DATE : 2015-06-08
French specialty chemicals producer Arkema has lifted force majeure on glacial acrylic acid (GAA) from its Carling site in France, a source from the company confirmed on Monday.
Arkema said in a letter to its customers that it was now able to resume full production of GAA on 5 June, and was also able to resume its full commitments from that date.
The GAA declaration had been made on 27 April. The cause of the outage was unconfirmed.
The force majeure on butyl acrylate (butyl-A) and 2-ethyl hexyl acrylate (2-EHA) from the same facility is still in place, but is unrelated to the recent GAA outage.
The declaration on butyl-A and 2-EHA was made on 22 May, and was announced on the back of the force majeure on oxo alcohols at Lavera a few days prior.
The force majeure on butyl-A and 2-EHA is in place for an undetermined period, a source from the company had previously said.
Arkema has the capacity to produce 276,000 tonnes/year of crude AA at its Carling site, according to ICIS data.
Acrylate esters include methyl acrylate (methyl-A), ethyl acrylate (ethyl-A), butyl-A and 2-EHA, and are used to make paints, coatings, textiles, adhesives, polishes and plastics.
SOURCE Dow Jones
DATE : 2015-05-27
Global Bioenergies has achieved the initial milestone of the BioMA+ project to develop a renewable value chain for methacrylic acid. The firm inaugurated an industrial pilot facility for methacrylic acid, used in producing acrylic paints, at the Pomacle-Bazancourt agro-industrial site in France. The plant uses bio-derived isobutene generated as a result of the initial phase of the project.
SOURCE ICis News
DATE : 2015-05-22
Evonik, one of the world's leading suppliers of methacrylate chemistry products, doubled its production capacities for VISIOMER MAAH (methacrylic anhydride) at its site in Worms, Germany, in 2015.
VISIOMER MAAH is an important building block in the production of specialty methacrylates, which are used in concrete additives, paints and colorants, electronics applications, and plastics. In addition to MAAH, Evonik Industries produces and markets a wide range of specialty methacrylates as well as MMA, GMAA, n-BMA, i-BMA, and hydroxy methacrylates under the VISIOMER brand.
Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company form the heart of Evonik's corporate strategy. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world.
SOURCE PharmaBiz
DATE : 2015-05-25
Asahi Kasei will pursue growth through diversity as its strategic initiative in the next five years starting April 2016, while it expects to post record earnings in the current fiscal year, the Japanese chemical producer said on Wednesday.
“It is all about sales expansion and further reducing production cost for existing products, for all four business sectors,” Asahi Kasei president Toshio Asano said.
Asahi Kasei’s operations are divided into chemicals & fibres, homes & construction materials, electronics and health care.
“For chemicals & fibers, the key idea is advancing portfolio transformation. This is not just for petrochemicals. It also applies to performance polymers, performance chemicals such as functional chemicals for food and pharmaceutical manufacture, fibers, as well as consumables,” Asano said.
“We will also focus on development of new process technology. Recognizing that the shale-gas revolution will have a great impact on the petrochemical supply chain, and building on our strength in catalyst technology, we are advancing the verification of two new process technologies to enable feedstock diversification,” Asano said.
These are the processes of producing propylene from ethane, and butadiene from butane, he said.
“Yet another focus is development of new applications for existing products, for fibers as well as polymers,” the Asahi Kasei executive said.
For year to March 2016, the company expects its sales to inch up by 0.7% from a record high in the previous year to yen (Y) 2,000bn, about 45% of which or Y894bn will be derived from its chemical & fibres business, the company said.
But the projected sales for this segment represent a 6.3% decline from the previous corresponding period.
Group operating income for year to March 2016 is expected to hit Y164bn, up by 3.9% from a record high in the previous year, with chemical earnings posting a 3.3% increase to Y56bn, and fibres a 4.8% increase in income to Y11bn, Asahi Kasei said.
These earnings forecasts exclude the acquisition of Polypore International that is worth about Y260bn, the company said. The acquisition was first announced in February.
Asahi Kasei is targeting increased profitability for its materials business, which covers the chemical & fibres segment; stable growth for its homes business; and high growth for its healthcare operations.
The company currently can produce 960,000 tonnes/year of acrylonitrile; 710,000 tonnes/year of styrene monomer (SM); 170,000 tonnes/year of methyl methacrylate (MMA); 170,000 tonnes/year of adipic acid (AA); and 170,000 tonnes/year of cyclohexanol.
In March 2016, its SM capacity will fall to 390,000 tonnes/year with the planned closure of its 320,000 tonne/year unit in Mizushima, to focus on the domestic market.
The closure is in line with the company’s strategy to strengthen its petrochemical operations in Japan, Asahi Kasei said.
Asahi Kasei closed its 150,000 tonne/year ACN plant in Kawasaki in August 2014, with a 100,000 tonne/year unit in Mizushima dedicated to another product, the company said.
The company is targeting to strengthen its position as Asia’s top supplier of ACN through further enhancing its catalyst technology for propane process, among other things; enhancing cost-competitiveness to include derivative products; and establishing optimum production configuration for its operations in Japan, Korea and Thailand.
It has a 200,000 tonne/year ACN capacity in Thailand and a 245,000 tonne/year capacity in South Korea. Tongsuh Petrochemical is Asahi Kasei’s ACN subsidiary in South Korea.
SOURCE Icis News
Purchase increases presence in attractive automotive refinish and provides synergies with Valspar's existing business
MINNEAPOLIS, May 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Valspar Corporation announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire the performance coatings businesses of Quest Specialty Chemicals, Inc., which include automotive refinish and industrial coatings. The transaction, which is expected to close in the company's third fiscal quarter, is subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
With 2014 sales of approximately $190 million, the businesses to be acquired from Quest include an automotive refinish business along with a smaller industrial products business. Quest Automotive Products formulates, manufactures, and distributes a complete line of advanced technology paints, coatings systems, and accessories to professional refinishers under the well-respected brands of Matrix®, Prospray®, and USC®, primarily in North America and Europe. Quest Industrial Products serves both the professional and consumer markets with aerosol spray products and highly-specified coatings for industrial applications under the Patriot®, Raabe® and Precision Color® brands, primarily in North America.
"The acquisition strengthens Valspar's value proposition in automotive refinish," said Gary Hendrickson,Valspar Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our customers will benefit from expanded distribution of a portfolio of preferred brands they know and trust, a broader range of high-performance products and a stronger service network. We are pleased to welcome the Quest team to the Valspar family to help deliver these benefits to our customers."
Valspar is a global automotive coatings manufacturer and takes pride in delivering the very best in color-matching technology, support and service. Valspar's global color labs and tools allow us to match any OEM and/or custom color. Multiple OEM approvals include: Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Mazda andToyota. Valspar's global portfolio of preferred brands include: DeBeer Refinsh®, Octoral™, Valspar® Refinish and House of Kolor®. Visit www.valsparauto.com.
Valspar: If it matters, we're on it.®
Valspar is a global leader in the coatings industry providing customers with innovative, high-quality products and value-added services. Our 10,500 employees worldwide deliver advanced coatings solutions with best-in-class appearance, performance, protection and sustainability to customers in more than 100 countries. Valspar offers a broad range of superior coatings products for the consumer market, and highly-engineered solutions for the construction, industrial, packaging and transportation markets. Founded in 1806, Valspar is headquartered in Minneapolis. Valspar's reported net sales in fiscal 2014 were$4.5 billion and its shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol:VAL). For more information, visit www.valspar.com and follow @valsparCo on Twitter.
Source: Valspar web site via J Spiel Chemistry News Bulletin
Industry highlights:
Crude oil prices hold steady as US production slows
US contract prices for May increased by 1c/lb. US butadiene supply/demand balance is tight
Europe's monthly contract price for butadiene increased by €40/t after unplanned outages reduced supply
US light vehicle sales stay strong as buyers tastes trend back to trucks and SUV's because of lower gasoline prices
In the news:
Spanish oil and gas firm Repsol has declared force majeure on ethylene and butadiene supply. The 702,000 t/yr olefins cracker at Repsol's Tarragona petrochemical complex went offline due to a technical issue.
Argus DeWitt Butadiene Annual 2015 observations:
The global butadiene market is still largely dependent on world GDP development after the economic crisis 2007-2009. Slower than expected recovery has restricted growth in both domestic demand and imports of finished and semi-finished goods.
The predominant domestic issue is that after 2-3 years of rapid expansion, there is a huge overcapacity for butadiene and synthetic rubber. It is estimated it will take another 3-4 years for demand growth to return operating rates to reinvestment levels. Uncertainty over China's economic growth rates and crude oil pricing are important issues to observe closely in 2015, and will heavily influence demand recovery.
DATE : 2015-05-13
Camlin Fine Sciences has received an approval for acquisition of land admeasuring 64,407.91 square meters and setting up a manufacturing facility for Hydroquinone/ Catechol and its down steam products Guaiacol and Vanillin at Dahej SEZ, Bharuch District in state of Gujarat. The board of directors at their meeting held on May 12, 2015 has approved for the same.The board also approved setting up a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) Company in Mexico for undertaking trading and distribution of Antioxidants, food ingredients, Blends, Formulations, feeds, performance chemicals etc in Central American markets.Further, the company will be setting up a WOS Company in China for undertaking trading and distribution of Antioxidants, food ingredients, Blends, Formulations, feeds, performance chemicals etc in Chinese markets.Camlin Fine Chemicals is the world's second largest manufacturer and marketer of food grade antioxidants TBHQ and BHA.
Camlin Fine Sciences plans to set up new manufacturing facility at Dahej in Gujarat with an investment of Rs 193 crore. The plant will have annual capacity to produce 9,000 tonne of Hydroquinoneand 6,000 tonne of Vanillin. The company envisages that the new plant will help the company become a major supplier of Diphenol and Catecholand Vanillin as well as its derivative and down-stream products. The land has been acquired by the company at an investment of Rs eight crore and it has applied for environment clearances. The basic engineering work has started and the plant would be commissioned by September 2017.
SOURCE : Panafrican News Agency
Cargill acquires all assets of OPX Biotechnologies including its fermentation EDGE technology (bio-based route to acrylic acid)
May 8, 2015: Cargill has acquired the fermentation-based processes andsystems of OPX Biotechnologies that had been working on a biobased route to acrylic acid with Dow Chemical.
Cargill purchased substantially all the assets of OPXBio, including thecompany’s EDGE technology, and will be moving them to its facilities inMinneapolis.
OPXBio will be winding down operations when the transaction is completed.
OPXBio will continue to operate through the transition period, which is expected to be 6 to 9 months.
Financial terms have not been disclosed.
Mike Rosenberg, CEO of OPX Biotechnologies, tells to Chemweek that his company terminated its relationship with Dow last September, when their joint development agreement expired: “The companies elected to pursue commercialization on their own. OPXBio elected to pursue a licensing strategyand was in discussions with a potential third party to jointly pursue thatstrategy when the Cargill transaction closed”.
Cargill has been targeting a renewable route to acrylic acid for a number of years.
Cargill also partnered with Novozymes in 2008 to develop microorganisms thatcould efficiently convert renewable feedstock into the platform chemical 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3HP).
BASF joined the project in August 2012 to develop a process for convertingthe biobased 3HP into acrylic acid but exit the collaboration last Januarybecause BASF could not reach the targets for commercializing a dextrose-based product and it did not view investing in scaling up as a viable option.
https://engage-solvay.jiveon.com/groups/blog-competitive-intelligence/blog/2012/ 09/05/basf-cargill-and-novozymes-to-develop-commercial-bio-based-acrylic-acid-p r ocess and https://engage-solvay.jiveon.com/groups/blog-competitive-intelligence/blog/2015/ 01/30/basf-exits-biobased-acrylic-acid-collaboration-with-novozymes-and-cargill
Source: Blog Competitive Intelligence-Jerome Spiel from Chemweek.
May 11, 2015: Nippon Shokubai has confirmed plans to expand superabsorbent polymer (SAP) production and to build a acrylic acid unit at the company’s site at Zwijndrecht, Belgium (close to the Ineos Oxide Site)
Nippon Shokubai will invest a total of €350 million to build the SAP andacrylic acid plants. The company's board of directors, in a meeting held on 11 May, approved the investment.
SAP capacity at the site will be increased by 100 kt/yr to 160 kt/yr and theacrylic acid plant will have a capacity of 100 kt/yr.
Completion of the projects is expected in October 2017, and commercial production is expected to begin in May 2018.
Nippon Shokubai expects demand for SAP in Europe, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, will grow steadily.
Last October, Nippon Shokubai announced plans to expand SAP productionat the company’s Himeji (Japan), site by 50 kt/yr to 370 kt/yr.
With these expansions of SAP capacity, Nippon Shokubai’s global SAP production capacity will increase to 710 kt/yr, including:
- 370 kt/yr at Himeji (Japan)
- 160 kt/yr in Belgium
- 90 kt/yr in Indonesia
- 60 kt/yr in the US
- 30 kt/yr in China
With the new acrylic acid capacity in Belgium, Nippon Shokubai’s total global acrylic acid production capacity will increase to 880 kt/yr, including:
- 540 kt/yr in Japan
- 340 kt/yr overseas
The surprise for some was that Nippon Shokubai did not decide to form a joint venture or supply agreement with an existing acrylic acid producer in Europe for its SAP project (Reminder: we assume that the Glacial Acrylic Acid required by the existing 60 kT Antwerp SAP plant of Nippon Shokubai is supplied by the nearby Acrylic Acid plant of BASF-Antwerp)
It will be also interesting to follow developments in Russia in light of this new announcement as there is an existing plan to build an 80 kT acrylic acid plant in Russia. As previously reported, this Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat project is already rumoured to be delayed beyond its announced 2016 completion date due to the tightening of credit in Russia.
Sources: Competitive Intelligence Blog-Jerome Spiel (from Nippon Shokubai, Chemweek data) + Tecnon Orbichem Comments
DATE : 2015-05-05
Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG) and BASF will construct a new global-scale manufacturing facility for 2-Ethylhexanoic acid at the BASF Petronas Chemicals site in Kuantan, Malaysia. Construction of the plant, which will have 30,000 tonnes/y of 2-EHAcid capacity, will start in 2Q 2015. Production is scheduled to commence in 4Q 2016.
SOURCE Icis News
Attachment(s)
DATE : 2015-04-22
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co is planning to spend $550 million on a new tire plant in Mexico, a person familiar with the matter said, the latest in a string of investment pledges in the country's booming auto sector.
The Goodyear plant, which will begin operations in 2017, will produce tires primarily for the domestic market, said the person, who declined to be named as the investment was not yet public. The company is expected to announce the investment at a joint event with the government on Friday in Mexico City, the person said. Goodyear spokesman Eduardo Arguelles declined to comment.
The investment comes shortly after automakers Toyota , Ford and Volkswagen unveiled major expansion plans in Mexico, taking advantage of Mexico's low wages, free trade agreements and proximity to the United States.
Last week, Toyota said it would spend $1 billion on a passenger car plant, and Ford said it would spend $2.5 billion on engine and transmission operations. German Volkswagen said last month it will invest about $1 billion to expand its vehicle assembly plant in Mexico's Puebla state.
Source: Reuters
DATE : 2015-04-23
Though PEEK is increasing penetration across various sectors, high price of PEEK compared to other plastics remains a key challenge, according to a Grand View Research report
Rapid industrialisation in Asian and Latin American countries, and growing demand from sectors such as automotive, packaging, medical, electrical & electronics, etc is driving the global polyether ether ketone (PEEK) market, which is expected to reach $765.7 million by 2020, according to a new study by Grand View Research Inc. The global PEEK demand is expected to reach 7,562.7 tonnes by 2020 - growing at a CAGR of 8.4 percent from 2014 to 2020 – from 4,320 tonnes in 2013.
Shift towards reducing overall weight of automobiles by substituting metals with high performance plastics is expected to drive the global polyether ether ketone market over the forecast period. Stringent regulations particularly in the US and Europe to minimise fuel consumption by improving fuel efficiency have prompted PEEK adoption across the automotive industry. “Superior performance features have also contributed towards its increasing penetration across medical, food, semiconductors, aerospace and industrial sectors. High price of PEEK compared to other plastics is expected to remain a key challenge for market participants,” said Grand View Research in a press release.
Glass filled emerged as the leading PEEK product and accounted for 47.6 percent of total market volume in 2013. The growth in demand for glass filled PEEK, which is widely used across electrical & electronics and industrial applications, is expected to be fuelled by the growing electrical & electronics industry in Asia Pacific in coming years. Carbon filled PEEK is expected to witness the highest growth of 8.8 percent from 2014 to 2020 on account of its increasing application base across clinical and aerospace industries.
“PEEK is majorly used for industrial applications which accounted for 27.6% of total market volume 2013. Stringent environment regulations for packaging are expected to drive PEEK demand for industrial applications. In addition, rapid industrialisation rates in Asian and Latin American countries are also expected to have a positive impact on the market growth over the forecast period,” added the Grand View Research report.
Strong shift in trend towards replacing metals with high performance plastics in the US and Europe will drive the demand for PEEK from automotive segment, which is expected to witness the highest growth of 8.9 percent from 2014 to 2020.
Medical and aerospace application segments are also expected to witness significant growth. Currently, polyether ether ketone is majorly used as an efficient product for spinal surgeries in medical industry. In aerospace industry, PEEK is used as a raw material for new generation passenger aircrafts.
Europe emerged as a leading regional market and accounted for 55.6 percent in 2013. Favourable regulatory scenario coupled with presence of major PEEK manufacturers is likely to drive the regional market in the near future. “Asia Pacific is expected to witness the highest growth of 15 percent from 2014 to 2020. Positive outlook on regional automotive industry is expected to drive the regional market over the forecast period,” said the report.
SOURCE Business Standard
DATE : 2015-04-22
Evonik’s new 100,000 tonnes/year butadiene (BD) unit in Antwerp, Belgium, is in the start-up phase, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.
“Our butadiene unit in Antwerp is not operational yet. We are now in the start-up phase. We aim to start the production soon,” the spokesman said without elaborating further.
The new BD unit had been planned to come online some time during the second quarter of 2015.
There is much interest among European BD market players as to when exactly this and two other new BD units will come onstream this year to determine supply and demand balances.
Although the market is currently constrained by supply issues, these are resolving and the outlook for any structural improvement in demand is flat.
The status of OMV's new capacity BD unit in Burghausen, Germany, is unclear – production here is planned also for the second quarter, while MOL-TVK’s new unit in Tiszaujvaros, Hungary is expected later in the third quarter.
SOURCE Icis News