RadiciGroup inaugurates new production plant in India

It is the first industrial site owned by RadiciGroup in India, employing over 100 collaborators and situated in the municipality of Halol in the federal state of Gujarat, said the company.

A decision made on the basis of RadiciGroup’s multiyear experience in India, which has allowed the Group to get to know the local market better and better, while growing steadily year after year. Today, RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers is a leading partner for many customers and, thanks to its new facility, is even better equipped to take on global challenges.

“It is a historic moment for us,” stated Maurizio Radici, vice president di RadiciGroup, who personally inaugurated the new site together with the management and staff of Radici Plastics India PVT LTD. “Now, we are present in India with a manufacturing facility that is part of the RadiciGroup High Performance Polymers global production network, which can count on 7 other plants and numerous sales sites located in Europe, North and South America, and Asia.”

“From the start,” the vice president continued, “we’ve had the vision to expand our roots in the world, with the goal of being close to our global and local customers, so as to develop high-quality products and innovative solutions for the market, together. Opening this plant emphasizes the success of our vision and represents the long-term commitment that we shareholders have to the Indian region.”

India is a market where having a strong presence is essential to seize growth opportunities in sectors requiring short reactive production chains.

We remind, RadiciGroup has launched a EUR 35 M site in Suzhou, China, to expand capacity for producing engineering polymers by 100%.

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Celanese Corporation, a global specialty materials and chemical company, announced the global commercial launch of two new polyamide solutions for manufacturers of Electric Vehicle (EV) powertrain components and EV battery applications, said the company.

The Frianyl® PA W-Series of flame-retardant polyamide solutions enables the manufacturing of large, thick-walled, flame-retardant components for EV batteries. With the W-Series solutions, manufacturers can improve the safety of these components, introduce novel new designs and enhance manufacturing efficiency. Potential applications include battery module housings, e-box housings and covers, and more.

The W-Series solutions achieve V-0 flame retardance at 1.5mm, combined with excellent flow characteristics. Compared to standard PA66 grades with 30% glass fiber reinforcement, the equivalent grade of the new W-Series offers a 10-20% improvement in flow in an injection mold, depending on the pressure applied. Improved flow means manufacturers can consider new designs and more readily fill molds during processing, potentially leading to cycle time reductions. The W-Series solutions also have excellent laser markability with all common laser marking processes.

In addition, the Frianyl® PA W-Series solutions exhibit an excellent Comparative Tracking Index (CTI) even after aging at 125°C for 1,000 hours. Long-term color stability of parts manufactured from these materials, measured at 125°C, is also notable with no visible change to the eye, and even only a nominal change when measured in a color lab.

We remind, Celanese is delaying the start-up of its new acetic acid plant in Clear Lake, Texas. Celanese had mechanically completed the project and had begun commissioning when it discovered defects in some of the high-metallurgy components from the manufacturing process of its supplier, the company said. These parts must be replaced before start-up.

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BASF announced that its Yeosu site in Korea has successfully produced the first biomass balanced (BMB) methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), said the company.

This milestone development underlines BASF's commitment to building a more sustainable MDI value chain. MDI is a key component in the production of polyurethane, which is widely used in industries such as automotive, construction, and electronics.

Traditionally, MDI is produced from fossil-based raw materials. With the increasing global demand for sustainable solutions, BASF has now developed biomass balanced MDI, made with biomass-balanced benzene. At the beginning of the production chain, the renewable feedstock needed to produce the biomass balanced benzene has been fed into the production system. A corresponding share of the renewable feedstock is then attributed to the MDI by means of a certified mass balance method. Certification of BASF's biomass balanced products is carried out according to recognized standards like REDcert2 or ISCC PLUS.

Using renewable raw material in the production system helps improve the product carbon footprint (PCF) of our customers along the value chain in comparison to the regular MDI solely based on conventional feedstock. The biomass balanced MDI produced at the Yeosu site will be supplied to customers in the Asia Pacific region, further supporting BASF's goal of providing sustainable solutions to meet the growing demands of its customers in the region.

We remind, BASF and NEVEON provide hotel with recycled mattresses. Together, the two companies have taken another step forward on their journey toward a circular economy. Using an innovative recycling process developed by BASF, it is now possible to produce polyol on a ton scale that is derived entirely from used mattresses.

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LyondellBasell Industries NV (Rotterdam, the Netherlands) announced has acquired a 50% stake in Stiphout Industries B.V. Stiphout is involved in the sourcing and processing of post-consumer plastic packaging waste, said the company.

The company operates a facility located in Montfort, the Netherlands, with an annual processing capacity equivalent to the amount of plastic packaging waste generated by over 500,000 Dutch citizens per year.

“Investing in Stiphout aligns with our strategy to invest in recycling and plastic waste processing companies that support our existing assets in the Netherlands and Germany and fits with our integrated hub model,” says Yvonne van der Laan, LyondellBasell Executive Vice President, Circular and Low Carbon Solutions. “Through this collaboration, we can leverage local synergies with our Quality Circular Polymers business in terms of logistics and operations. It also unlocks possibilities to further expand our CirculenRecover portfolio, creating solutions for customers and brand owners in support of their circular and low-carbon targets”.

Stiphout was founded in 2015 and has over time built up experience in the processing of plastic household waste into clean flakes of recycled polypropylene (PP) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) materials, establishing itself as an innovative player in the Netherlands.

We remind, LyondellBasell announced that Jiangsu Fenghai High-Tech Materials Co., Ltd. (Jiangsu Fenghai) has selected the LyondellBasell Lupotech T high-pressure polyethylene technology for a new production site. The Lupotech T process technology will be used for a 200 kiloton per year (KTA) vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) line. The new line will be located in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, P.R. of China.

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Since the start of the Ukrainian conflict, Russia, a leading global oil producer, has cemented its energy ties with China, the world's No. 2 oil consumer after the United States, said Reuters.

Beijing has rejected Western criticism of its growing partnership with Moscow in light of Russia's conflict in Ukraine. It insists the ties do not flout international norms, and China has the prerogative to collaborate with whichever country it chooses.

According to China's customs data, the growth of China's exports and imports with Russia on a year-on-year basis quickened in September from August.

Bilateral trade value surged to USD21.18 billion last month, the highest since February 2022 when Russia started its military operation in Ukraine.

Last month, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said China-Russian economic and trade cooperation had deepened and become more "solid" under the "strategic guidance" of their two leaders. Following is a list of some key energy projects and developments between Russia and China.

Russia exports around 2.0 million barrels of oil per day to China, accounting for more than a third of its total crude oil exports. China is Russia's second-largest buyer of Russian oil after India. About 40% of supplies flow via the 4,070-km (2,540-mile) East Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline that was financed by Chinese loans worth an estimated $50 billion.

From January to September, Russia supplied 1.3 million bpd of seaborne crude, based on the average of data supplied by Vortexa and Kpler. China also imported about 800,000 bpd of ESPO crude via pipeline, according to Chinese trading sources.

The seaborne imports are mainly ESPO shipped from Russia's Pacific port of Kozmino as well as Urals from the Baltic Sea. From January to September, total Russian shipments grew by over 400,000 bpd from a year earlier, led by Urals, according to tanker tracker Vortexa.

China has this year saved $4.34 billion by importing Russian oil, based on Reuters' comparison of the monthly price differentials between ESPO and Tupi crude from Brazil, and Urals versus Oman, using price information provided by traders.

We remind, private Russian oil producer Lukoil will lend Azeri state oil firm Socar $1.5 B as part of a broader deal that will allow Socar's 200,000-barrel-per-day Turkish STAR refinery to process Russian crude again. The deal will give Lukoil another customer in close proximity to Russian ports after most European refiners stopped importing its crude to comply with European Union sanctions imposed after Moscow launched what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine in 2022.

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