The Urethane Blog
January 22, 2021
Piedmont Chemical Industries, Inc. Announces Launch of New Brand and Business Name
Changes reflect the organization’s continued growth and commitment to its iconic family of brands
HIGH POINT, NC: Piedmont Chemical Industries, Inc., a leader in chemical manufacturing, announced today the launch of a new corporate name and brand identity. The organization, a parent company over several unique divisions, will now be known as Syntha Group. The new name and brand identity will help distinguish the parent company and clarify the group as a cohesive family of brands. Among the changes will be a new logo and website (synthagroup.com), effective immediately, which will reflect the organization’s continued growth and commitment to its iconic family of brands. The company’s ownership and staff have not changed.
Vice-Chairman and CSO, Creswell Wilson Calabrese, stated:
“We have been family-owned and operated for 82 years, and we want to maintain that culture within our entities. While we don’t want to lose that emphasis, we have come to realize that within our industry, there is a lack of knowledge that our divisions exist within the same corporation. By rebranding, we are creating a stronger cohesion between our divisions that will give our customers greater awareness of the resources available to them within our entire family of brands.”
Syntha Group consists of five unique subsidiaries within the chemical manufacturing industry:
“Our new name is designed to support the evolution of our company. My grandfather established Piedmont Color and Chemical in 1938 to service the local textile industry. Textiles is still a critical component of our business model but we’ve diversified to serve a wide range of industries from pharmaceuticals to agriculture to cosmetics to food & beverage packaging to recycled materials utility and more” said CEO, Rick Wilson. “The name change is an effort to bring clarity to the fact that all of these proficiencies are available within our organization. We felt that it made sense to differentiate the name of the corporate umbrella from that of a single operating division. We are excited to move forward highlighting the unique capabilities of each of our divisions within Syntha Group.”
Operations, staff, and industry leadership have not changed. The rebranding emphasizes the organization’s continued commitment to the communities, businesses, and families it serves. This exciting change creates clarity and opens the doors to future growth opportunities within the family of businesses.
About Syntha Group
Founded in 1938 by Fred Wilson, Sr. in High Point, NC, Syntha Group is a leading specialty chemical manufacturer. The organization expanded to include five subsidiaries over the course of 82 years and has included four generations of Wilson family involvement. Syntha Group focuses on providing quality products while continuing to lead the way with innovative technologies, custom manufacturing, and close customer partnerships. Offering everything from formulation and R&D to sales and distribution, Syntha Group and its subsidiaries are continually investing in the future of the chemical manufacturing industry. To learn more, visit synthagroup.com.
January 22, 2021
BASF plans early-March maintenance at Ludwigshafen TDI plant January 22/2021 MOSCOW (MRC) — BASF is planning to carry out maintenance work early in March at its 300,000-metric tons/year toluene diisocyanate (TDI) plant at Ludwigshafen, Germany, market sources have told OPIS, said Chemweek.
“The facility is expected to be in planned turnaround from early March until the end of May, but we don’t know the exact dates of the turnaround,” a source said. BASF declined to comment. “We do not comment on plant maintenance or run rates,” a company spokesperson said.
Another source speculated that TDI production might start to slow from the site from the end of February in preparation for the turnaround. This will result in lower toluene consumption than in recent months, according to Eleanor Dann, principal toluene analyst at IHS Markit.
“Whilst the turnaround for TDI production will reduce consumption of TDI-grade toluene, this will not necessarily result in an additional 10,000-15,000 metric tons of length for the toluene market as supply is likely to be adjusted in knowledge of the outage,” said Dann.
BASF had declared force majeure on 31 August 2020 after experiencing technical problems. After several attempted restarts, it lifted the force majeure at its TDI plant on 30 November, a company spokesperson confirmed.
As MRC informed earlier, BASF says its 420,000-metric ton/year steam cracker in Ludwigshafen, Germany is continuously running and has not caused any interruption of supply to its customers. Earlier, several media outlets reported that unscheduled flaring started on 13 January at the northern part of the Ludwigshafen site and was expected to last until 17 January and that an unspecified unit was shut, which “was not the case”, as per the company’s letter received by MRC.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. 
mrcplast.comAuthor:Anna Larionova
January 22, 2021
BASF plans early-March maintenance at Ludwigshafen TDI plant January 22/2021 MOSCOW (MRC) — BASF is planning to carry out maintenance work early in March at its 300,000-metric tons/year toluene diisocyanate (TDI) plant at Ludwigshafen, Germany, market sources have told OPIS, said Chemweek.
“The facility is expected to be in planned turnaround from early March until the end of May, but we don’t know the exact dates of the turnaround,” a source said. BASF declined to comment. “We do not comment on plant maintenance or run rates,” a company spokesperson said.
Another source speculated that TDI production might start to slow from the site from the end of February in preparation for the turnaround. This will result in lower toluene consumption than in recent months, according to Eleanor Dann, principal toluene analyst at IHS Markit.
“Whilst the turnaround for TDI production will reduce consumption of TDI-grade toluene, this will not necessarily result in an additional 10,000-15,000 metric tons of length for the toluene market as supply is likely to be adjusted in knowledge of the outage,” said Dann.
BASF had declared force majeure on 31 August 2020 after experiencing technical problems. After several attempted restarts, it lifted the force majeure at its TDI plant on 30 November, a company spokesperson confirmed.
As MRC informed earlier, BASF says its 420,000-metric ton/year steam cracker in Ludwigshafen, Germany is continuously running and has not caused any interruption of supply to its customers. Earlier, several media outlets reported that unscheduled flaring started on 13 January at the northern part of the Ludwigshafen site and was expected to last until 17 January and that an unspecified unit was shut, which “was not the case”, as per the company’s letter received by MRC.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
mrcplast.comAuthor:Anna Larionova
January 21, 2021
Aurora And PACCAR Team Up In Autonomous Truck Push
by Tyler DurdenThursday, Jan 21, 2021 – 14:30
Submitted by Market Crumbs,
Just last month Uber unloaded its self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group, to Aurora to accelerate the development of the Aurora Driver, which is hoping to become the autonomous driving platform powering everything from passenger vehicles to heavy-duty trucks.
Aurora is backed by names such as Amazon and Sequoia with Uber now reportedly holding a more than 25% stake in the company following last month’s deal. Aurora was co-founded by Chris Urmson, who headed Google’s self-driving division for nearly eight years and is one of the most widely regarded names in the self-driving vehicle space.
Aurora didn’t take long to announce its next move following the acquisition of ATG as the company signed a global strategic partnership with trucking giant PACCAR to bring a self-driving trucks powered by the Aurora Driver to market in the coming years.
The partnership will see the two companies develop, test and commercialize autonomous Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks. Kenworth T680 and Peterbilt 579 trucks running on the Aurora Driver are expected to be deployed in North America over the next few years.
“PACCAR looks forward to partnering with Aurora because of their industry-leading autonomous driving technology and impressive team,” PACCAR CEO Preston Feight said. “This strategic partnership complements PACCAR’s best-in-class commercial vehicle quality, technology and innovation.”
The partnership is a win for Aurora, which says it has already been using PACCAR trucks for many of its test vehicles. Aurora will provide self-driving technology such as hardware, software and operational services, while PACCAR will use its more than 100 years of experience in the trucking sector to contribute autonomous-enabled vehicles and aftermarket parts distribution, finance and other transportation solutions.
“Working together, we’ve been impressed with PACCAR’s product engineering, manufacturing capabilities, and commitment to enhancing its customers’ operational safety and efficiency,” Urmson said. “This partnership brings us one step closer to unlocking the autonomous freight market and delivering goods to those who need them.”
If successful, the partnership could be further applied to other models under the Peterbilt and Kenworth brands, while also expanding outside of the U.S. through PACCAR’s other brands such as Dutch truck manufacturer DAF Trucks.
Fresh off its deal to acquire Uber’s self-driving unit, Aurora now has the perfect partner in PACCAR to help accelerate the development and commercialization of autonomous trucks globally.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/aurora-and-paccar-team-autonomous-truck-push
January 21, 2021
Aurora And PACCAR Team Up In Autonomous Truck Push
by Tyler DurdenThursday, Jan 21, 2021 – 14:30
Submitted by Market Crumbs,
Just last month Uber unloaded its self-driving unit, Advanced Technologies Group, to Aurora to accelerate the development of the Aurora Driver, which is hoping to become the autonomous driving platform powering everything from passenger vehicles to heavy-duty trucks.
Aurora is backed by names such as Amazon and Sequoia with Uber now reportedly holding a more than 25% stake in the company following last month’s deal. Aurora was co-founded by Chris Urmson, who headed Google’s self-driving division for nearly eight years and is one of the most widely regarded names in the self-driving vehicle space.
Aurora didn’t take long to announce its next move following the acquisition of ATG as the company signed a global strategic partnership with trucking giant PACCAR to bring a self-driving trucks powered by the Aurora Driver to market in the coming years.
The partnership will see the two companies develop, test and commercialize autonomous Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks. Kenworth T680 and Peterbilt 579 trucks running on the Aurora Driver are expected to be deployed in North America over the next few years.
“PACCAR looks forward to partnering with Aurora because of their industry-leading autonomous driving technology and impressive team,” PACCAR CEO Preston Feight said. “This strategic partnership complements PACCAR’s best-in-class commercial vehicle quality, technology and innovation.”
The partnership is a win for Aurora, which says it has already been using PACCAR trucks for many of its test vehicles. Aurora will provide self-driving technology such as hardware, software and operational services, while PACCAR will use its more than 100 years of experience in the trucking sector to contribute autonomous-enabled vehicles and aftermarket parts distribution, finance and other transportation solutions.
“Working together, we’ve been impressed with PACCAR’s product engineering, manufacturing capabilities, and commitment to enhancing its customers’ operational safety and efficiency,” Urmson said. “This partnership brings us one step closer to unlocking the autonomous freight market and delivering goods to those who need them.”
If successful, the partnership could be further applied to other models under the Peterbilt and Kenworth brands, while also expanding outside of the U.S. through PACCAR’s other brands such as Dutch truck manufacturer DAF Trucks.
Fresh off its deal to acquire Uber’s self-driving unit, Aurora now has the perfect partner in PACCAR to help accelerate the development and commercialization of autonomous trucks globally.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/aurora-and-paccar-team-autonomous-truck-push
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