Evonik Expands Hydroxyl-terminated Polybutadienes Production Capacity in Germany

Evonik Hydroxylterminated Polybutadienes Production CapacityEvonik, a specialty chemicals company, begins work to expand its POLYVEST® HT plant in Marl, Germany, said the company.

The Coating & Adhesive Resins business line expects the additional production capacity for its hydroxyl-terminated polybutadienes (HTPB), marketed under the brand name POLYVEST®, to be ready as early as the second quarter of 2024 following the double-digit million-euro investment.

The expansion comes ten years after the start of production at the HTPB plant in Marl. Strategic Expansion to Strengthen Product Service. “By expanding our operations, we will continue to provide reliable service to our global customers,” said Dr. Stefan Pfaffenbach, head of the business line. “In a highly competitive market, we are strengthening our position as a cost and innovation leader.”

“Dual-use products such as polybutadienes require a high degree of sensitivity and expertise when dealing with customers and authorities. So, when it comes to marketing this highly specialized product, we can rely on our colleagues’ experience and expertise to promote the additional capacities,” said Dr. Jurgen Herwig, head of the Polybutadienes and Specialty Acrylates product line.

Production is backward-integrated, as butadiene is produced directly at the Marl site and hydrogen peroxide is supplied by the Evonik Group. Thus, Evonik benefits from supply security for the raw materials for its POLYVEST® production. In addition, Evonik’s Application Technology and Research & Development teams are also located at the Marl site, providing a seamless link from laboratory development and testing, through to production.

POLYVEST® HT is a liquid, hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene produced by free-radical polymerization. The polymer has a highly hydrophobic polybutadiene backbone and primary hydroxyl groups that are accessible for precise chemical modification.

POLYVEST® HT is used as a polyol component in various adhesive and sealant applications. POLYVEST® HT-A is intended for aerospace applications.

We remind, Evonik has attained the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS for its speciality chemicals production at the Essen Goldschmidt site, said the company. The certification is based on the mass balance approach, which ensures that sustainable feedstocks are used and that the supply chain is traceable.

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Henkel and Dometic presented a new sealing solution for window frames in motorhomes, minibuses, and caravans at Henkel's new Inspiration Center Duesseldorf (ICD), said the company.

This is intended to replace the butyl seals previously used. The window frames are sealed with a polyurethane foam gasket FERMAPOR K31 from Henkel, specially developed for this purpose, to ensure that the windows are tight against the weather.

This highly viscous and fast-curing 2K sealing foam is applied to the window frames fully automatically and very precisely using a Sonderhoff dosing machine in the FIPFG process (Formed-In-Place-Foam-Gasket) with the robot-controlled mixing head. The mixed-cell foam gasket has a good compression, so that the closing forces when installing the windows are low, and any dimensional tolerances can be compensated.

In addition, the polyurethane foam gasket is more cost-effective and sustainable than a butyl seal as it reduces the overall installation time at the customers and reduces weight.

We remind, Henkel has officially opened its new Asia R&D center for Consumer Brands in Shanghai with an investment of approximate 100 million RMB. As Henkel’s largest R&D facility in Asia, the new center will attract top scientific talent, bolster local R&D capabilities in both Hair and Laundry & Home Care, and further position Henkel consumer products at the forefront of the industry. It will contribute to agile product innovations based on local consumer habits and insights across eleven markets in Asia.

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INEOS produced bio-based high-density polyethylene has been used to create the world’s first fully sustainable gas pipeline. Installed by French gas utility network operator, GRDF, the pipeline only uses the low carbon footprint polymer, said the company.

The new pipeline is installed in Clermont Auvergne Metropole, in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand, as part of a GRDF program to ‘green’ pipelines in parts of the region with a similar commitment to reducing their carbon footprint. One kilometer of pipeline will be laid across three sites in the Clermont Auvergne Metropole gas network.

The pipeline is made from bio-based, certified HDPE supplied by INEOS Olefins & Polymers Europe. It’s made from wood processing residues from the paper industry, which are transformed into tall oil, a bio-naphtha. The tall oil is turned into bio-ethylene in INEOS Cologne and transported to INEOS’ polymer plant in Lillo, Belgium, where it is used to manufacture bio-based HDPE.

The result is a polymer with a significantly lower carbon footprint than conventional, fossil-based polymers and because of this it has been recognized by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (or ISCC), an independent, third-party organization. ISCC have certified that the production of the pipes laid by GRDF met ISCC Plus standards by replacing the use of fossil fuel-derived feedstocks to produce the new material.

Importantly the bio-polymer has the same technical characteristics as conventional polymers, enabling a partner like GRDF to meet the highest standards of safety while reducing the environmental impact of networks it operates on behalf of local authorities. It also creates the potential for the innovation to be repeated for other gas and water pipelines.

All polymers offered by INEOS Olefins & Polymers Europe are also 100% recyclable, alongside the lower carbon footprint associated with the bio-based HDPE.

Rob Ingram, INEOS Olefins & Polymers North CEO, said: ‘Our congratulations to GRDF for this world first. At INEOS, we’re very proud to play a part in this game-changing innovation. Alongside the work we are doing to drive down emissions and reduce plastic waste in the polyolefins industry, it’s another example of our commitment to working with partners to develop efficient, lower emission solutions for transporting important utilities and goods around Europe’s cities.

We remind, INEOS Inovyn has today announced the expansion of its PVC portfolio - to offer new products that meet society's everyday needs, with a significantly reduced carbon footprint and increased recycled content. In the area of carbon neutrality, BIOVYNTM, the bio-attributed PVC launched by INEOS Inovyn in 2019, is designed to become carbon neutral and the net zero option. BIOVYNTM has been used increasingly across various sectors from automotive, building and construction, to medical and fashion applications, where fossil-free solutions with a reduced carbon footprint are needed.

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Singapore's middle distillates stocks dipped for the third consecutive week to hit a more-than-one-year low, of under 7 million barrels, due to robust net exports of gasoil/diesel, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Inventories of gasoil/diesel and jet fuel/kerosene at key oil storage hub Singapore slipped by 3% week-on-week to 6.903 million barrels in the week through Jan. 17, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.

Net exports of gasoil/diesel soared by almost 40% from the previous week, with total exports rising by almost 7%. Volumes mostly headed to regional destinations, led by Indonesia, which was in line with early expectations as fuel buyers there had stepped up purchases since the refinery maintenance season started in end-2023.

Exports to Thailand, albeit low, emerged for the first time in a long while, following an unexpected crude unit shutdown there since this week. There could be more reshuffling of cargoes by one or two traders back to Thailand if the trouble persists for more than the current state of two weeks, one source said.

Volumes to other destinations such as Australia and Malaysia remained prevalent. There were some exports to the United States as well, with LSEG and Kpler shiptracking data showing the destination as Long Beach and likely to be a biofuels cargo.

Imports declined by around 26% week on week, but China-origin cargoes emerged for the first time in almost a month, following the availability of export quotas since the new year started. More than 135,000 metric tons of China-origin diesel/gasoil will likely arrive in Singapore in January, LSEG shiptracking data showed.

South Korea-origin diesel/gasoil were also prevalent for the second straight week. However, the decline in stockpiles was slowed down by a 39% drop in net exports of jet fuel/kerosene, the data showed.

Total exports still grew, with exports to Indonesia and Malaysia being the most significant for the week. Arrivals from China were the key contributor, with the city-state receiving almost 40,000 tons of the aviation and heating fuel for this week.

We remind, Petrobras, opens new tab said on Wednesday that it plans to finish expansion works on Train One of its Abreu e Lima refinery in the first quarter of 2025, nearly a decade after the expansion was halted due to a massive corruption scandal. Work at the second train of the refinery, located in Pernambuco state, is scheduled to start in the second half of this year and conclude in 2028, said Marina Cavassin, executive manager of production development projects at Petrobras, during a press conference.

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Global naphtha markets will likely suffer from lower profit margins in 2024 as refining and petrochemical capacity expansions in China and the Middle East outpace plastics demand growth globally, traders and analysts said, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This will force cracker operators to keep run rates low, while more naphtha could go into the global gasoline blending pool especially during the U.S. summer driving season and cap retail fuel prices. Naphtha is used as a key ingredient in making petrochemicals like paints, plastics, and fibers, as well as a gasoline blendstock.

Supply growth in global naphtha markets is set to outpace demand growth by 1.88 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, up from 1.83 million bpd in 2023 and 460,000 bpd in 2022, according to forecasts from Energy Aspects. Wood Mackenzie expects the global naphtha surplus to hold steady at 400,000 bpd this year.

The Asia-Pacific region is still expected to remain short of naphtha, but the deficit is set to shrink by about 17% to 1.037 million bpd, S&P Global Commodity Insights said. In the Middle East, the Al Zour refinery in Kuwait and the Duqm plant in Oman, which started operations last year, are expected to ramp up production and boost naphtha exports to Europe and Asia in 2024.

Margins for key plastic raw materials such as polyethylene and polypropylene have underperformed in recent years, at around $150 per metric ton in the second half of 2023, below the break-even margin of about $300-$350 per ton needed for standalone plants, industry officials said.

S&P Commodity Insights' Sanjay Sharma said there will be some rationalization of petrochemical plants in South Korea, Japan and China the next two to three years if demand doesn't recover.

We remind, Petrobras, opens new tab said on Wednesday that it plans to finish expansion works on Train One of its Abreu e Lima refinery in the first quarter of 2025, nearly a decade after the expansion was halted due to a massive corruption scandal. Work at the second train of the refinery, located in Pernambuco state, is scheduled to start in the second half of this year and conclude in 2028, said Marina Cavassin, executive manager of production development projects at Petrobras, during a press conference.

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