Dow introduces new polyolefin elastomer-based leather alternative for the automotive market

Dow has formulated a breakthrough option of polyolefin elastomers (POE) based artificial leather - a solution to address the automotive industry’s need to shift towards increasingly animal-free product alternatives to leather, said the company.

The POE alternative leather option has been commercialized by HIUV Materials Technology, a China-based partner and qualified by an electric car manufacturer in their auto seatings application.

Key benefits of Dow’s POE leather option include:

An ultra-soft tactility with better color stability, empowering designers with more flexibility on the choice of color, especially light colors.
Good aging and low temperature resistance, meeting the strict requirements of the automotive industry.
Elimination of hazardous chemicals, plasticizers, and heavy-metals materials.
Low volatile organic compounds (VOC) and odor.
25% to 40% lighter weight than PVC leather due to lower density.
“With Dow’s long-standing expertise in materials science, we are thrilled to bring this high-performance animal-free leather option to market.” said Bambang Candra, Asia Pacific commercial vice president of Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics. “We look forward to more value-chain collaborations with forward-looking brands to discover new possibilities for our POE leather option in the automotive market and beyond.”

Beyond automotive, this innovative option can be applied in other applications including sporting goods, furniture, and fashion and accessories, fulfilling brand owners’ requirements for a new option that meets the stringent demand for product appearance and customer experience with cost-effective positioning.

For more information about innovative, cutting-edge solutions that keep the world moving, visit MobilityScience™ | Dow Inc.

We remind, Dow Inc. said it plans to build a world-scale carbonate solvents plant on the US Gulf Coast, using captured carbon dioxide from ethylene oxide (EO) production. The plant will serve customers in the lithium-ion battery sector, in which carbonate solvents are used a component in electrolytes.

Dow is one of the world’s leading materials science companies, serving customers in high-growth markets such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility and consumer applications. Our global breadth, asset integration and scale, focused innovation, leading business positions and commitment to sustainability enable us to achieve profitable growth and help deliver a sustainable future. We operate manufacturing sites in 31 countries and employ approximately 35,900 people. Dow delivered sales of approximately $45 billion in 2023.

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Dow Inc. said it plans to build a world-scale carbonate solvents plant on the US Gulf Coast, using captured carbon dioxide from ethylene oxide (EO) production, said the company.

The plant will serve customers in the lithium-ion battery sector, in which carbonate solvents are used a component in electrolytes.

The project “is supported by agreements with customers, including leading EV original equipment manufacturers and electrolyte manufacturers,” Dow said. The facility will produce carbonate solvents by capturing over 90% of carbon dioxide emissions from the EO manufacturing process, Dow added.

Dow is also working with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to negotiate an award for the project from the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED).

“The support from the DOE is a critical enabler of this project, localizing the supply of low-carbon value-added products to help enable the clean energy transition while advancing the decarbonization of our own operations,” said Brendy Lange, business vice president/industrial solutions at Dow.

We remind, Dow's project to build a new ethylene and derivatives complex at its site in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada, has received local approval due to its focus on carbon-neutral production.

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Eastman announced significant progress towards its leadership in the circular economy, said the company.

Selected by the Department of Energy as one of 33 companies for award negotiations to support Eastman’s second U.S. molecular recycling facility. Eastman’s second U.S. molecular recycling project has been selected by the Department of Energy (DOE) to begin award negotiations for up to USD375 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding as part of the Industrial Demonstrations Program (IDP). The DOE announcement led to Eastman announcing the intent to build a second U.S. molecular recycling facility at its location in Longview, Texas.

The company selected the Longview site due to synergies with existing infrastructure and operations, favorable energy supply and footprint, and access to western and central U.S. feedstock pools. The location also provides enough space for onsite renewable energy. The investment includes operations that will prepare mixed plastic waste for processing, Eastman’s next-generation molecular recycling unit to depolymerize waste, and a polymer facility to create virgin-quality materials for packaging and textiles. The Longview molecular recycling facility will have the capacity to recycle approximately 110,000 metric tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastic waste.

The investment is expected to bring over 200 full-time, high-paying jobs to the Longview community in addition to approximately 1,000 temporary construction jobs during site development and building of the facility. Eastman has operated in the Longview community for over 70 years and currently has over 1,500 team members at the location.

“We are excited to build our second U.S. world-scale molecular recycling facility at our existing site in Texas,” said Mark Costa, Board Chair and CEO. “The plant will remove significant waste from the region, enable true circularity and set a new benchmark for decarbonization. We have decades of history successfully operating in Longview, and this will be a great investment for the local community.”

We remind, Eastman has selected Meade-King Robinson & Co. Ltd. (MKR) as the exclusive distributor of Synergex™ multifunctional amine additives in several countries in Western and Eastern Europe. Synergex boosts performance and extends the life of metalworking fluids.

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OMV announced today two acquisitions to strengthen its refinery and supply chain integration and improve the coverage of its existing filling station network in key markets in Europe, said the company.

First, it has agreed to acquire AP Newco GmbH following approval from its supervisory board. OMV will acquire a filling station network encompassing nine sites and cooperation contracts for three additional sites, which cater for the commercial road transport (CRT) sector with corresponding high diesel sales.

The commercial road transport AP sites are primarily located in Salzburg and Tyrol, Austria, along the highly frequented transit routes of northwestern to southern Europe. Closing is expected in the fourth quarter of 2024, subject to regulatory approvals. Financial details were not disclosed.

In addition, OMV is acquiring 21 filling stations in Slovakia from Benzinol, with an option to acquire a further six filling stations. They are mainly located in western and northern central Slovakia. OMV already operates 105 filling stations in Slovakia and the acquisition will confirm its position as the second largest player in the local market. Closing is expected in the second quarter of this year, subject to regulatory approvals. Financial details were not disclosed.

Through the acquisition of the AP filling stations, OMV will strengthen its long-term presence in the CRT market, supplying fuel to long-haul trucks from its nearby refineries in Burghausen, Germany, and Schwechat, Austria. This service will be provided mainly through direct fleet management agreements in the form of fuel cards.

Furthermore, the new sites in Austria and Slovakia represent an extended infrastructure platform for OMV’s ongoing efforts to decarbonize the transport sector by offering a range of biofuels e.g., hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO100), as well as 2,000 ultra-fast chargers for e-mobility under the eMotion brand in key European markets by 2030. OMV recently put into operation its first ultra-fast electric charger for trucks in Volkermarkt, Austria, and plans to have charging infrastructure for trucks installed on all main transport routes in the country by 2026.

“The transactions announced today strengthen our integrated supply chain around OMV’s key European refineries enabling improved refinery utilization rates. The new sites also act as a catalyst for our mobility transformation strategy, which aims at helping our customers reduce emissions through our second-generation biofuels offering and ultra-fast charging e-mobility roll-out,” said Martijn van Koten, OMV Executive Vice President Fuels & Feedstock.

We remind, OMV Petrom, the largest integrated energy producer in South-eastern Europe, announces the signing of two financing contracts through the NRRP, for the construction of two production facilities for green hydrogen with a total capacity of 55 MW at the Petrobrazi refinery.

OMV operates a strong multi-brand retail network of approximately 1,700 filling stations in Central and Eastern Europe (Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Moldova). The wide range of brands in the filling station business extends from top-quality brand OMV to automated stations DISKONT and Avanti, offering favorable prices. The manned filling stations of OMV are multi-functional service hubs, offering fuels, lubricants, and car wash services. In addition, convenience stores stock refreshments, basic groceries, and fresh products.


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Singapore's middle distillates inventories slipped by 4% from last week as net exports of diesel/gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene surged, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Inventories of gasoil/diesel and jet fuel/kerosene at the key oil storage hub fell to 10.349 million barrels from 10.787 million barrels a week ago, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.

Net exports of diesel/gasoil rose more than tenfold during this period given a 66% drop in total imports, although total exports only fell by 6% week-on-week.

Volumes from China and South Korea remained prominent, in line with earlier expectations, limiting the overall weakness in total imports for the week.

Market expectations were mixed for April arrivals into Singapore, since China volumes could slow down as oil majors keep more cargoes for local consumption ahead of peak seasonal demand - though South Korean refiners are offering more spot lots for April sales compared to March.

South Korean refiners have offered a total of 17 spot 10ppm sulfur gasoil cargoes, the highest this year so far - though it remains unclear if all these volumes can be headed to southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, diesel/gasoil exports to Australia hit its highest for 2024 so far, limiting the overall drop in net exports.

Volumes were also prominent to other regional destinations such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar.

Exports to France also emerged this week, but trade sources said it is likely to be biofuels.

On the jet fuel/kerosene front, net exports grew by 7% week-on-week as total imports dipped by 99% - China-origin import cargoes were absent for the week.

Total exports on the other hand fell by around 41% for the period.

We remind, Russian oil company Gazprom Neft has opened a plant to recycle plastic packaging into secondary granules in Gatchina, Leningrad Region with annual capacity of 8,600 tonnes. The new plant will handle the complete cycle of recycling plastic packaging made of polypropylene and polyethylene into feedstock for subsequent use, the company said.

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