 petrochemical product sales stood at 303,000 tonnes, versus 367,000 tonnes in the same period of last year and 277,000 tonnes in Q2 2022.

Petrochemical sales increased quarter on quarter following the completion of planned Q2 2022 maintenance. Overall MOL, an integrated oil, gas, and petrochemicals group, recorded a net profit of Hungarian forint (Ft) 322.3bn (USD775.0m) in the third quarter, equivalent to a gain of 113% from Ft151.4bn in Q3 2021.

Third-quarter group net sales were up 78% year on year to Ft2.88tr. MOL said the estimated impact of fuel price regulation and windfall taxes on the group across central and eastern Europe amounted to approximately USD1.18bn in Q1-Q3 2022.

It added the potential introduction of the EU’s solidarity contribution by individual member states would be set to make a further negative impact on MOL’s profitability.

As MRC reported earlier, MOL Group (Budapest, Hungary) has recently announced that Rossi Biofuel (a joint venture wherein MOL Group and Envien Group are the 25-75% owners) inaugurated a new plant in Komarom, Hungary, which will significantly increase the biofuel production volume in the country. With this investment, MOL Group and Envien Group launched a technology in Europe that can boost greenhouse gas savings by more than 85%. With a capacity of 50,000 tons per year, the plant is the first in Europe to use the RepCat technology offered by Austrian firm BDI-BioEnergy International GmbH, which is highly flexible in terms of raw materials - it allows the processing of greasy wastes of different types and origins, such as used cooking oils, trap grease, animal fats or residues from vegetable oil production. Biodiesel produced in this way is one of the most climate-friendly fuels.

We remind that in March 2021, MOL became a biofuel producer through the realization of an investment in the Danube Refinery. Bio feedstock will be co-processed together with fossil materials increasing the renewable share of fuels and reducing up to 200,000 tons /year CO2 emission without negatively affecting fuel quality.

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AdvanSix’s Q3 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 57% year on year, said the company.

Despite the 18% decline in volumes, sales rose 7% as market-based pricing was favorable, driven by higher pricing across the company’s ammonium sulphate and nylon product lines.

Raw material pass-through pricing was favourable by 4%, following a net cost increase in benzene and propylene, both inputs to cumene, which is a key feedstock for the company's products.

Earlier it was written, AdvanSix announced a preliminary update on its 3Q 2022 planned turnaround activities and its expected 3Q 2022 financial results. The company expects 3Q 2022 adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of USD31 M to USD34 M.

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