Epoxy
August 20, 2021
Stay on Top of These Potential Regulation Changes
The fines are hefty for non-compliance and ignorance of the rules that no one in government informs you about is no excuse . . .
A sign of the EPA at its building in Washington on Sept. 21, 2017. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo) US News
Environmental Protection Agency’s Reporting on Chemicals Questioned
By Nathan Worcester August 19, 2021 Updated: August 19, 2021 biggersmallerPrint
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has moved to change the way it gathers data on commercial chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), prompting concerns from some environmental activists at a time when the agency is already under scrutiny after whistleblowers’ allegations that it’s fast-tracking dangerous chemicals because of industry pressure.
Three Democratic congressional committee heads have written to the agency seeking a response to the claims.
The TSCA, signed into law by President Gerald Ford in 1976, was most recently revised in 2016 through the bipartisan Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, the House version of which passed 398-1. While the original TSCA had grandfathered in more than 60,000 chemicals that were already on the market, the Lautenberg Act mandated that the EPA assess the safety of chemicals already being sold.
The TSCA’s Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule requires manufacturers, including importers, to report information every four years on chemicals produced and used in commerce.
The changes to the CDR, discussed at a public webinar on July 27, would introduce Tiered Data Reporting (TDR) for chemicals. The EPA’s presentation states that the CDR would collect fewer data from manufacturers, while TDR would introduce three sequential datasets for chemicals identified for prioritization: a dataset for prioritization candidates, a dataset for prioritized chemicals, and a risk evaluation/risk management dataset for those chemicals.
The first two datasets would require reports three months after the date of listing, while the final dataset would require a report four to six months after listing.
“EPA is seeking to ensure that data collection strategies using more of the authorities available to EPA provide timely, relevant, and specific information tailored to better meet the agency’s basic chemical data needs related to TSCA, while minimizing the burden on industry stakeholders,” an EPA spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.
“By collecting specific data in a timely sequence that is relevant to the current needs of EPA, the agency is ensuring that it has the information necessary to fulfill its mission under TSCA and protect human health and the environment without unduly burdening the information providers.”
On Aug. 5, the EPA met with representatives from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to discuss EDF’s concerns with the tiered data collection strategy. According to the EPA’s summary of that meeting, the EDF expressed concerns that the new rule would decrease the amount of information gathered about individual chemicals.
In a donor appeal sent Aug. 13, the EDF wrote that the proposed changes “would significantly reduce what we know about thousands of chemicals in use today, even though this information is crucial for EPA to do its job.”
A spokesperson from the EDF declined to comment on the Chemical Data Reporting rules change or the EDF’s appeal to its supporters.
“While the planned rule would reduce the CDR data collected per chemical, if proposed and finalized, it would not reduce the number of chemicals for which CDR reporting is required, and through the TDR would add additional reporting requirements for selected chemicals,” an EPA spokesperson said in an email.
According to an EPA spokesperson, the proposed TDR rule is still under development, “informed by feedback from the public meeting and comments received.”
The move comes alongside recent allegations from four EPA whistleblowers of corruption in the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, which administers the TSCA. As reported in The Intercept, the whistleblowers offered “detailed evidence of pressure within the agency to minimize or remove evidence of potential adverse effects of the chemicals, including neurological effects, birth defects, and cancer.”
Democratic leaders of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce drafted a letter to the head of the EPA, Michael S. Regan, requesting a response to the allegations.
“The Committee has a longstanding interest in ensuring EPA’s implementation of TSCA is based on sound science,” wrote Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), and Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee Chairman Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.). “We also firmly believe EPA’s scientific staff must be able to perform their work of protecting human health and the environment free from inappropriate interference and retaliation.
“The allegations made by the four whistleblowers are troubling, and, if true, raise serious concerns about EPA’s implementation of TSCA and about protections for EPA employees.”
The EPA spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the whistleblowers’ allegations, while Republican and Democratic lawmakers didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the proposed TSCA changes or the whistleblowers’ allegations.
August 20, 2021
Stay on Top of These Potential Regulation Changes
The fines are hefty for non-compliance and ignorance of the rules that no one in government informs you about is no excuse . . .
A sign of the EPA at its building in Washington on Sept. 21, 2017. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo) US News
Environmental Protection Agency’s Reporting on Chemicals Questioned
By Nathan Worcester August 19, 2021 Updated: August 19, 2021 biggersmallerPrint
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has moved to change the way it gathers data on commercial chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), prompting concerns from some environmental activists at a time when the agency is already under scrutiny after whistleblowers’ allegations that it’s fast-tracking dangerous chemicals because of industry pressure.
Three Democratic congressional committee heads have written to the agency seeking a response to the claims.
The TSCA, signed into law by President Gerald Ford in 1976, was most recently revised in 2016 through the bipartisan Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, the House version of which passed 398-1. While the original TSCA had grandfathered in more than 60,000 chemicals that were already on the market, the Lautenberg Act mandated that the EPA assess the safety of chemicals already being sold.
The TSCA’s Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule requires manufacturers, including importers, to report information every four years on chemicals produced and used in commerce.
The changes to the CDR, discussed at a public webinar on July 27, would introduce Tiered Data Reporting (TDR) for chemicals. The EPA’s presentation states that the CDR would collect fewer data from manufacturers, while TDR would introduce three sequential datasets for chemicals identified for prioritization: a dataset for prioritization candidates, a dataset for prioritized chemicals, and a risk evaluation/risk management dataset for those chemicals.
The first two datasets would require reports three months after the date of listing, while the final dataset would require a report four to six months after listing.
“EPA is seeking to ensure that data collection strategies using more of the authorities available to EPA provide timely, relevant, and specific information tailored to better meet the agency’s basic chemical data needs related to TSCA, while minimizing the burden on industry stakeholders,” an EPA spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.
“By collecting specific data in a timely sequence that is relevant to the current needs of EPA, the agency is ensuring that it has the information necessary to fulfill its mission under TSCA and protect human health and the environment without unduly burdening the information providers.”
On Aug. 5, the EPA met with representatives from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to discuss EDF’s concerns with the tiered data collection strategy. According to the EPA’s summary of that meeting, the EDF expressed concerns that the new rule would decrease the amount of information gathered about individual chemicals.
In a donor appeal sent Aug. 13, the EDF wrote that the proposed changes “would significantly reduce what we know about thousands of chemicals in use today, even though this information is crucial for EPA to do its job.”
A spokesperson from the EDF declined to comment on the Chemical Data Reporting rules change or the EDF’s appeal to its supporters.
“While the planned rule would reduce the CDR data collected per chemical, if proposed and finalized, it would not reduce the number of chemicals for which CDR reporting is required, and through the TDR would add additional reporting requirements for selected chemicals,” an EPA spokesperson said in an email.
According to an EPA spokesperson, the proposed TDR rule is still under development, “informed by feedback from the public meeting and comments received.”
The move comes alongside recent allegations from four EPA whistleblowers of corruption in the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, which administers the TSCA. As reported in The Intercept, the whistleblowers offered “detailed evidence of pressure within the agency to minimize or remove evidence of potential adverse effects of the chemicals, including neurological effects, birth defects, and cancer.”
Democratic leaders of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce drafted a letter to the head of the EPA, Michael S. Regan, requesting a response to the allegations.
“The Committee has a longstanding interest in ensuring EPA’s implementation of TSCA is based on sound science,” wrote Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chair Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), and Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee Chairman Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.). “We also firmly believe EPA’s scientific staff must be able to perform their work of protecting human health and the environment free from inappropriate interference and retaliation.
“The allegations made by the four whistleblowers are troubling, and, if true, raise serious concerns about EPA’s implementation of TSCA and about protections for EPA employees.”
The EPA spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the whistleblowers’ allegations, while Republican and Democratic lawmakers didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the proposed TSCA changes or the whistleblowers’ allegations.
August 19, 2021
Shipping Outlook
Shipping container rates to remain elevated into 2022 as US demand outpaces capacity
Author: Adam Yanelli
2021/07/20
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Shipping container rates have spiked by as much as three or four times since the onset of the pandemic and are likely to remain elevated beyond the Lunar New Year in 2022 as the global demand for goods continues to outpace available capacity.
And even when the demand starts to ease, participants on a webinar hosted by online freight shipping marketplace and platform provider Freightos said that container rates are unlikely to return to their previous levels.
“I have been in this business for 20 years, and $4,500 was the previous high I had seen for a container from Asia to the US West Coast before the pandemic,” said panellist Robert Khachatryan, founder and COO of shipping forwarder Freight Right Global Logistics.
“I think that will be the new floor,” he added. “Maybe even above $5,000. I think that could become the new market rate.”
HOW WE GOT HERE
While most chemicals are liquids and are shipped in tankers, polymers such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), which are shipped in pellets, are moved by container ships.
Container ships also carry a wider scope of cargoes, including consumer products like electrical appliances and automobiles, so demand for that space has risen as economies reopened after lockdown measures because of the pandemic.
The spread of the coronavirus pandemic – and the lockdown measures initiated to help mitigate it – led to a surge in demand for goods.
Consumers who were able to work from home found themselves with extra money since they were limited in how they could spend it.
Judah Levine, research lead at Freightos, said volumes began to increase, peaked in October and have remained elevated.
Container shipping has a peak season for goods from Asia to the US – from about July to October – but the added demand kept volumes above typical peak season levels.
“The impact was that all of these containers overwhelmed the capacity of the ports to process them,” Levine said.
He added that the port backlogs essentially sucked up all of the available capacity in ships and containers.
“All of the world’s container ships are active right now,” Levine said, explaining that shipowners typically have extra capacity that they can bring online for peak times. “In the current situation, there is no extra capacity, which is putting pressure all along the supply chain.”
Source: Freightos – fbx.freightos.com
Rates began to spike in Q4 2020, driven by the shortage of containers, and after some easing, shot up again when the Ever Given became lodged in the Suez Canal.
Rates continued rising recently when an outbreak of COVID-19 infections at the port of Yantian, one of China’s busiest container ports, led to lengthy delays at the port and added additional strain to the network.
IMPACT IN LATIN AMERICA
The increases in container rates have been particularly hard on Latin American markets, where resin producers have seen eroded margins because of the increased costs, which they have been unable to pass through to customers in many cases.
A market participant that imports polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from China to South America told ICIS it was quoted rates for end-July of $6,900/20-foot container from India to Argentina.
A 20-foot container from China to Argentina was quoted $9,000-12,000.
“The freight rates that you have mentioned align with what we are seeing in the market as well,” the market participant said.
“Spot rates are around $9,000-10,000/container, and even then, availability is not confirmed. Freight rates from Europe to US East Coast is also at similar levels,” the market participant said.
DEMAND TO REMAIN ELEVATED ON RESTOCKING
The panellists agreed that because of the various supply chain issues experienced this year, many businesses are running with limited inventory.
Efforts to restock barren warehouses are likely to keep demand elevated beyond this year’s peak season.
Source: US Federal Reserve
Khachatryan said that because of delays in receiving goods this year, some importers and exporters are ordering and scheduling shipments earlier than before.
He said he is seeing Christmas related items already being shipped when previously they would not be on a vessel until August or September.
“Next year we expect to see customers start ordering even earlier,” he said.
Ruthie Amaru, Freightos CEO, said it is more important than ever to look for different options for sourcing goods and to be flexible with the modes of transportation.
For example, while it would have never been cost effective prior to the pandemic to ship goods via air freight, now that container rates have spiked the gap has narrowed.
Add to that demurrage charges (a charge payable to the shipowner for failure to load or unload a ship within the agreed time frame) and the gap between rail and air could make more sense.
LIQUID TANKERS DIRECT OPPOSITE TO CONTAINERS
While container ships are facing severe shortages and price spikes, the liquid chemical tanker market is facing the opposite extreme with quite a slowdown in activity, particularly since the winter storm in February that shut much US Gulf Coast production.
“No one clearly knows what is going to happen for liquid tankers, and the more we think it is coming back, the more it is being pushed further and further away,” said one shipping broker.
After the winter storm, chemical production was at a low, and exports of product from the US slipped further.
For the remainder of Q3 and into Q4, the biggest factor that could cause a similar outcome is hurricanes. While chemical production slowly rebuilds and product becomes more available, even one significant hurricane can cause severe disruptions and declines in the tanker market.
“Other than a hurricane, I don’t think anything else can be bring this to a worse place than where we are currently,” the broker added.
Focus story by Adam Yanelli and Anna Matherne
August 19, 2021
Shipping Outlook
Shipping container rates to remain elevated into 2022 as US demand outpaces capacity
Author: Adam Yanelli
2021/07/20
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Shipping container rates have spiked by as much as three or four times since the onset of the pandemic and are likely to remain elevated beyond the Lunar New Year in 2022 as the global demand for goods continues to outpace available capacity.
And even when the demand starts to ease, participants on a webinar hosted by online freight shipping marketplace and platform provider Freightos said that container rates are unlikely to return to their previous levels.
“I have been in this business for 20 years, and $4,500 was the previous high I had seen for a container from Asia to the US West Coast before the pandemic,” said panellist Robert Khachatryan, founder and COO of shipping forwarder Freight Right Global Logistics.
“I think that will be the new floor,” he added. “Maybe even above $5,000. I think that could become the new market rate.”
HOW WE GOT HERE
While most chemicals are liquids and are shipped in tankers, polymers such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), which are shipped in pellets, are moved by container ships.
Container ships also carry a wider scope of cargoes, including consumer products like electrical appliances and automobiles, so demand for that space has risen as economies reopened after lockdown measures because of the pandemic.
The spread of the coronavirus pandemic – and the lockdown measures initiated to help mitigate it – led to a surge in demand for goods.
Consumers who were able to work from home found themselves with extra money since they were limited in how they could spend it.
Judah Levine, research lead at Freightos, said volumes began to increase, peaked in October and have remained elevated.
Container shipping has a peak season for goods from Asia to the US – from about July to October – but the added demand kept volumes above typical peak season levels.
“The impact was that all of these containers overwhelmed the capacity of the ports to process them,” Levine said.
He added that the port backlogs essentially sucked up all of the available capacity in ships and containers.
“All of the world’s container ships are active right now,” Levine said, explaining that shipowners typically have extra capacity that they can bring online for peak times. “In the current situation, there is no extra capacity, which is putting pressure all along the supply chain.”
Source: Freightos – fbx.freightos.com
Rates began to spike in Q4 2020, driven by the shortage of containers, and after some easing, shot up again when the Ever Given became lodged in the Suez Canal.
Rates continued rising recently when an outbreak of COVID-19 infections at the port of Yantian, one of China’s busiest container ports, led to lengthy delays at the port and added additional strain to the network.
IMPACT IN LATIN AMERICA
The increases in container rates have been particularly hard on Latin American markets, where resin producers have seen eroded margins because of the increased costs, which they have been unable to pass through to customers in many cases.
A market participant that imports polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from China to South America told ICIS it was quoted rates for end-July of $6,900/20-foot container from India to Argentina.
A 20-foot container from China to Argentina was quoted $9,000-12,000.
“The freight rates that you have mentioned align with what we are seeing in the market as well,” the market participant said.
“Spot rates are around $9,000-10,000/container, and even then, availability is not confirmed. Freight rates from Europe to US East Coast is also at similar levels,” the market participant said.
DEMAND TO REMAIN ELEVATED ON RESTOCKING
The panellists agreed that because of the various supply chain issues experienced this year, many businesses are running with limited inventory.
Efforts to restock barren warehouses are likely to keep demand elevated beyond this year’s peak season.
Source: US Federal Reserve
Khachatryan said that because of delays in receiving goods this year, some importers and exporters are ordering and scheduling shipments earlier than before.
He said he is seeing Christmas related items already being shipped when previously they would not be on a vessel until August or September.
“Next year we expect to see customers start ordering even earlier,” he said.
Ruthie Amaru, Freightos CEO, said it is more important than ever to look for different options for sourcing goods and to be flexible with the modes of transportation.
For example, while it would have never been cost effective prior to the pandemic to ship goods via air freight, now that container rates have spiked the gap has narrowed.
Add to that demurrage charges (a charge payable to the shipowner for failure to load or unload a ship within the agreed time frame) and the gap between rail and air could make more sense.
LIQUID TANKERS DIRECT OPPOSITE TO CONTAINERS
While container ships are facing severe shortages and price spikes, the liquid chemical tanker market is facing the opposite extreme with quite a slowdown in activity, particularly since the winter storm in February that shut much US Gulf Coast production.
“No one clearly knows what is going to happen for liquid tankers, and the more we think it is coming back, the more it is being pushed further and further away,” said one shipping broker.
After the winter storm, chemical production was at a low, and exports of product from the US slipped further.
For the remainder of Q3 and into Q4, the biggest factor that could cause a similar outcome is hurricanes. While chemical production slowly rebuilds and product becomes more available, even one significant hurricane can cause severe disruptions and declines in the tanker market.
“Other than a hurricane, I don’t think anything else can be bring this to a worse place than where we are currently,” the broker added.
Focus story by Adam Yanelli and Anna Matherne
August 18, 2021
Palmer Holland and Olin Expand Agreement
Palmer Holland Expands Distribution Relationship With Olin Epoxy Into Canada
Effective immediately, Palmer Holland announces the expansion of its longstanding relationship with Olin.
08.18.21
Effective immediately, Palmer Holland announces the expansion of its longstanding relationship with Olin, the leading global supplier of epoxy materials, into Canada.
This territory expansion builds upon Palmer Holland’s existing responsibilities as a distributor of Olin Epoxy’s products in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the United States. Palmer Holland represents Olin Epoxy’s lines of:
• Liquid Epoxy Resins D.E.R.™ 300 Series
• Epoxy Blends D.E.R.™ 300 Series
• Epoxy Solids D.E.R.™ 300 Series
• Hardeners D.E.H.™ 300 Series
• Flame Retardant Epoxies D.E.R.™ Series
• Novolacs D.E.N.™ Series
• Reactive Diluents D.E.R.™ Series
• Solid Solutions D.E.R.™ Series
• Waterborne Hardeners D.E.H.™ Series
• Waterborne Resins D.E.R.™ Series
• FORTEGRA™
“Olin is confident that our expanded distribution network with Palmer Holland for all Olin Epoxy products offered in North America will provide enhanced service for our Canadian customers,” said Steve Mills, Olin Epoxy Commercial Director North America.
In accordance with its strategy to offer synergistic solutions to its customers, Palmer Holland’s robust range of offerings complements Olin’s comprehensive Epoxy portfolio for the Civil Engineering, Coatings, and Adhesives sectors.
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