New partnership for recycling PE film

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Fastenal and Trex have entered into a scrap supply agreement which is expected to divert an estimated 600,000 pounds of plastic from landfills in the first year of operations, said Sustainableplastics.

Fastenal, a U.S.-based industry supplier, and wood-alternative decking company Trex have announced a partnership that will see Trex repurposing Fastenal’s discarded polyethylene (PE) stretch film. PE film, widely used in logistics, stabilises products on pallets to make them safe for transport. It also serves as a protection against external influences such as dust, dirt, or moisture, and helps prevents theft of the goods.

Through the partnership, Fastenal is collecting used PE film in its distribution centres, branches, and customer-specific onsite locations and shipping it to Trex to use the material in the manufacture of composite decking products. The entire portfolio of Trex’s composite decking is made from 95% recycled and reclaimed materials, including a mix of PE film, known as pallet wrap in the distribution industry, and industrial wood scrap.

"Pallet wrap is vital to our daily operations, but once the product is unwrapped, we have no use for it," said Dave Olson, director of EHS & Sustainability for Fastenal. "Working with Trex to turn all that potential waste into sustainable outdoor building products is a win for both organisations."

As Fastenal receives high volumes of pallet wrap as part of inbound shipments from its suppliers, it expects to divert an estimated 600,000 pounds of plastic from landfills in the first year of the programme alone. The company said it invested more than $300,000 in equipment and infrastructure in its United States distribution centres to bale and consolidate used PE film that it then ships to Trex for recycling.

The global pallet wrap market is estimated at $6.14 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow 4% every year to $9.12 billion in 2033, analysis by Future Market Insights indicates. In North America, the market grew by of an average of 3.1% every year from 2018 to 2022. The PE film is used in huge volumes by logistics companies, among others, and more often than not ends up in landfill.

Companies like Trex are working to change that pattern, with the U.S.-based manufacturer saying it repurposes 400 million pounds of plastic film a year, reportedly making it one of the largest recyclers of PE film in North America. Through its NexTrex Recycling Program, Trex partners with commercial businesses and community organizations across the country to collect and transport recycled plastic material to its manufacturing facilities in Winchester, Virginia and Fernley, Nevada.

We remind, scientists from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands developed a new numerical model to estimate the amount of plastic in the ocean. They found that the largest fraction of plastic mass is located at the ocean surface, not just 1% as previously assumed.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay reported its financial results for 2Q 2023, said the company.

Net sales in 2Q 2023 decreased by -9.2% organically versus 2Q 2022. Structural cost savings for 1H 2023 amounted to EUR 36 M.

Underlying EBITDA of EUR 790 M in 2Q 2023 only decreased by -2.6% organically year on year. The underlying EBITDA margin of 25.6% in 2Q 2023 is +0.7 pp higher than in 2Q 2022.

Underlying net profit was EUR 426 M in 2Q 2023 compared to EUR 470 M in 2Q 2022. Free cash flow of EUR 556 M in 2Q 2023 significantly increased year-on-year despite EUR 59 M higher capex. ROCE was 16.3%, +2.6 pp above 2Q 2022 and +8.2 pp above 2019.

We remind, Solvay, via its venture capital fund, has invested in Compact Membrane Systems (CMS). Based in the US, CMS is a start-up that makes membrane solutions capable of lowering emissions and can support the decarbonization of heavy industries by employing carbon capture technologies. CMS develops cheap, low-energy, and solvent-free carbon capture and separation technologies.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Toray Industries Inc reported its financial results for 1Q FY 2023, said the company.

During the period under review (from 1 Apr 2023 to 30 Jun 2023), in the resins and chemicals businesses, the resins business was weak given the impact of demand declines in the Chinese markets and other factors.

Demand declined due to inventory adjustment in supply chains for optical applications and electronic parts in the films business as well as circuit materials in the electronic & information materials business.

As a result, revenue of overall Performance Chemicals segment decreased 12.3% to Yen 214.8 bn compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year and core operating income declined 56.1% to Yen 7.4 bn.

We remind, Toray Advanced Materials Korea Inc. (TAK) is reviewing its film line expansion in South Korea as part of its 300 billion won (USD229 million) capital expenditure plan for this year, unlike other chemical firms that have frozen their investments due to an industry slowdown amid the economic downturn.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Singapore's middle distillates stockpiles were little changed as an uptick in weekly imports for both gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene capped drawdowns, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene volumes stored at key trading hub Singapore dipped 1.2% to 7 million barrels (0.94 million metric tons) in the week ended Aug. 9, official data from Enterprise Singapore showed. On the gasoil front, total imports more than tripled from the previous week, led by an influx of 40,915 metric tons from Korea.

Still, gasoil exports fell 79% week-on-week to 78,122 metric tons. For jet fuel/kerosene, total imports jumped to 114,598 metric tons.

Most of the imports came from China, rising to 32,272 metric tons, in line with earlier expectations that the export margins of the world's second-largest economy would improve.

Similar to gasoil exports, jet fuel/kerosene exports also dropped by roughly 75% to 20,051 tons.

However, Chinese exports are likely to be capped going ahead, according to Refinitiv Oil Research.

Export volumes from China are expected to fall to about 650,000 million metric tons for August, partly due to the lack of export quotas, and as domestic demand is expected to strengthen going into September and October, said Refinitiv in a weekly report.

Supplies within Asia are also set to tighten amid a series of planned and unplanned refinery shutdowns taking place across the region, including in South Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam, the analysts added.

We remind, Most Russian fuel exports from the Baltic and Black Sea regions are now pricing above a price cap set in February by a G7-led coalition designed to limit Moscow's revenues in the aftermath of its invasion of Ukraine.
The rise in Russian fuel prices comes as global prices for fuels from other origins soar amid strong demand and low inventory levels.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil and gas producer Occidental Petroleum said it has appointed company veteran Sunil Mathew as its new chief financial officer, a new executive in a span of three years, said Reuters.

Occidental overtime has been shuffling its finance head quite frequently and it has been a bit of a revolving door. The company in its recent filing did not provide a reason for the CFO change. The appointment, effective immediately, replaces Rob Peterson, who would now lead the company’s chemical division.

Peterson, who was the CFO since 2020, would transition into the role of executive vice president of essential chemistry at Occidental Chemical Corporation (OxyChem), a wholly-owned subsidiary.

The shale producer appointed Peterson in 2020, when it was struggling with a massive USD40 billion debt load from its purchase of rival Anadarko Petroleum that was considered an ill-timed bet and was widely criticized.

His predecessor, Cedric Burgher was there for three years and left after settling a long and bitter war with activist investor Carl Icahn over the Anadarko deal, giving the activist investor’s associates three seats on its board.

Mathew, 53, has been with the company since 2004. Prior to the new role, he was Occidental’s vice president of strategic planning and analysis.

We remind, Occidental and ADNOC announced that they will evaluate investment opportunities in Direct Air Capture (DAC) facilities and carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration hubs in the United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a pathway toward the development of carbon management platforms to accelerate the net-zero goals of both companies.

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