South Korea warns of supply disruptions, economic damage if truckers strike

South Korea's prime minister urged unionized truckers to scrap plans to go on strike this week to spare the economy what he called paralysis and irreversible damage, fueling fears for the post-pandemic recovery of global supply chains, said Reuters.

For the second time in less than six months, the trucking union in major exporter South Korea has threatened to begin a nationwide strike on Thursday which could disrupt manufacturing and fuel supplies in the world's top 10th economy.

The strike coincides with a worldwide increase in industrial action sparked by a slowdown in the global economy, and a surge in inflation and fuel costs.

"The union's refusal to transport would cause irreparable damage to the national economy beyond logistics paralysis," Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told reporters. "In the worst case, it could lead to the collapse of the logistics system, cutting our industries' external credibility and threatening global competitiveness."

In June, an eight-day strike by South Korean truckers delayed cargo shipments of products ranging from autos to semiconductors in Asia's fourth-largest economy, costing more than USD1.2 B in lost output and unmet deliveries.

The Cargo Truckers Solidarity Union, which has called for the strike, wants the government to extend beyond December its "Safe Trucking Freight Rate", a policy put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic that guarantees a minimum annual wage.

During talks this week, the government and ruling party offered a three-year extension of the scheme, but refused to accept the unions' request to extend these benefits to truckers in better-paying industries, such as fuel and steel.

The union has since rejected this compromise deal, saying the truckers, who are mostly independent contractors, must be protected from fuel price fluctuations and exploitation. "Life or death, we are going on strike this time with rage," union chief Lee Bong-ju Lee told reporters.

Lee said truckers supplying fuel from the four major refineries would also join the strike. SK Innovation Co Ltd , owner of SK Energy, the country's largest refiner by output, said it was trying its best to prevent any disruptions to its customers. It gave no further details.

During the truckers' strike in June, companies including Hyundai Motor and steelmaker POSCO were forced to cut output. POSCO on Tuesday warned that the planned strike could slow down repair works to a major plant hit by a flood this summer.

We remind, SK geo centric (SKGC; Seoul, South Korea) signed an HOA (head of agreement) for building advanced recycling (pyrolysis) plant within its recycling cluster in Ulsan with Plastic EnergyLtd., the UK-based advanced plastic recycling technology company, in Seoul, South Korea.

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China’s State Administration for Market Regulation has approved unconditionally the acquisition deal of Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical between Sinopec and INEOS, said Reuters.

Sinopec and INEOS in July this year announced the transaction, under which INEOS will take over 50% of SECCO from Sinopec.

After the deal, SECCO will have four shareholders, which are INEOS (50%), Sinopec Gaoqiao Petrochemical (15%), Sinopec (15%) and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical (20%).

SECCO produces around 3.2 m tonnes of petrochemicals each year, including olefins, polyolefins, styrene and aromatics, according to its website information.

We remind, INEOS Europe AG and Pacific Gas (Hong Kong) Holdings Co., Ltd, have signed long-term time charter agreements for four 99,000 cbm (cubic metre) VLECs (Very Large Ethane Carriers). The deal will bring INEOS’ ethane fleet to 16 vessels, with eight VLEC and eight Dragon class ethane carriers. With these agreements, INEOS will have a total of six VLECs under time charter with Pacific Gas.

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SK geo centric (SKGC; Seoul, South Korea) signed an HOA (head of agreement) for building advanced recycling (pyrolysis) plant within its recycling cluster in Ulsan with Plastic EnergyLtd., the UK-based advanced plastic recycling technology company, in Seoul, South Korea, said Chemengonline.

The signing ceremony was attended by the top management of both companies including CEO of SKGC Na Kyung-soo and CEO of Plastic Energy Carlos Monreal. This follow’s SKGC’s announcement that it would be collaborating with PureCycle Technologies to build the country’s first recycling plant for polypropylene.

According to this HOA, an advanced recycling (pyrolysis) plant in Ulsan will be built by SKGC using Plastic Energy’s technology. The two companies also agreed on promoting joint advanced recycling technique businesses in metropolitan areas in Korea and expanding the businesses to Asian regions. As the largest advanced recycling plant in Asia, the facility will be built on a total area of 13,000m2. with an annual capacity of 66,000 tons by the second half of 2025.

SKGC will also build a post-treatment plant using its own technology with an annual capacity of 100,000 tons. Using pyrolysis oil in the post-treatment process will upgrade the quality of the products. Moreover, through this process, the pyrolysis oil can be applied in the production of various petrochemical products.

Founded in 2012, Plastic Energy is operating two advanced recycling (pyrolysis) plants in Spain, one in Almeria and the other in Sevilla. The company also own several patented advanced recycling technologies in the U.S. and Europe. It is also currently under discussion with several major petrochemical companies to build 5 more global advanced recycling plants.

Using pyrolysis oil, which is obtained by heating plastic waste at high temperature, will help creating circular economy. The methodology is also called “urban oil field” technology as it extracts crude oil from waste such as vinyl.

Demand for recycled plastics is expected to surge due to strengthened regulations in developed countries, such as the mandatory recycling plastics policy. According to the petrochemical industry, the pyrolysis oil chemical recycling market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 17% from 700,000 tons in 2020 to 3.3 million tons in 2030.

“We are pleased to work with Plastic Energy, who has excellent advanced recycling technique to establish the largest pyrolysis plant in Asia,” said Na Kyung-soo, CEO of SKGC. “SKGC will keep expanding our cooperation with multiple global partners to achieve plastic circular economy,” he added.

“Korea is an important market for advanced recycling of end-of-life plastics. SKGC has a truly unique vision to deploy different technologies to recycle many types of plastic, and Plastic Energy is excited to play a role in realizing this vision,” said Carlos Monreal, Founder and CEO of Plastic Energy.

We remind, SK Energy announced that it is in full swing to cooperate with Doosan Fuel Cell to establish the on-site hybrid energy stations that utilize fuel cells (Tri-gen) which can generate hydrogen, energy, and heat simultaneously.

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Borealis and VERBUND announce the installation of a new photovoltaic (PV) array in Schwechat, Austria, said the company.

The new PV park, which will supply power to Borealis operations on site, is the second to have been jointly planned and implemented by the two companies. The output provided by the new facility moves Borealis closer to its aim of sourcing 100% of the electricity used in its own operations from renewable sources by the year 2030. The new joint project realised by Borealis and VERBUND is clear evidence of the companies’ shared commitment to investing in a more environmentally friendly energy future.

The new solar PV park is located on an industrial plot at Borealis production operations in Schwechat. The construction phase began in May 2022, with completion anticipated by the end of the year; energy supply should commence soon thereafter.

Covering a surface area of around 75,000 square meters, the new array will be composed of approximately 10,220 individual PV modules, each with a nominal power (peak power) of 460 watt-peak (Wp). Combined, the total installed power of the park is projected to reach around 4.7 megawatt-peak (MWp), with an annual energy yield of around 5.6 gigawatt hours (GWh).

This is roughly comparable to the amount of energy consumed annually by 1,400 Austrian households. The entire energy output supplied by the new solar PV park will be used for Borealis production operations. The amount of renewable energy generated will reduce the annual CO2 emissions of this location by nearly 1,200 tons.

We remind, Borealis is designing a first-of-its-kind commercial-scale advanced mechanical recycling plant to be located in Schwechat, Austria. The plant will be based on Borealis’ own Borcycle™ M technology, which transforms polyolefin-based post-consumer waste into high-performance polymers suitable for demanding applications. This represents another tangible step forward on Borealis’ path to net zero.
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Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. announced the appointment of Chris Villavarayan as Chief Executive Officer and President and a member of the company’s Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2023, said the company.

At that time, Rakesh Sachdev, who has served as interim CEO and President, will succeed Bill Cook as non-executive Board Chair. Cook will continue to serve as an independent director and will become Chair of the Board’s Compensation Committee, while also continuing to serve on the Audit Committee.

Villavarayan is a proven global executive with more than two decades of diverse operational and management experience in industrial sectors. Most recently, he served as CEO and President of Meritor, Inc., positioning Meritor as a global industry leader of commercial vehicle drivetrains and engineered systems with OEM and aftermarket customers, including pioneering its expansion into electric powertrains thereby paving a path for the evolution toward zero emissions for commercial vehicles. He brings an established track record of driving growth, expanding margins and managing complex global operations resulting in significant shareholder value creation.

We remind, Axalta, a leading global supplier of liquid and powder coatings, broke ground for construction of a state-of-the-art coatings facility in Jilin City, Jilin Province, North China. The 46,000-square-meter new plant will produce mobility coatings to support growing customer demand in China for light vehicles, commercial vehicles, and automotive plastic components. "Our new plant in Jilin is another building block supporting our ambitious growth strategy for our mobility business in China," said Nicolas Franc de Ferriere, Vice President, Mobility, Asia Pacific at Axalta.

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