Sasol Chemicals opens new laboratory in Germany

Sasol Chemicals has opened a new research, development, and analytics (RD&A) laboratory in Brunsbuttel, Germany, said European-coatings.

According to company information, the Brunsbuttel facility focuses on advanced and sustainable solutions for Sasol’s key markets – including metalworking and lubrication as well as coatings. Planning and construction of the 7000-square-meter facility began in April 2019. It has capacity for 140 employees, with 33 offices and 82 evaluation stations. Using its advanced equipment, the facility’s skilled workforce will be able to analyse up to 200,0000 samples a year.

“Co-creating innovative solutions with our customers has been a long-standing tradition at Sasol Chemicals, and our new lab provides a state-of-the-art environment to pursue the cooperation we share with them,” said Dr. Cronje Grove, Vice President of Advanced Materials for Sasol Chemicals.

We remind, TotalEnergies plans to supply renewable energy to Sasol and Air Liquide at the Secunda chemical site in South Africa. The companies signed power purchase agreements for the supply of 260MW capacity of renewable electricity over 20 years


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The Polynt Group expands its resin production capacity with the opening of a new site in Port Moody, BC, Canada during the second half of 2023, said European-coatings.

Last year, the Polynt Group announced its decision to expand resin production capacity to serve the North American Coatings Market and to meet the growing needs of the paint and coatings industry. This expansion is fully effective and will now be further enhanced with the opening of Polynt Coatings Canada Limited in Port Moody, BC during the second half of 2023.

This additional investment is intended to allow Polynt to add further capacity and flexibility in conventional alkyds, oil modified urethanes, and water-based technologies to start.

We remind, Polynt Group started the process for the installation of a new esterification plant to produce special plasticizers, in particular trimellitates, at its site in Atlacomulco, Mexico. Special high-performance plasticizers, with their superior technical performances in electrical and high temperature applications, are a main component for the electrification of cars and transportation, a general trend so important for improving environmental sustainability. Trimellitates represents the most effective family of products that can satisfy those outstanding performance characteristics.

Polynt Group has more than 3,100 employees in 35 manufacturing operations throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.

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Chilean state oil company National Petroleum Company (ENAP) said on Monday it has signed a temporary agreement with Argentine oil firm YPF to import crude through the Trasandino pipeline, a key step for both countries' trade, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Trasadino pipeline, known as OTA-OTC or OTASA, connects the huge Vaca Muerta shale formation in the western Patagonian province of Neuquen with Chile, and is co-owned by ENAP, YPF, and Chevron Corp.

Vaca Muerta, the world's second largest shale gas reserve and fourth largest for shale oil, is seen as key to Argentina's push to lessen reliance on pricey energy imports.

The contract, which is valid for 45 days, would enable the Chilean firm to buy 41,000 barrels of oil per day between May and June.

ENAP said in a statement that, although the deal is a "regular purchase operation," it is an initial step for the renewal of "energy-oil interconnection between the two countries in the long term."

We remind, Argentina's state oil company YPF and its Malaysian counterpart, Petronas, inked a deal on Thursday to build a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant and a pipeline to transport the fuel, as demand for the fossil fuel spikes globally. An agreement could be announced as soon as the end of the week, likely ahead of the Gastech conference in Milan that begins on 5 September.

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Vietnam's Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical will take USD754 MM worth of loans for a project to expand its sole oil refinery and boost its annual crude oil processing capacity by more than 1 million tons, Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The loans will account for 60% of the funding needed to raise Dung Quat refinery's capacity to 7.6 million from 6.5 million tons, the company said in a statement at the weekend.

Binh Son said in April 2022 it would roll out the expansion that same year. In its latest statement, it said the government had approved the plan and the expansion would take 37 months, with completion by the first quarter of 2028.

It last month said it would delay maintenance at the refinery until 2024 and profits were expected to drop 88% this year due to rising costs, including higher taxes.

We remind, Vietnam's Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical will delay the maintenance at its refinery until next year, and said it expects profits to drop 88% this year due to rising costs, including higher taxes. Binh Son said the maintenance delay would allow the company to "maximize its production, revenue and profit" this year. The 130,000-barrel-per-day refinery was originally scheduled to undergo major maintenance from June 22 to August 11 in 2023. The maintenance will now take place early next year, the company said in a statement.

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Sika has completed the acquisition of MBCC Group after having received all necessary regulatory approvals, said the company.

MBCC Group, headquartered in Mannheim, Germany, and formerly owned by an affiliate of Lone Star Funds, is active in the field of construction systems and admixture systems. To close the transaction and to comply with regulatory requirements, Sika sold MBCC Group’s chemical admixtures assets in the UK, the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand to the international private equity firm Cinven. The business now acquired by Sika employs 6,200 people and operates in over 60 countries and 95 production facilities.

Thomas Hasler, CEO: "Today is a historic day for Sika. We are delighted to welcome the MBCC employees to the Sika family. We embark on our exciting journey and will continue to drive Sika’s growth story. Thanks to our extensive experience in integrating companies, we will successfully bring Sika and MBCC together and combine our strengths to create the new reference in the construction chemicals industry."

We remind, the European Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of Germany-based construction chemicals producer MBCC by Switzerland’s Sika. The approval, under the EU Merger Regulation, is conditional on the divestiture of MBCC's global chemical admixture business.

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