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Polymers
Overview
Global polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) supply and demand dynamics are in transition. Supply is increasing much faster than demand and international trade is shifting due to political and economic events. About 40% of the US polyethylene production is exported, mainly to Asian markets, whereas only about 10% of the polypropylene production is exported, mainly to LATAM markets.
Ethylene prices in Asia and Europe are tied to naphtha whereas ethylene prices in the US are impacted by natural gas and ethane supply. Asia is also self-sufficient on PP whereas they must import 25% of their PE demand.
The impacts of other ethylene and propylene derivatives such as PVC or propylene oxide also require assessment.
Our polymer experts will help you determine what trends to track and how to stay competitive in today’s ever-changing global markets.
Latest polymers news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global polymers industry.
Toyo, SCG enhance waste plastics recycling partnership
Toyo, SCG enhance waste plastics recycling partnership
Tokyo, 24 June (Argus) — Japanese engineering firm Toyo Engineering and Thai petrochemical producer SCG Chemicals plan to enhance their partnership in the chemical recycling of waste plastics, aiming to launch an upgraded demonstration plant in Thailand by early 2025. The agreement to co-operate on the future commercialisation of the chemical recycling technology of SCG subsidiary Circular Plas (CirPlas) and the development of a licensing business is a follow-up to the companies' initial deal to study the feasibility of chemical recycling in Thailand in January 2022. CirPlas is 60pc owned by SCG and has developed chemical recycling technology turning mixed plastic wastes into naphtha and then plastic resins. Toyo and SCG plan to add a new unit to the operating pilot plant in south Thailand's Rayong province. The companies are still examining the output capacity of the enhanced pilot plant and future commercial operation. They are unsure when they will start operations of the commercial venture. The circular economy has been a major topic in Japan's petrochemical industry on the back of the country's 2050 decarbonisation goal. Petrochemical producer Mitsui Chemicals in March began using pyrolysis oil , generated from waste plastics, to manufacture petrochemical products at its Osaka naphtha-fed cracker. Sumitomo Chemical plans to begin recycling polymethyl methacrylate in 2025. By Nanami Oki Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Cirrec aims for 250,000 t/yr PET tray recycling by 2025
Cirrec aims for 250,000 t/yr PET tray recycling by 2025
London, 21 June (Argus) — Netherlands-based PET tray-to-tray recycler Cirrec hopes to reach 250,000 t/yr of input capacity by 2025 with new sites in Denmark and Germany anticipated to come online in the next year. Cirrec is owned by the Faerch Group and is one of the largest PET tray-to-tray recyclers in Europe. The company is looking at further sites for expansion after 2025, including in the UK, according to recycling director Aron Damen, in a presentation made at PRSE in Amsterdam. Cirrec has an input capacity of 60,000 t/yr with a site in the Netherlands that opened in 2024. Damen said that action to beat challenges to the PET tray-to-tray recycling market included expanding knowledge in sorting centres to help identify and sort PET tray waste. PET tray waste has more variable levels of PET compared with bottle bales, Damen added. A sentiment shared with PETCORE Thermoforming technical manager Jose-Antonio Alarcon in a recent Q&A with Argus. The average PET tray bale contains 50-80pc of PET compared with a less variable 70-75pc PET for bottle bales. Issues with collection and supply can lead to a loss in terms of feedstock for tray-to-tray recyclers. If the industry wants to achieve full circularity, action needs to be taken across the value chain from consumers to recyclers and eventually end users, Damen added. "In order to achieve full circularity, the tray-to-tray industry needs to stop stealing from the bottle industry," said Damen, highlighting the need for greater sorting and variations in consumer behaviour when it came to recycling PET trays as opposed to bottles. Capacity for PET tray-to-tray recycling is largely driven by feedstock availability, which is likely to limit production in the next few years unless there is more competition on the market, which would incentivise the sale of feedstock, Damen said. By George Barsted Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US FDA clears Nova rLLDPE for food contact
US FDA clears Nova rLLDPE for food contact
Houston, 20 June (Argus) — The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared post-consumer recycled linear-low density polyethylene (rLLDPE) from Nova Chemicals' Connersville, Indiana, recycling plant for use in food packaging. The EPA provided Canada-based Novawith a No Objection Letter (NOL), allowing the recycled plastic to be used in food contact applications. This makes Nova the fourth company to receive food contact permission for rLLDPE in the US. The company received approval for usage of its material with all food types, with acceptable conditions of use including refrigerated, frozen and hot filled food storage. Nova previously received a NOL for its rHDPE from the same facility in 2023. Nova said that high interest from converters, retailers and brand owners motivated its push into FDA-grade rLLDPE, as well as a report from consultant McKinsey that forecast rising demand for recycled plastic. By Zach Kluver Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
EU member states support mass balance approach: EC
EU member states support mass balance approach: EC
London, 20 June (Argus) — EU member states are largely in line to support the mass balance accounting fuel-use excluded definition for defining recycled content percentage, and are likely to support these definitions going forwards, according to the team leader on plastics at the European Commission, Werner Bosmans. Bosmans, speaking at the Plastics Recycling Show Europe (PRSE) in Amsterdam, said there will be a public consultation on the definition of mass balance accounting soon, probably in the summer. The definition for mass balance was approved by the EU parliament in April when ministers overturned an objection from the EU environment committee. Most EU member states are now broadly in favour of the definition with third-party verification, Bosmans added. A defined approach for mass balance accounting would help to lend transparency to policy for recyclers. Further investment in the recycling sector was needed, Bosmans said, in order to increase capacity and he said that the commission viewed "mechanical recycling as better than chemical recycling and chemical recycling as better than incineration". While there may be a focus on different types of recycling technology, Bosmans said that focus should be "not about how much of the cake is a certain technology, but the size of the cake overall", when discussing supply in Europe for recycled content. The EC reasoning for this view was that mechanical recycling caused less environmental damage than other methods, Bosmans added. Bosmans said it appeared likely that EU member states would hit 2025 targets set out in the Single Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) legislation for all PET bottles produced to contain 25pc of recycled content, and 2030 targets of 30pc recycled content for PET bottles. Bosmans also spoke of figures that plastic recycling was 13 times more likely to happen when separate collections of waste at a consumer level were implemented, highlighting the importance of collection for the value chain. By George Barsted Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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