Kaliningrad's Naturovo starts producing soft drinks in Moscow Region, planning second production line

Kaliningrad-based Agrofactory Naturovo LLC has launched a production line for bottling carbonated drinks in the town of Lukhovitsy near Moscow, the company told Interfax.

"The production line for the production of natural soft drinks was opened at the site, where an autoclave for the cooking and vacuum packaging of vegetables was also launched. The total investment in the project is over 300 million rubles, with 50 jobs created at the enterprise," the company said.

The LimoNat brand drink is produced in Lukhovitsy, in 0.3 l and 0.7 l bottles, both in PET packaging and in glass, the manufacturer said. Each bottle contains 60% directly pressed juice. The company's immediate plans include expanding its range of products, as well as producing natural juices, fruit drinks and cider. The company's products are certified for use as baby food.

"Soft drink production volumes depend on the level of demand. Currently, the enterprise operates one line; its capacity is 20,000 bottles per day. Meanwhile, the project foresees the launch of a second line. It will take place around May 2024. Juices and still drinks with juice content will be bottled here," the company said.

Agrofactory Naturovo LLC has been operating in the Kaliningrad region since 1995, when its first warehouses for storing vegetables and fruits were opened. Today, it is engaged in the processing and production of agricultural products under the Naturovo brand, runs its own vegetable storage facilities and a logistics center, and has its own chain of retail stores of the same name as well as an express delivery service.

The owner and general director of the LLC, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, is Russian citizen Alexander Ivanov. The company earned revenue of 1.7 billion rubles, and net profit of 21.2 million rubles in 2022 (the most recent published data).

We remind, a major fire has hit one of the six key trunklines that run in a single corridor from the gas-rich Yamal-Nenets autonomous region in West Siberia in Russia. These pipelines are responsible for delivering most of the gas produced by state-controlled Gazprom in the Yamal-Nenets region to customers in the European part of the country, and also to export destinations via the TurkStream and Blue Stream subsea pipelines in the Black Sea and a legacy pipeline across Ukraine.

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Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. (Saudi Kayan) announced that its accumulated losses reached 20.44% of its capital amounting to SAR 15 billion, based on the unaudited financial results for February 2024 that were closed щт 10 March, said Argaam.

In a statement to Tadawul, the company said its losses reached nearly SAR 3.07 billion.

The losses were mainly due to the sharp decline in profit margins on lower average product prices. This was due to the slow global demand for petrochemicals and the decrease in sales volumes and value on the suspension of some plants to perform scheduled periodic maintenance, which was previously announced.

The chemical producer will apply the procedures and instructions related to listed companies with accumulated losses of 20% or more of their capital.

The board and executive management are working to find the best opportunities and solutions to reduce the accumulated losses and related burdens on the company.

We remind, in 2011 Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co , a unit of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC). "Kayan announces the start of commercial operations at most of the company's plants in Jubail Industrial City starting from Saturday," the company said in a statement on the bourse website. Saudi Kayan has an annual production capacity of over 4 million tonnes of petrochemical and chemical products including aminoethanols, aminomethyls, dimethylformamide, choline chloride, dimethylethanol.

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Arya Chem, a chemical solutions provider, announced a partnership with DCL, a world-renowned manufacturer of color pigments, to become the exclusive distributor of DCL's premium color pigments in Canada, said Echemi.

This strategic collaboration combines Arya Chem's extensive industry expertise with DCL's innovative and high-quality color pigment solutions. Committed to excellence and sustainability, DCL has become a trusted supplier to the global chemical industry.

"We are excited to partner with DCL as their exclusive distributor in Canada," said Jon Morrison, Director of Sales and Marketing at Arya Chem. "This partnership is perfectly aligned with our mission to provide customers with chemical solutions that meet their evolving needs. DCL's superior range of color pigments will enable us to provide greater value and choice to customers across a variety of industries. "

DCL's color pigments are renowned for their consistency, durability and versatility in coatings, plastics, inks and construction materials, making them ideal for a variety of applications. With Arya Chem as the exclusive distributor, Canadian customers now have easy and convenient access to DCL’s comprehensive color pigment product portfolio.

"We are pleased to strengthen our presence in the Canadian market through our partnership with Arya Chem," said Rogerio Galante, DCL Vice President of Sales Americas. "Arya Chem's commitment to customer satisfaction and extensive knowledge of the Canadian chemical industry make them the perfect partner to represent our brands and products in the region. "

Arya Chem is committed to providing customers with exceptional service and support. This ensures seamless access to DCL's color pigment solutions as well as technical assistance and expertise.

We remind, LANXESS has expanded its Colortherm Yellow pigment series for heat-resistant high-performance plastics. Two new inorganic yellow pigments are now on the market, namely Colortherm Yellow 5 and Colortherm Yellow 26. They are based on iron oxide and zinc oxide, respectively, and are specially designed for low-cost coloring in the temperature range of 220°C to 260°C.

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Effective immediately or as contracts allow, BASF is increasing prices for Standard Antioxidants and Hindered Amine Light Stabilizers (HALS) for plastics applications globally by up to 10 percent, said the company.

The price adjustment is in response to the prevailing inflationary pressure and substantial increases in manufacturing and logistics costs.

We remind, BASF is utilizing its extensive global expertise in chemical recycling, employing pyrolysis technology known as ChemCycling, to introduce International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) Plus certified "Ccycled" materials sourced from the BASF TotalEnergies Petrochemicals facility located in Port Arthur, Texas, said the company. This facility operates as a joint venture between BASF and TotalEnergies, with a ownership split of 60/40 respectively, with TotalEnergies headquartered in France.

BASF is a leading supplier, manufacturer, and innovation partner of plastic additives. Its comprehensive and innovative product portfolio includes additives that provide ease in processing, and heat and light resistance to a variety of polymers and applications including molded articles, films, fibers, sheets, and extruded profiles. The portfolio is constantly analyzed, assessed and actively improved towards solutions which make a larger contribution to sustainability.

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Petrofac, a leading provider of services for the global energy industry, has secured an operations contract from state company Turkmengas at the huge Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan, as per Interfax.

The three-year contract, worth over USD200 million, includes provision of personnel to supervise and support operations and maintenance activity; the provision of technical support and procurement services; and the development and implementation of management systems to support efficient operations of the Galkynysh gas field Central Processing Facilities 1 and 1A, Petrofac reported on its website.

No performance guarantees are required to be posted in relation to this contract, the company said. The facilities that Petrofac will support are located near Yoloten, Mary Province and have equal capacity of 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Petrofac said the new contract was secured based on previous successful experience working with Turkmengas at Galkynysh.

In 2013, Petrofac completed a project at the field under a 2009 contract, designing and building a facility to strip commercial gas of sulfur with annual capacity of 10 bcm, as well as surface production facilities with capacity of 20 bcm. This "was one of the largest engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPC) projects delivered by Petrofac's Engineering & Construction business unit," the company said.

Galkynysh is the world's second largest field by gas reserves after the South Pars field in Iran. Independent UK firm Gafney, Cline & Associates estimated its reserves (together with the satellite Yashlar field) at 27.4 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.

At this stage of exploration maturity, projections envision seven stages of field development with production eventually reaching 200 bcm per year. The first stage, which took production to 30 bcm per year, is now being implemented. This gas is shipped to the domestic market and exported to China along three strings of the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China pipeline.

In 2023 it was reported that negotiations were underway on the details of a contract to start drilling wells and building field infrastructure for the second stage, gas from which will be used to export an additional 25 bcm per year to China taking into account four strings of a pipeline that is supposed to be built from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

The third stage is aimed at exporting 33 bcm of gas per year along the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, construction of which is now underway. The fourth stage, according to Turkmengas plans, could provide gas for export along the Trans-Caspian pipeline, which will become part of the Southern Gas Corridor.

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