North American chemical rail traffic falls for 18th week

MOSCOW (MRC) -- North American chemical railcar traffic fell for 19th straight week, with loadings for the week ended 28 January down 5.9% year on year to 44,803, led by a 10.0% decline in the US, according to the latest freight rail data by the Association of American Railroads (AAR).

For the first four weeks of 2023 ended 28 January North American chemical rail traffic was down 6.5% year on year to 172,824 railcar loadings, with US traffic down by 11.4% or 15,641 loadings.

In the US, chemical railcar loadings represent about 20% of chemical transportation by tonnage, with trucks, barges and pipelines carrying the rest. In Canada, chemical producers rely on rail to ship more than 70% of their products, with some exclusively using rail.

We remind, North American chemical rail traffic fell an 18th straight week, with loadings for the week ended 21 January down 2.2% year on year to 44,683, led by an 8.5% decline in the US. For the first three weeks of 2023 ended 21 January North American chemical rail traffic was down 6.7% year on year, to 128,021 railcar loadings. In the US, chemical railcar loadings represent about 20% of chemical transportation by tonnage, with trucks, barges and pipelines carrying the rest. In Canada, chemical producers rely on rail to ship more than 70% of their products, with some exclusively using rail.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Trinseo, a specialty materials solutions provider, is pleased to announce a distribution agreement with Omya, a leading global producer of industrial minerals and worldwide distributor of specialty chemicals, said the company.

Under the terms of the agreement, Omya will provide high-quality ABS and PC/ABS resins to Trinseo automotive and mobility customers in North America starting February 1, 2023. The materials are offered under Trinseo’s well-known brands MAGNUM™ ABS Resins and PULSE™ PC/ABS Resins.

Trinseo’s MAGNUM™ ABS Resins are differentiated in the marketplace by continuous mass polymerization manufacturing technology. ABS produced with this technology is purer, cleaner and superior as compared to emulsion ABS, since the continuous process results in a more consistent, stable and reliable product. In addition, mass polymerization technology produces resins with a highly consistent, white base color, resulting in a cost-efficient resin for self-coloring because less pigment is required. Trinseo’s PULSE™ PC/ABS Resins provide an ideal mix of mechanical, thermal, and rheological properties for use in both high-performance interior and exterior applications. They are approved for many premium OEM specifications and provide strong technical features, such as low density, low emissions, and high impact strength.

Trinseo sells specialty materials and sustainable solutions to customers directly and through distribution channels, focused on the mobility, building and construction, consumer goods, and medical market sectors. Omya joins a network of Trinseo distributors worldwide that support customer needs.

We remind, Trinseo said it expects a net loss from continuing operations of USD367m-362m, which includes a pre-tax, non-cash goodwill impairment charge of USD297m related to its PMMA business and Aristech Surfaces reporting units, said the company.

Trinseo a specialty material solutions provider, partners with companies to bring ideas to life in an imaginative, smart, and sustainability-focused manner by combining its premier expertise, forward-looking innovations and best-in-class materials to unlock value for companies and consumers. From design to manufacturing, Trinseo taps into decades of experience in diverse material solutions to address customers’ unique challenges in a wide range of industries, including consumer goods, mobility, building and construction, and medical.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Evonik is pooling its expertise and integrating its alkoxides business into the Catalysts Business Line, said the company.

The extensive portfolio of heterogeneous catalysts is thus now complemented by homogeneous catalysts. An international network of production sites and the highly experienced alkoxides team will additionally strengthen the Catalysts Business Line, one of Evonik's growth areas, from January 2023.

The chemical industry is undergoing a profound transformational process. Driven primarily by sustainability issues such as the circular economy, CO2 reduction or decarbonization, catalysts are at the heart of this transformation, as they are needed for approximately 80 percent of all chemical processes.

The internal integration supports transformation of the chemical industry as well as the Catalysts expansion strategy on the way to becoming a leading global catalyst supplier for the chemical industry.

"Currently, the global market for catalysts is very fragmented," said Business Line Manager Sanjeev Taneja. "Against this backdrop, we continue our growth journey by providing innovative catalysts and adsorbents delivering sustainable customer value.

We are gradually expanding our product and service portfolio in the direction of Next Generation Solutions - be it through targeted acquisitions or strategic collaborations thus enabling our customers master their own transformation. And we do this by offering catalysts that enable new sustainable production processes, products and applications. The integration of the alkoxides will boost our efforts.”

The main application of alkoxides is the production of sustainable biodiesel fuel from vegetable oils, used cooking oils or other fat- based waste. The use of alkoxides optimizes the process toward the highest possible yield of feedstock. In the synthesis of active ingredients and fine chemicals, alkoxides also find numerous applications in the life science industry.

One particularly promising prospect for alkoxides is the chemical recycling of PET plastic. Evonik is currently working with partners to split the polymer chains into the original monomers and thus regenerate the chemical building blocks that were used at the start of plastics production. These components can then be used to produce new polymers again for high-quality applications.

The Alkoxides business is managed as a separate product line within the Catalysts Business Line, and will be managed by Alexander Weber, a proven executive from the Alkoxides business and is being reported as part of Smart Materials division as of 1st January 2023. In Fiscal 2021, it generated a turnover of ~ EUR300 m.

"The merger is logical, and not the last step on our common path. By combining various functions such as research and development at the Hanau site, our core competencies and experience will be bundled and we will work in an even more targeted manner and learn from each other - in terms of specific products as well as supporting customer-related processes such as supply chain and digitalization," says Weber.

Services to our customers of the joint business area continue to meet their expectations. From the quality and delivery of products to the regional sales channels, the existing processes, structures and contacts will remain the same. From July 2023, there will be a joint market presence.

Evonik wants to make a significant contribution to the transformation of the chemical industry by making technologies faster, more efficient and cheaper. The integration will support this.

We remind, Evonik is pooling its expertise and integrating its alkoxides business into the Catalysts Business Line. The extensive portfolio of heterogeneous catalysts is thus now complemented by homogeneous catalysts. An international network of production sites and the highly experienced alkoxides team will additionally strengthen the Catalysts Business Line, one of Evonik's growth areas, from January 2023.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- R.E. Carroll (Ewing, New Jersey), a specialty chemical distributor primarily dealing in adhesives, coatings, and rubber industries, has acquired RHD Polymer and Chemical (Louisville, Kentucky), effective 1 February 2023, said the company.

Financial details were not disclosed. RHD Polymer and Chemical supplies additives to elastomer and plastics makers. The company will operate as a subsidiary for the immediate future. R.E. Carroll says.

We remind, R.E. Carroll Inc collaborated with Specialty Mineral Inc for the distribution of its ground talc products for the rubber industry. Specialty Mineral's mine in Barretts, MT, US, produces all of the talc products, which are used in polyolefins in appliance and automotive sectors or in paints and coatings markets in the case of R.E. Carroll's Sericron series.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Hexagon's Manufacturing Intelligence division and Sumika Polymer Compounds Europe (SPC Europe), a leading manufacturer of thermoplastic compounds, have partnered to digitise the performance of new sustainable automotive-grade polypropylene (PP) compounds, enabling engineers to design components that are more recyclable and offer a lower carbon footprint for future vehicles, said the company.

Sumika Polymer Compounds' short glass-fibre polypropylene (GF-PP) THERMOFIL HP and recycled polypropylene (GF-rPP) THERMOFIL CIRCLE materials benefit from sustainable manufacturing and recycling processes and offer carmakers performance equivalent to incumbent engineering plastics, but with an up to 60% lower carbon footprint. A growing proportion of today's PP components are recovered and recycled compared to polyamides (PA), of which up to 70% are utilised in waste-to-energy initiatives or finish up in landfill, but there remains substantial room for improvement. These new Sumika recycled PP compounds are designed for the circular economy, contributing to plastic waste reduction at vehicle end-of-life.

Plastics can contribute up to 20% of the total weight of a car, and their application is escalating with the continuing replacement of metals. The automotive industry's shift to eMobility has increased the need for lightweighting components to maximise the energy efficiency of vehicles and mitigate the considerable weight of battery packs, but their environmental performance throughout the lifecycle must also be considered by product development teams.

"Limited material behaviour data is a barrier to sustainable eMobility innovations because automotive engineering teams have not been able to put new materials through the rigorous virtual durability and safety tests required for automotive endorsement," said Guillaume Boisot, head of the Materials Centre of Excellence at Hexagon. "Our unique multiscale material modelling technology accelerates the adoption of SPC Europe's ground-breaking recycled materials by making it possible for product development teams to accurately simulate a component and subject it to established automotive engineering test and validation."

This vital engineering data is the result of a long-term partnership between the two companies, providing product development teams the ability to evaluate the suitability of GF-PP compounds in new designs to address carbon-neutral targets by replacing traditional engineering plastics.

We remind, Sumitomo Chemical announced its decision to close down its production facilities for caprolactam, a raw material for nylon, at its Ehime Works (Niihama city, Ehime, Japan) in October 2022, and exit the business. Sumitomo Chemical started production of caprolactam at its Ehime Works in 1965, employing a liquid-phase process, and has since been engaged in the business for more than 50 years.

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