NOVA Chemicals announces company’s first mechanical recycling facility operated by Novolex

MOSCOW (MRC) -- NOVA Chemicals Corporation has made a significant expansion of its Circular Solutions business today by announcing an investment into developing its first mechanical recycling facility in Connersville, Ind., said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The facility will process post-consumer plastic films to produce the company’s SYNDIGO recycled polyethylene (rPE) at commercial scale as early as 2025, delivering over 100 million pounds of rPE to the market by 2026.

NOVA Chemicals plans to expand its recycling footprint over the next several years to help it reach its industry-leading 2030 ambition of 30 per cent recycled content as a share of its total polyethylene sales.

The company recently announced its 2030 Roadmap to Sustainability Leadership aspirations, including its anticipated investment of between USD2-4 B by 2030 to expand its sustainable product offerings, decarbonize its assets, and build a state-of-the-art mechanical recycling business while exploring new advanced recycling technologies.

We remind, NOVA Chemicals Corporation ("NOVA Chemicals") and Plastic Energy have entered into an agreement to explore the feasibility of developing a pyrolysis-driven advanced recycling facility in the Sarnia, ON, Canada, region. If constructed, the facility would be the largest of its kind in Canada with a potential initial capacity of 66,000 tonnes/y.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- China's June fuel oil imports hit the highest level for a month so far in 2023, buoyed by firm purchases of Russian oil, as per Hyrocarbonprocessing.

Total fuel oil imports in June were at 2.70 million metric tons, up 5% from May and more than triple from June 2022.

The monthly imports were also at a decade-high again, after easing slightly in May, the data showed. China's independent refiners have boosted purchases of fuel oil to be used as a refinery feedstock this year, particularly discounted barrels of Russian fuel oil, including indirect imports that have passed through blending hub Malaysia.

Direct imports from Russia were at 1.42 million metric tons in June, easing from a record high of 1.55 million metric tons in May, but imports from blending hub Malaysia rose by more than 85% in June month-on-month to about 989,000 metric tons.

In the first half of 2023, total direct fuel oil imports from Russia more than tripled compared to the same period last year, while total imports from Malaysia more than quadrupled, the data showed. China's exports of low-sulfur marine fuels, measured mostly by sales from bonded storage for vessels plying international routes, totaled 1.93 million metric tons in June, up 4% from May.

The uptick came despite lower sales for bunkering across key refueling hubs in June, including Singapore and the UAE's Fujairah. The table below shows China's fuel oil imports and exports in metric tons. The exports section largely captures China's low-sulfur oil bunkering sales along its coast.

We remind, Russian oil exports from western ports are set to fall by some 100,000-200,000 barrels per day next month from July levels, a sign Moscow is making good on its pledge for fresh supply cuts in tandem with OPEC leader Saudi Arabia. OPEC and major producers including Russia, together known as OPEC+, have been cutting supply since November to support prices. Moscow this month pledged to cut exports by 500,000 bpd in August, while Saudi Arabia extended its 1 million bpd output cuts.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The resumption of construction of the Jumbo plastics project will bring great social benefit to Corpus Christi in Texas as it is estimated to generate up to 2,400 jobs at peak construction, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The plastics factory project has gone through several stages since its initial planning more than 10 years ago, as construction had been stalled for several years. Corpus Christi Polymers bought the plant and in February 2019 it was planned to start construction later that year, with a target start-up date of May 2020. However, delays in the project and the onset of the pandemic truncated these plans. Construction finally resumed in 2022 with the intention of completing the project by 2025.

Sarens has been involved in the construction of the project by providing a wide range of advanced machinery to assist with the lifting of ultra-heavy loads.

When the plant comes into operation, projected for 2025, it will represent the largest PET/PTA vertically integrated facility in the world, producing between 1.1 million and 1.3 million metric tons of purified terephthalic acid, known as PTA, and polyethylene terephthalate, or PET.

These materials are present in many of the objects we wear or use in everyday life. PET, a form of polymer, is used in part of the production process for plastic bottles or packaging for food and beverages. PTA, on the other hand, is used to make polyester fibers for clothing, sheets, curtains and bedspreads.

The use of the latest technologies in the industry, present in the plant, will allow innovation in the processes, achieving products with key technical advantages over packaging materials from other factories in areas such as durability, heat resistance and 100% recyclability. The plant will also produce its own industrial water through desalination, minimizing the impact on Corpus Christi's drinking water supply.

We remind, LyondellBasell said on Wednesday it has acquired a 50% stake in Dutch recycling company Stiphout Industries B.V. The company did not disclose financial details of the transaction. Stiphout is involved in the sourcing and processing of plastic household waste into clean flakes of recycled polypropylene and high-density polyethylene materials. It operates a recycling facility located in the Netherlands.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Yanbu National Petrochemical Co (Yansab) posted a 90.5% year-on-year drop in its second quarter net profit amid lower average sales prices, said Argaam.

Q2 net profit was also weighed by lower production and sales volumes, Yansab said in a filing on the Saudi stock exchange, Tadawul.

Average prices for its products fell by 30% year on year in the second quarter while sales volumes were down by 34%.

For the first six months of this year, the company’s net loss was attributed to lower production and sales volumes as a result of “preventive maintenance” at its production complex, Yansab said.

We remind, Yansab has successfully undertaken a major turnaround in full compliance with the company's strict health, safety and reliability protocols. During the mega 52-day turnaround, Yansab, a manufacturing affiliate of SABIC, carried out critical asset-integrity inspections and repairs which are critical for the safety and integrity of its plants to ensure long-term safe and sustainable operations.

Yansab, a subsidiary of chemicals major SABIC, operates a production complex in Yanbu in western Saudi Arabia which can produce around 4.4m tonnes/year of various products including ethylene, propylene, monoethylene glycol (MEG), high density polyethylene (HDPE), linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and polypropylene (PP).

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fuel pump operators across Pakistan are to hold a nationwide strike on July 22 in a bid to secure larger margins amid an inflation crisis, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

"We will shut down all petrol pumps across Pakistan on July 22, 6 p.m.," said the association, which says it has more than 10,000 members.

In a statement it said interest rates and inflation have hit operators' businesses and called for the dealership margin to be increased. It said sales have slumped by 30% due to Iranian fuel being smuggled into the country.

"Around 8,000-9,000 (operators) ... represented by us, will be shut on July 22," Abdul Sami Khan, chairman of the association, told Reuters.

The South Asian country is dealing with a weakening currency and a prolonged period of inflation with the national rate hitting 29.4% in June, down from a record high of 38% in May.

We remind, Pakistan is negotiating to buy a second shipment of discounted Russian crude oil, the South Asian country's petroleum minister said on Wednesday. Musadiq Malik told reporters there was no scenario where the country was "not benefiting" from Russian crude and added that Pakistan was "finalizing another cargo". The first cargo of Russian Urals docked at Karachi port last month and was paid for in China's currency. Islamabad made the first purchase in April.

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