Asian Markets
August 14, 2023
Gulbrandsen Expands Tin Catalyst Production in India
Gulbrandsen commissions its new Tin Catalyst productionplant at its site in Dahej, India.
DAHEJ, GUJARAT, INDIA — August 14, 2023 — Gulbrandsen, a global specialty
chemicals leader, and one of the world’s largest producers of tin catalysts for the
polyurethane foaming industry, has completed the commissioning and safe start-up of
its new Tin Catalyst production plant at its site in Dahej, India. The unit will produce
Stannous Octoate and Stannous Neodecanoate.
Joerg Duebel, Global Business Director for Polyurethane Additives at Gulbrandsen,
commented on the occasion “Thanks to the well-coordinated efforts of our teams across
the globe, we completed the safe start-up of this unit ahead of schedule. This facility
will help us in meeting the growing demand for these products while also strengthening
our commitment to delivering high-quality catalysts to the polyurethane foaming
industry.”
About Gulbrandsen: Gulbrandsen is a manufacturer of industrial chemical
intermediates, fine chemicals and catalysts used in process industries. For more
information, please visit our website at www.gulbrandsen.com.
August 1, 2023
MDI Restructuring in China
BASF, Huntsman, and Chinese partners agree to petrochemical deal in China
MOSCOW (MRC) — BASF and Huntsman together with their Chinese partner companies – Shanghai Hua Yi (Group Company), Sinopec Shanghai Gaoqiao Petrochemical Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Co., Ltd. – announce the planned separation of their joint MDI (diphenylmethane diisocyanate) production at Shanghai Lianheng Isocyanate Co., Ltd. (SLIC), said Hydrocarbonprocessing.
Going forward, the companies will operate the two MDI plants located at the site in Caojing, China independently. Huntsman together with Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Co., Ltd, and BASF together with Shanghai Hua Yi (Group Company) and Sinopec Shanghai Gaoqiao Petrochemical Co., Ltd will each take over one of the MDI plants.
“The SLIC joint venture has been an important partnership to establish MDI production in China as one of the pioneers at the Shanghai Chemical Park,” said Ramkumar Dhruva, President Monomers division at BASF. “The new organizational setup will allow BASF and our partners Shanghai Hua Yi and Sinopec Shanghai Gaoqiao Petrochemical Co., Ltd. to further develop our MDI operations in Shanghai while serving the demand of our customers in the region even more effectively.”
“Through the production of crude MDI in the SLIC joint venture over almost 20 years, Huntsman together with its partner, Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Co., Ltd, has been able to successfully build its polyurethanes business in China. As we move to integrate these assets into our downstream operations, we will be even better positioned to meet the future innovation and growth needs of our customers,” said Tony Hankins, President of Huntsman Polyurethanes.
Huntsman, together with Shanghai Chlor-Alkali Chemical Co., Ltd, will own and operate the original MDI plant that started commercial production in 2006, along with a hydrogen chloride recycling unit for the production of chlorine, a precursor for MDI, that was added in 2018. BASF will own and operate the MDI plant that was added in 2018, including the manufacturing facilities for the precursors aniline and nitrobenzene. All employees currently employed in the Joint Venture will be transferred to the respective organizations.
The new operational setup is in preparation and is expected to become effective during the fourth quarter of 2023, and is subject to pending regulatory authority approvals, permits and other customary closing conditions.
In addition to the plant in Caojing, BASF operates MDI production sites in Chongqing, China as well as in Yeosu, South Korea; Antwerp, Belgium; and Geismar, Louisiana. Following the restructuring of the joint venture, BASF’s global production capacity for MDI will total around 1.9 million tons.
Huntsman operates world-scale MDI production and splitting facilities in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and Geismar, Louisiana, in addition to its Caojing facilities.
MDI is an important precursor in the manufacture of polyurethanes – versatile polymers that are used in the automotive and construction industries, in appliances such as refrigerators, and in footwear.
We remind, BASF and Zhejiang Guanghua Technology Co.,Ltd. (KHUA) have signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for the supply of Neopentyl Glycol (NPG) from BASF’s Zhanjiang Verbund site to KHUA. This agreement marks a significant milestone in the long-term partnership between both parties. KHUA, a reputed manufacturer of saturated polyester resins for the powder coatings industry in China, is planning to build a 100 kilotons per annum (KT/a) production plant for high-end powder coatings resins in Donghai Island, Zhanjiang Economic & Technological Development Zone, where BASF is building a world-scale NPG plant with an annual production capacity of 80,000 metric tons.
August 1, 2023
Wanhua First Half Results
Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd. Reports Earnings Results for the Half Year Ended June 30, 2023
July 27, 2023 at 05:47 am
Wanhua Chemical Group Co., Ltd. reported earnings results for the half year ended June 30, 2023. For the half year, the company reported sales was CNY 87,178.76 million compared to CNY 88,856.73 million a year ago. Revenue was CNY 87,626.38 million compared to CNY 89,118.77 million a year ago.
Net income was CNY 8,568.24 million compared to CNY 10,383.02 million a year ago. Basic earnings per share from continuing operations was CNY 2.73 compared to CNY 3.31 a year ago.
July 27, 2023
China PU Update
China Polyurethane Products Output Dropped 5.5% YoY to 12 Million Tonnes in 2022
PUdaily | Updated: July 25, 2023
In 2022, the global economy experienced a sharp slowdown due to multiple challenges such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the European energy crisis, the pandemic, inflation, aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, and significant depreciation of non-US currencies. The rapid decline in the manufacturing sector further incubated the weaker prospects for global economy.
As a new type of high-performance synthetic material, polyurethane products have significant importance in promoting China’s low-carbon economy and improving the living standards of its residents. Polyurethane (PU) is widely used in various industries related to clothing, food, housing, and transportation due to its outstanding properties. Within the complex and volatile economic context, China, being both the largest producer and consumer of polyurethane products, experienced notable impacts on both the production and demand sides. China’s PU products output in 2022 totaled roughly 12 million tonnes, representing a year-on-year decrease of 5.5%, according to Pudaily. The compound annual growth rate from 2018 to 2022 was 1.4%.
PU products mainly include foam plastics, elastomers, fiber plastics, fibers, leather shoe resins, coatings, adhesives, sealants and others. Foam plastics make up the largest proportion among them. PU foam plastics can be divided into rigid foam and soft foam systems, which have excellent elasticity, elongation, compression strength, and flexibility, as well as excellent chemical stability. Moreover, PU foam plastics also possess superior processability, adhesive properties, and insulation properties, making them high-performance cushioning materials.
PU soft foam products are mainly used for furniture cushions, mattresses, car seat cushions, composite fabrics, packaging materials, and soundproofing materials and more. In 2022, China’s PU soft foam products output reached 2.49 million tonnes, a year-on-year decrease of 10.9%.
The upholstered furniture industry is the largest downstream sector of PU soft foam, with a share of 48.8% in 2022. The consumption of PU soft foam products in the furniture industry contracted significantly in 2022 due to the downturn in the building materials and real estate sectors.
PU rigid foam products are mainly used in refrigerators, freezers, pipelines, spraying foam, panels, containers, etc. In 2022, China’s PU rigid foam products output amounted to 1.96 million tonnes, a decrease of 8.1% compared to the previous year. The refrigeration industry took up the largest share in the PU rigid foam products, accounting for 56.5% of the total output in 2022. Due to factors such as COVID-19 recurrences, changes in the supply chain, and a decline in economic growth, as well as the high ownership and low replacement frequency (a refrigerator’s service life is around 10 years), the decline of the real estate dividend, soft demand caused by low consumer confidence, and high inflation, wars, and interest rate hikes in many European and American regions, the overseas demand for refrigerators shrank in 2022. Furthermore, due to the high base in 2021, China experienced a significant decline in both domestic sales and export of refrigerators.
June 13, 2023
Butanediol in China
BDO Market Booms with Growing Demand in Traditional and Emerging Industries
ECHEMI2023-06-12
1,4-butanediol (BDO) is an influential organic and fine chemical raw material, widely used in textile, chemical and other fields. Demand for BDO has formed a significant driving force in recent years with the expansion of applications in emerging fields such as biodegradable plastics and lithium batteries, as well as the recovery of traditional downstream industries such as spandex and PBT plastics.
According to SteelHome, the BDO market is currently extremely hot, with prices rising sharply. The benchmark price of BDO in the East China market has exceeded 11000-11100 yuan/ton, with a growth to the past week. According to research by Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, China’s apparent BDO consumption is expected to reach about 4.47 million tons per year by 2025, and the compound annual growth rate of BDO demand from 2020 to 2025 will be 26.5 percent.
BDO’s traditional application areas are primarily spandex and PBT engineered plastics, with BDO’s downstream applications in the spandex industry chain and PBT engineered plastics reaching 51% and 26% respectively. The spandex market is extremely hot, with product prices up nearly 200 percent, as demand for textiles and clothing recovers and export orders rise. The PBT plastics sector is also showing a clear trend of growth, with increasing applications in new energy vehicles and charging devices.
In addition to traditional application areas, BDO is rapidly expanding its applications in emerging areas such as biodegradable plastics and lithium batteries. With the frequent introduction of domestic plastic reduction policies, the demand for biodegradable plastics is about to enter a period of explosive growth, and PBAT is expected to lead the way in the agricultural plastic film and packaging materials and other biodegradable plastic markets with well-established production technologies and high cost-effectiveness. As a major feedstock for PBAT, PBAT is expected to generate approximately 2.5 million tonnes/year of new demand for BDO by 2025. At the same time, BDO is an essential raw material in the hottest lithium battery industry chain, and its downstream NMP is an important solvent in the production process of lithium battery cathodes, as well as a cleaning agent for semiconductors and integrated circuits.
Due to the long-term low BDO product prices, companies can only barely maintain a break-even point, and the industry’s sluggish business environment severely hinders new capital expenditures. Currently, the d Chinese annual production capacity of BDO is about 1.45 million tons, and the demand gap exceeds 200,000 tons. Only two A-share listed companies, Zhongtai Chemical and Shaanxi Black Cat, have BDO production capacity, with a combined annual capacity of only 330,000 tons. The huge gap between supply and demand has attracted a group of domestic companies to ramp up production on a regular basis. More than 1.5 million tons of new BDO capacity are currently planned in China, but the construction of BDO capacity usually takes about two years and there is a certain commissioning period after completion to achieve stable production. The fastest new capacity will gradually enter the production release period in the second half of 2022. Many industry insiders believe that the mismatch between new capacity and downstream demand growth will keep this cycle of BDO shortages going for more than two years, and that the BDO business environment will continue to improve as a result.
Recently, the world’s largest BDO project with an annual production capacity of 900,000 tons was settled in Fujian. The project will help boost China’s new energy and environmental protection industries by using the large amount of hydrogen produced as a by-product of propane dehydrogenation to produce BDO, a new chemical material that can be used to produce lithium batteries, high-end spandex, fully biodegradable plastics and other products. The move is an important boost for China’s plasticization industry and will help promote the transformation and upgrading of the country’s chemical industry, as well as the development of new energy and environmental protection industries.
https://www.echemi.com/cms/1416474.html
Polybutylene adipate terephthalate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PBAT (short for polybutylene adipate terephthalate) is a biodegradable random copolymer, specifically a copolyester of adipic acid, 1,4-butanediol and terephthalic acid (from dimethyl terephthalate). PBAT is produced by many different manufacturers and may be known by the brand names ecoflex, Wango, Ecoworld, Eastar Bio, and Origo-Bi. It is also called poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) and sometimes polybutyrate-adipate-terephthalate[1] (a misnomer) or even just “polybutyrate”.[2] It is generally marketed as a fully biodegradable alternative to low-density polyethylene, having many similar properties including flexibility and resilience, allowing it to be used for many similar uses such as plastic bags and wraps.[3] It is depicted as a block co-polymer here due to the common synthetic method of first synthesizing two copolymer blocks and then combining them. However, it is important to note that the actual structure of the polymer is a random co-polymer of the blocks shown.
Read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybutylene_adipate_terephthalate
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