CHEMICAL BUSINESS FOCUS - Tecnon OrbiChem · Valmet and Biochemtex collaborate on developing lignin-derived chemicals ... CHEMICAL PROFILE: ETHYLENE. ... (Bio-based) C12-C14 Contract

BIO-M

ATERIALS &

INTERM

EDIATESIN

CLU

DIN

G BIO

-BASED

CH

EMIC

ALS, BIO

-POLYM

ERS & TH

EIR PETROC

HEM

ICA

L EQU

IVALEN

TS

A MONTHLY ROUNDUP AND ANALYSIS OF THE KEY FACTORS SHAPING WORLD CHEMICAL MARKETS

CHEMICAL BUSINESS FOCUS

CONTACT: PHILIPPA DAVIESEmail: [email protected] Follow us on

ISSUE NUMBER 3331ST MAY 2016

SPECIAL REPORTSBio-based surfactants continue to see growth opportunities

Malonic Acid: Lygos, Sirrus in malonates R&D

Ethanol, Ethylene & PolyethyleneClariant to scale-up Gevo’s ethanol-to-olefins technology

GlycolsAvatherm launches bio-based heat transfer fluid as alternative to petro-glycols

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)Valmet and Biochemtex collaborate on developing lignin-derived chemicals

Polyamides & IntermediatesStora Enso and Rennovia in bio-based chemicals partnership

ButanolsGevo ships a railcar of bio-isobutanol in the first quarter

Epichlorohydrin & Epoxy ResinsToyota uses biohydrin rubber in engine and drive system hoses

ButanediolsUS petro-BDO market buoyant on strong demand from automotive industry

Succinic AcidReverdia, Wageningen UR collaborate on bio-PBS compounds development in durables

Polyols & PolyurethanesFord to use CO2-based polyols in vehicles

Fatty AcidsGlobal fatty acid prices remain stable despite oversupplied Asian market

Fatty AlcoholsSynthetic mid-cut alcohols continue to gain market share in the US

GlycerolUS glycerine supply is getting long due to imports, competition

PLA & PHAMetabolix plans to divest its PHA business and Yield10 Bioscience program

CHEMICAL PROFILE: ETHYLENE

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BIO-MATERIALS & INTERMEDIATESINCLUDING BIO-BASED CHEMICALS, BIO-POLYMERS & THEIR PETROCHEMICAL EQUIVALENTS

2 Tecnon OrbiChem ISSUE NUMBER 033 / 21ST MAY 2016

PRICE MONITORUS PRICES

Feb-2016 Mar-2016 31-May-2016Apr-2016 31-May-2016

¢/lb ¢/lb $/ton¢/lb ¢/lb

25.75 29.75 DDP N.A.Contract MonthlyEthylene 30.50 N.A.

22.00 - 25.00 26.00 - 29.00 FOB 551 - 661SpotMEG 29.00 - 33.00 25.00 - 30.00

28.6 - 32.5 30.8 - 35.0 FOB 772 - 926Bio-based 37.7 - 42.9 35.0 - 42.0

$/ton $/ton $/ton$/ton $/ton

640 - 665 690 - 720 FOB 710 - 730SpotParaxylene 700 - 720 710 - 730


38.90 39.73 DDP 917ContractPTA 41.27 ¶ 41.60 ¶

66.00 - 69.50 66.75 - 70.00 DDP 1499 - 1554Bottle PolymerPolyester 68.50 - 71.50 ‡ 68.00 - 70.50

77.10 - 80.50 80.40 - 84.00 DDP 1799 - 1865Bottle Polymer Bio-based 82.80 - 87.60 81.60 - 84.60

70 - 80 70 - 80 DDP 1764 - 1874ContractAdipic Acid 75 - 85 80 - 85

70 - 76 70 - 76 EXW 1587 - 1698Industrial Grade ContractMonopropylene Glycol 72 - 77 72 - 77


620 N.A. FOB N.A.Exportn-Butanol N.A. N.A.


59.4 - 69.4 61.5 - 71.5 DDP 1371 - 1592ContractEpichlorohydrin 62.2 - 72.2 62.2 - 72.2

107 - 110 107 - 110 DDP 2293 - 2359Contract Quarterly1,4-Butanediol 104 - 107 104 - 107

86.5 - 103.0 86.5 - 103.0 DDP 1907 - 2271ContractSuccinic Acid 86.5 - 103.0 86.5 - 103.0

91.0 - 109.0 91.0 - 109.0 DDP 2006 - 2403Bio-based 91.0 - 109.0 91.0 - 109.0

90 - 95 88 - 94 DDP 2050 - 2161Flexible, slabstockPolyether Polyols 89 - 95 93 - 98 †


850 - 1025 850 - 1025 DDP 950 - 1100Stearic Acid ContractFatty Acids (Bio-based) 950 - 1100 950 - 1100

1200 - 1300 1200 - 1300 DDP 1290 - 1400Oleic Acid Contract 1290 - 1400 1290 - 1400

1250 - 1350 1100 - 1500 DDP 1200 - 1900C12-C15 ContractFatty Alcohols (Bio-based) 1100 - 1900 ‡ 1200 - 1900

1200 - 1300 1200 - 1300 DDP 1350 - 1500C16-C18 Contract 1350 - 1500 1350 - 1500

650 - 800 600 - 750 DDP 650 - 750Refined Glycerine ContractGlycerol (Bio-based) 650 - 800 650 - 750

150 - 200 130 - 170 DDP 130 - 170Crude Glycerine Spot 130 - 170 130 - 170

€: 0.898 £: 0.684 (1/1.462)

US$: 1.114 £: 0.762 (1/1.313) Yen: 123.7

Current one US dollar equivalent (30-May-2016)

Current one € equivalent (30-May-2016)

Yen: 111.1 NT$: 32.64 Won: 1191.80 Rmb: 6.58 Rs: 67.22

N.A. = Not Available † = Provisional ‡ = Revised ¶ = Provisional and See Text

Information contained in this report is obtained from sources believed to be reliable, however no responsibility nor liability will be accepted by Tecnon OrbiChem for commercial decisions claimed to have been based on the content of the report.

Reproduction of any part of this work by any process whatsoever without written permission of Tecnon OrbiChem is strictly forbidden.



PRICE MONITORWEST EUROPE PRICES


€/ton €/ton $/ton€/ton €/ton

830 810 DDP 1014Contract MonthlyEthylene 870 910

600 - 625 700 - 720 FCA 735 - 757Spot T2MEG 690 - 720 660 - 680

780 - 813 840 - 875 DDP 1029 - 1060Bio-based 897 - 936 924 - 952


630 - 650 670 - 700 FOB 680 - 705Spot RotterdamParaxylene 670 - 700 680 - 705

€/ton €/ton $/ton€/ton €/ton

603 - 649 610 - 656 DDP 724 - 775Contract 'Net'PTA 650 - 696 650 - 696

1090 - 1190 1130 - 1230 DDP 1331 - 1442Bottle Polymer Northern EuropePolyester 1195 - 1295 1195 - 1295

1254 - 1369 1308 - 1428 DDP 1597 - 1731Bottle Polymer Bio-based 1434 - 1554 1434 - 1554

1360 - 1400 1360 - 1400 DDP 1671 - 1749New ContractAdipic Acid 1430 - 1500 1500 - 1570

1040 - 1110 970 - 1040 DDP 1114 - 1181Industrial Grade ContractMonopropylene Glycol 990 - 1060 1000 - 1060

630 - 690 630 - 680 DDP 757 - 835Domestic Tank Trucksn-Butanol 650 - 710 680 - 750

1530 - 1610 1530 - 1610 DDP 1754 - 1882ContractEpichlorohydrin 1570 - 1670 1575 - 1690

1605 - 1685 1605 - 1685 DDP 1710 - 1799Contract Quarterly1,4-Butanediol 1535 - 1615 1535 - 1615

1750 - 2000 1750 - 2000 DDP 1949 - 2228ContractSuccinic Acid 1750 - 2000 1750 - 2000

1850 - 2100 1850 - 2100 DDP 2005 - 2250Bio-based 1800 - 2020 1800 - 2020

1620 - 1650 1620 - 1650 DDP 1860 - 1905Flexible, slabstock - ContractPolyether Polyols 1640 - 1680 1670 - 1710

1750 - 1820 1730 - 1800 DDP 1927 - 2005Contract - AromaticPolyester Polyols 1730 - 1800 1730 - 1800

2040 - 2080 2020 - 2060 DDP 2261 - 2294Contract - Aliphatic 2020 - 2060 2030 - 2060

740 - 780 750 - 850 CFR 835 - 891Stearic Acid ContractFatty Acids (Bio-based) 750 - 780 750 - 800

900 - 1000 900 - 1000 CFR 1025 - 1092Oleic Acid Contract 920 - 980 920 - 980

1250 - 1350 1650 - 1950 FOB 1949 - 2061C12-C14 ContractFatty Alcohols (Bio-based) 1750 - 1780 1750 - 1850

1150 - 1180 1250 - 1280 FOB 1337 - 1359C16-C18 Contract 1250 - 1280 1200 - 1220

500 - 580 490 - 570 DDP 546 - 646Refined Glycerine ContractGlycerol (Bio-based) 490 - 550 490 - 580

150 - 250 160 - 270 DDP 178 - 301Crude Glycerine Spot 160 - 270 160 - 270

€: 0.898 £: 0.684 (1/1.462)

US$: 1.114 £: 0.762 (1/1.313) Yen: 123.7



Yen: 111.1 NT$: 32.64 Won: 1191.80 Rmb: 6.58 Rs: 67.22





PRICE MONITORASIA PRICES



960 - 1000 1200 - 1215 CFR 1100 - 1200Import East AsiaEthylene 1165 - 1200 1100 - 1200

565 - 615 670 - 740 CFR 620 - 685Import SpotMEG 655 - 700 620 - 685

735 - 800 791 - 861 CFR 868 - 959Bio-based 852 - 910 868 - 959

715 - 720 ‡ 760 - 765 FOB 765Import SpotParaxylene 790 - 795 ‡ 765

565 - 585 592 - 597 CFR N.A.Import ContractPTA 621 - 636 ‡ N.A.

800 - 820 860 - 880 FOB 850 - 870Bottle Polymer China ExportPolyester 880 - 890 850 - 870

920 - 943 960 - 984 CIF 1020 - 1044Bottle Polymer Bio-based 1056 - 1068 1020 - 1044

1000 - 1050 1050 - 1100 CFR 1200 - 1250Import Contract, High QualityAdipic Acid 1100 - 1150 1200 - 1250

570 - 600 640 - 680 CFR 630 - 650Importn-Butanol 630 - 660 630 - 650

1080 - 1180 1080 - 1180 CFR 1050 - 1150SpotEpichlorohydrin 1080 - 1155 1050 - 1150

1071 - 1116 1184 - 1245 EXW 1025 - 1063Bio-based 1089 - 1127 1025 - 1063

1100 - 1300 1100 - 1200 CFR 1000 - 1200China1,4-Butanediol 1000 - 1200 1000 - 1200

1700 - 1900 1700 - 1900 FOB 1768 - 1845ContractSuccinic Acid 1768 - 1845 1768 - 1845

1900 - 2000 1900 - 2000 DDP 1900 - 2000Bio-based 1900 - 2000 1900 - 2000

Rmb/ton Rmb/ton $/tonRmb/ton Rmb/ton

7900 - 8100 8300 - 8600 EXW 1322 - 1352Flexible, China DomesticPolyether Polyols 8600 - 9400 8700 - 8900

10500 - 10800 10500 - 10800 DDP 1732 - 1777Aliphatic, Pure BG, China DomesticPolyester Polyols 11400 - 11700 11400 - 11700

9000 - 9500 9000 - 9500 DDP 1550 - 1610Aliphatic, Pure EG, China Domestic 10000 - 10300 10200 - 10600


1200 - 1300 1350 - 1400 FOB 1450 - 1500Lauric Acid Contract, Southeast AsiaFatty Acids (Bio-based) 1650 - 1700 1450 - 1500

1050 - 1150 1050 - 1150 FOB 1250 - 1300Oleic Acid Contract, Southeast Asia 1250 - 1300 1250 - 1300

700 - 820 750 - 850 FOB 750 - 880Stearic Acid Contract, Southeast Asia 800 - 950 750 - 880

1200 - 1400 1650 - 1850 FOB 1770 - 1850C12-C14 Contract, Southeast AsiaFatty Alcohols (Bio-based) 1800 - 1900 1770 - 1850

1100 - 1200 1175 - 1300 FOB 1200 - 1350C16-C18 Contract, Southeast Asia 1200 - 1300 1200 - 1350

550 - 620 620 - 650 FOB 630 - 700Refined Glycerine Contract, Southeast AsiaGlycerol (Bio-based) 600 - 700 630 - 700

235 - 245 255 - 275 CIF 260 - 270Crude Glycerine Spot, China 275 - 285 260 - 270

€: 0.898 £: 0.684 (1/1.462)

US$: 1.114 £: 0.762 (1/1.313) Yen: 123.7



Yen: 111.1 NT$: 32.64 Won: 1191.80 Rmb: 6.58 Rs: 67.22

Rmb/ton prices include VAT at 17%

N.A. = Not Available ‡ = Revised





价格追踪

美国价2016年2月 2016年3月 2016年5月31日2016年4月 2016年5月31日

美分/磅美分/磅美元/吨美分/磅美分/磅

25.75 29.75 完税后交货不详合同每月乙烯 30.50 不详

22.00 - 25.00 26.00 - 29.00 离岸价 551 - 661现货乙二醇 29.00 - 33.00 25.00 - 30.00

28.6 - 32.5 30.8 - 35.0 离岸价 772 - 926生物基 37.7 - 42.9 35.0 - 42.0

美元/吨美元/吨美元/吨美元/吨美元/吨

640 - 665 690 - 720 离岸价 710 - 730现货对二甲苯 700 - 720 710 - 730


38.90 39.73 完税后交货 917合同精对苯二甲酸 41.27 ¶ 41.60 ¶

66.00 - 69.50 66.75 - 70.00 完税后交货 1499 - 1554瓶片聚酯 68.50 - 71.50 ‡ 68.00 - 70.50

77.10 - 80.50 80.40 - 84.00 完税后交货 1799 - 1865(瓶)聚合物 (生物基) 82.80 - 87.60 81.60 - 84.60

70 - 80 70 - 80 完税后交货 1764 - 1874合同己二酸 75 - 85 80 - 85

70 - 76 70 - 76 出厂价 1587 - 1698工业级合同单丙二醇 72 - 77 72 - 77


620 不详离岸价不详出口正丁醇不详不详


59.4 - 69.4 61.5 - 71.5 完税后交货 1371 - 1592合同环氧氯丙烷 62.2 - 72.2 62.2 - 72.2

107 - 110 107 - 110 完税后交货 2293 - 2359合同季度1,4-丁二醇 104 - 107 104 - 107

86.5 - 103.0 86.5 - 103.0 完税后交货 1907 - 2271合同丁二酸 86.5 - 103.0 86.5 - 103.0

91.0 - 109.0 91.0 - 109.0 完税后交货 2006 - 2403生物基 91.0 - 109.0 91.0 - 109.0

90 - 95 88 - 94 完税后交货 2050 - 2161软泡,块状聚醚多元醇 89 - 95 93 - 98 †


850 - 1025 850 - 1025 完税后交货 950 - 1100硬脂酸合同脂肪酸（生物基） 950 - 1100 950 - 1100

1200 - 1300 1200 - 1300 完税后交货 1290 - 1400油酸合同 1290 - 1400 1290 - 1400

1250 - 1350 1100 - 1500 完税后交货 1200 - 1900C12-C15 合同脂肪醇（生物基） 1100 - 1900 ‡ 1200 - 1900

1200 - 1300 1200 - 1300 完税后交货 1350 - 1500C16-C18 合同 1350 - 1500 1350 - 1500

650 - 800 600 - 750 完税后交货 650 - 750精制甘油合同甘油（生物基） 650 - 800 650 - 750

150 - 200 130 - 170 完税后交货 130 - 170粗甘油现货 130 - 170 130 - 170

本报告所包含的信息皆来自可信的资料来源，

但是对任何声称跟据本报告内容所做的商业决策，英国泰可荣全球化学有限公司概不负责。

未经英国泰可荣全球化学有限公司书面许可，严禁以任何方式对本报告的任何内容加以抄袭。

欧元: 0.898 英镑: 0.684 (1/1.462)

美元: 1.114 英镑: 0.762 (1/1.313)

日元: 123.7

当天美元兑换率 (2016年5月30日)

当天欧元兑换率 (2016年5月30日)

日元: 111.1 新台币: 32.64 韩元: 1191.80 人民币: 6.58 卢比: 67.22

† = 暂定 ‡ = 校正 ¶ = 暂定而且查看正文



价格追踪

西欧价2016年2月 2016年3月 2016年5月31日2016年4月 2016年5月31日

欧元/吨欧元/吨美元/吨欧元/吨欧元/吨

830 810 完税后交货 1014合同每月乙烯 870 910

600 - 625 700 - 720 货交承运人 735 - 757现货T2乙二醇 690 - 720 660 - 680

780 - 813 840 - 875 完税后交货 1029 - 1060生物基 897 - 936 924 - 952


630 - 650 670 - 700 离岸价 680 - 705现货 (FOB鹿特丹)对二甲苯 670 - 700 680 - 705

欧元/吨欧元/吨美元/吨欧元/吨欧元/吨

603 - 649 610 - 656 完税后交货 724 - 775合同净价精对苯二甲酸 650 - 696 650 - 696

1090 - 1190 1130 - 1230 完税后交货 1331 - 1442瓶片北欧聚酯 1195 - 1295 1195 - 1295

1254 - 1369 1308 - 1428 完税后交货 1597 - 1731(瓶)聚合物 (生物基) 1434 - 1554 1434 - 1554

1360 - 1400 1360 - 1400 完税后交货 1671 - 1749新合同己二酸 1430 - 1500 1500 - 1570

1040 - 1110 970 - 1040 完税后交货 1114 - 1181工业级合同单丙二醇 990 - 1060 1000 - 1060

630 - 690 630 - 680 完税后交货 757 - 835国内油罐车正丁醇 650 - 710 680 - 750

1530 - 1610 1530 - 1610 完税后交货 1754 - 1882合同环氧氯丙烷 1570 - 1670 1575 - 1690

1605 - 1685 1605 - 1685 完税后交货 1710 - 1799合同季度1,4-丁二醇 1535 - 1615 1535 - 1615

1750 - 2000 1750 - 2000 完税后交货 1949 - 2228合同丁二酸 1750 - 2000 1750 - 2000

1850 - 2100 1850 - 2100 完税后交货 2005 - 2250生物基 1800 - 2020 1800 - 2020

1620 - 1650 1620 - 1650 完税后交货 1860 - 1905软泡,块状合同聚醚多元醇 1640 - 1680 1670 - 1710

1750 - 1820 1730 - 1800 完税后交货 1927 - 2005合同 - 芳香族聚酯多元醇 1730 - 1800 1730 - 1800

2040 - 2080 2020 - 2060 完税后交货 2261 - 2294合同 - 脂肪族 2020 - 2060 2030 - 2060

740 - 780 750 - 850 到岸价 835 - 891硬脂酸合同脂肪酸（生物基） 750 - 780 750 - 800

900 - 1000 900 - 1000 到岸价 1025 - 1092油酸合同 920 - 980 920 - 980

1250 - 1350 1650 - 1950 离岸价 1949 - 2061C12-C14 合同脂肪醇（生物基） 1750 - 1780 1750 - 1850

1150 - 1180 1250 - 1280 离岸价 1337 - 1359C16-C18 合同 1250 - 1280 1200 - 1220

500 - 580 490 - 570 完税后交货 546 - 646精制甘油合同甘油（生物基） 490 - 550 490 - 580

150 - 250 160 - 270 完税后交货 178 - 301粗甘油现货 160 - 270 160 - 270




欧元: 0.898 英镑: 0.684 (1/1.462)

美元: 1.114 英镑: 0.762 (1/1.313)

日元: 123.7



日元: 111.1 新台币: 32.64 韩元: 1191.80 人民币: 6.58 卢比: 67.22



价格追踪

亚洲价2016年2月 2016年3月 2016年5月31日2016年4月 2016年5月31日


960 - 1000 1200 - 1215 到岸价 1100 - 1200东亚进口乙烯 1165 - 1200 1100 - 1200

565 - 615 670 - 740 到岸价 620 - 685进口现货乙二醇 655 - 700 620 - 685

735 - 800 791 - 861 到岸价 868 - 959生物基 852 - 910 868 - 959

715 - 720 ‡ 760 - 765 离岸价 765进口现货对二甲苯 790 - 795 ‡ 765

565 - 585 592 - 597 到岸价不详进口合同货精对苯二甲酸 621 - 636 ‡ 不详

800 - 820 860 - 880 离岸价 850 - 870瓶片（中国出口）聚酯 880 - 890 850 - 870

920 - 943 960 - 984 含保险到岸 1020 - 1044(瓶)聚合物 (生物基) 1056 - 1068 1020 - 1044

1000 - 1050 1050 - 1100 到岸价 1200 - 1250进口合同，品质较好己二酸 1100 - 1150 1200 - 1250

570 - 600 640 - 680 到岸价 630 - 650进口正丁醇 630 - 660 630 - 650

1080 - 1180 1080 - 1180 到岸价 1050 - 1150现货环氧氯丙烷 1080 - 1155 1050 - 1150

1071 - 1116 1184 - 1245 出厂价 1025 - 1063生物基 1089 - 1127 1025 - 1063

1100 - 1300 1100 - 1200 到岸价 1000 - 1200中国1,4-丁二醇 1000 - 1200 1000 - 1200

1700 - 1900 1700 - 1900 离岸价 1768 - 1845合同丁二酸 1768 - 1845 1768 - 1845

1900 - 2000 1900 - 2000 完税后交货 1900 - 2000生物基 1900 - 2000 1900 - 2000

元/吨元/吨美元/吨元/吨元/吨

7900 - 8100 8300 - 8600 出厂价 1322 - 1352软泡, 中国国内聚醚多元醇 8600 - 9400 8700 - 8900

10500 - 10800 10500 - 10800 完税后交货 1732 - 1777聚酯多元醇: 脂肪族, 纯丁二醇等级,中国国内

聚酯多元醇 11400 - 11700 11400 - 11700

9000 - 9500 9000 - 9500 完税后交货 1550 - 1610聚酯多元醇: 脂肪族, 纯乙二醇等级,中国国内

10000 - 10300 10200 - 10600


1200 - 1300 1350 - 1400 离岸价 1450 - 1500月桂酸合同，东南亚脂肪酸（生物基） 1650 - 1700 1450 - 1500

1050 - 1150 1050 - 1150 离岸价 1250 - 1300油酸合同，东南亚 1250 - 1300 1250 - 1300

700 - 820 750 - 850 离岸价 750 - 880硬脂酸合同，东南亚 800 - 950 750 - 880

1200 - 1400 1650 - 1850 离岸价 1770 - 1850C12-C14 合同，东南亚脂肪醇（生物基） 1800 - 1900 1770 - 1850

1100 - 1200 1175 - 1300 离岸价 1200 - 1350C16-C18 合同，东南亚 1200 - 1300 1200 - 1350

550 - 620 620 - 650 离岸价 630 - 700精制甘油合同，东南亚甘油（生物基） 600 - 700 630 - 700

235 - 245 255 - 275 含保险到岸 260 - 270粗甘油现货，中国 275 - 285 260 - 270




欧元: 0.898 英镑: 0.684 (1/1.462)

美元: 1.114 英镑: 0.762 (1/1.313)

日元: 123.7



日元: 111.1 新台币: 32.64 韩元: 1191.80 人民币: 6.58 卢比: 67.22

人民币价包括17%增值税

‡ = 校正


8 Tecnon OrbiChem

FRONT PAGE

PRICE MONITOR

COMPANY NEWS

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SPECIAL REPORT

ETHANOL, ETHYLENE & POLYETHYLENE

GLYCOLS

POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE (PET)

POLYAMIDES & INTERMEDIATES

BUTANOLS

EPICHLOROHYDRIN

BUTANEDIOLS

SUCCINIC ACID

POLYOLS

FATTY ACIDS

FATTY ALCOHOLS

GLYCEROL

POLYLACTIC ACID (PLA)

AGRICULTURAL FEEDSTOCK NEWS

ECONOMIC NEWS

CHEMICAL PROFILE ETHYLENE

STUDIES

CONFERENCES

ACCESS TECNON ORBICHEM ONLINE

ISSUE NUMBER 033 / 21ST MAY 2016

COMPANY NEWS

Americas

Amyris has signed a MOU with South Korea-based CJ Cheiljedang for the large-scale manufacturing of Amyris’s farnesene in existing CJ facilities. The partnership is also expected to include the opportunity for CJ Bio (a division of CJ Cheiljedang) to market select Amyris products in Asian markets as well as the potential for Amyris to develop several products for CJ Bio. The companies expect to complete a definitive agreement by the first week of August.

Bolt Threads, a California-based biotechnology company, has raised $50 million in series C financing. The company reportedly attracted the interest of new investors and partners, including Patagonia, a sports apparel company. Bolt Threads has partnered with Patagonia to further develop the company’s fabric using Bolt Threads’ Engineered Silk™ protein and the company is moving into yarn manufacturing this summer. Bolt’s silk protein is made primarily of sugar, water, salts and yeast, and through a process called wet spinning, this liquid is spun into fibre, similar to the way fibres like acrylic and rayon are made. Other companies in this space include Japanese start-up Spiber, and German company, Amsilk.

CO2 Solutions Inc. and Mojonnier Limited, have partnered to integrate Mojonnier’s GTS rotating packing bed (RPB) mass transfer technology now used in Mojonnier’s beverage equipment, with CO2 Solutions’ enzyme based carbon capture process. Mojonnier has an established client list in the beverage industry and with CO2 Solutions, they will jointly market a low-cost and environment-friendly solution for the supply of CO2 to this sector. Bottlers typically have to purchase CO2 for their beverages from commercial sources at a substantial cost. The joint solution closes the loop and allows for the reuse of the boiler-emitted CO2 from bottling sterilisation operations.

Eastman Chemical Company has entered a definitive agreement with Solvay to sell its 50% stake in the Kingsport, Tennessee, cellulose acetate flake joint venture named Primester. The transaction will allow Eastman to eliminate costs associated with the excess cellulose acetate flake capacity of the JV. Eastman has completed a small capital investment to increase flake capacity at the site. The company said it is no longer necessary for Eastman to support the fixed costs of Primester to have sufficient cellulose acetate flake capacity in order to reliably supply its acetate tow capacity around the world. Eastman has also shut down its UK acetate tow site last year. Eastman will continue to supply certain services, utilities and raw materials to Primester for Solvay’s operation of the former JV assets. The sale is expected to close in second quarter 2016.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $90 million funding focused on designing, constructing and operating integrated biorefinery facilities under the Project Development for Pilot and Demonstration Scale Manufacturing of Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biopower program. The funding is meant to assist in the construction of bioenergy infrastructure to integrate cutting-edge pretreatment, process, and convergence technologies.

Weyerhauser Company will sell its cellulose fibres pulp mill to International Paper for $2.2 billion in cash. The transaction includes five pulp mills located in Mississippi, North Carolina, two mills in Georgia, and one in Alberta, Canada, with a total combined capacity of nearly 1.9 million tons. The sale also includes two modified fibre mills in Mississippi and Gdansk, Poland. The transaction does not include Weyerhauser’s liquid packaging board facility or newsprint and publishing papers joint venture, which are currently being reviewed by the company. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016.

West Europe

AkzoNobel and Royal Cosun, an agro-industrial cooperative based in the Netherlands, have formed a new partnership to develop novel products from cellulose side streams of sugar beet processing. The partnership will combine Cosun’s specialist knowledge in separation and purification of agricultural process side streams with AkzoNobel’s expertise in the chemical modification of cellulose. The companies did not disclose specific chemical products targeted by the collaboration.





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Deinove, a France-based biotechnology company, has partnered with Toulouse White Biotechnology to optimise Deinove’s Deinococcus production. The project aims to map the metabolic fluxes of the Deinococcus chassis, i.e. to create an inventory of all the potentialities of the microorganism in the production of molecules of interest. This mapping will serve as reference to identify and optimise all the metabolic pathways of the Deinoccocus model to rapidly reach the target yield and productivity of industrial processes developed by Deinove.

Hempel A/S, a Denmark-based coatings supplier, has developed a renewable-based anti-fouling marine coating under a research project sponsored by EEA Grants, which represents the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway with the goal of reducing economic and social disparities in 16 EU countries. The company did not disclose raw materials used for the bio-based coating formulations. The anti-fouling coatings can reduce a vessel’s fuel consumption and associated emissions by 4-8%/year.

Pentair Haffmans, the Netherlands-based manufacturer of quality control and process equipment has introduced its skid CO2 recovery system that can be connected to any existing biogas upgrading plant, thus preventing a considerable amount of CO2 and methane to be expelled into the air. The recovered CO2 can be used in a variety of applications including gaseous fertiliser in greenhouses or for the production of dry ice. Additional options include selling liquefied CO2 to a third party. With capacities up to 1,000 kg/h, the compact enclosed CO2 recovery system is delivered as a stand-alone unit.

SABIC has inaugurated a new research facility at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen, the Netherlands, which will support an extension of SABIC’s research in the area of innovative chemistry and materials such as its development of lightweight foamed polyolefins and renewable polymers for packaging. The company is looking to develop new and sustainable solutions together with customers and partners in markets such as transportation, packaging and building industries.

Wageningen UR Food & Bio-based Research is working on the development of environmentally-friendly resins alternatives for isocyanate-based components used for elastic rail fastening systems. The goal is to develop new resins from biomass, which cure into an elastic rubber-like compound within a limited time. The polymers can be applied as elastic sound and vibration-reducing materials. The final material should be less moisture-sensitive in processing and have a short curing time. It must meet specific mechanical material requirements and adhere well to rails and concrete.

Asia

Innovia Group, a UK-based plastic film products manufacturer, has agreed to sell its Cellophane business and assets to Futamura Chemicals Co. Ltd. based in Nagoya, Japan. Futamura is a major manufacturer of plastic and cellulose films, principally servicing the food packaging industry. Cellophane films are made from regenerated cellulose obtained from wood pulp. The Innovia Cellophane™ films have thickness ranging from 19 to 42 microns. The films are said to be naturally biodegradable but the coatings usually used in the films provide the important barrier and sealing properties that prevent Cellophane™ from being truly compostable. Uncoated Cellophane™ can be composted.

Sunlight Fuels Private Limited based in New Delhi, India, has entered a Front End Loading FEL-2 license agreement for IH2 Technology with a Singapore-based affiliate of CRI Catalyst Company LT, a global catalyst technology company of the Shell Group. IH2 is a continuous catalytic thermochemical process which produces fungible hydrocarbon transportation fuels from agriculture, forest and sorted municipal residues. The agreement is the first IH2 FEL-2 license granted in India for a commercial plant that will be designed to convert 500 tpd of dry bagasse into 150 tpd of liquid hydrocarbon transportation fuels. The plant will be adjacent to an operating sugar mill.

The Vietnam Saigon Plastic Association will reportedly focus on research to develop renewable raw materials for making plastics in the 2016-2020 period. The association will work to enable more members to join the industry’s human resource training programs arranged by the city in collaboration with French and South Korean partners. Vietnam’s plastic sector’s exports reportedly great at an average 12.9% in 2011-2015 to reach nearly $2 billion last year.





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Iranol Oil Company, based in Iran, has launched the country’s first biodegradable engine oil under the brand Tetra. The product is made from vegetable oil, and reportedly improves engine performance and increases the shelf life of motor engines. It will also reduce sedimentation in the motor, which causes a gradual loss of engine power. According to the company, studies show bio-based oils afford a reduction of at least 80% in greenhouse gas emissions compared to similar petroleum-based synthetic oils.

Iranol Oil launches Iran’s first biodegradable engine oils

Source: Iranol Oil

Mitsui Chemicals Inc. has been promoting its Do Green™ sunglasses, which use plant-derived frames and ophthalmic lens materials at the ITU World Triathlon Yokohama held in mid-May. Mitsui Chemicals collaborated with the SWANS program of Yamamoto Kogaku Co. Ltd. and Itoh Optical Industrial Co., Ltd. to develop Do Green™ sunglasses, in which the high refractive index lens material uses Mitsui Chemicals’ biomass-derived polyisocyanate STABio™ PDI (1,5 pentamethylene diisocyanate). The Do Green™ sunglasses are claimed to be the world’s first bio-based vision correction lens material.





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Tetra Pak has launched a new version of its Tetra Top® package that has cap and top made from sugarcane-based HDPE. Combined with the FSC™ certified paperboard used in the main sleeve of the carton, the renewable content of the carton bottle has increased from 53% to 82% compared to the previous version. The carton bottle will make its global debut in the USA with JUST™ water brand.

Procter & Gamble launches detergent

made from 65% bio-based

formula

Source: Procter & Gamble

Tetra Top with bio-based cap

and top

Source: Tetra Pak

Procter & Gamble has launched its Tide purclean™ laundry detergent, which has a 65% bio-based formulation as certified by the USDA Biobased Product label. The new detergent reportedly delivers the same cleaning power, stain removal and colour care found in Tide Original Liquid Laundry Detergent. The detergent is produced at a zero manufacturing waste to landfill facility using 100% renewable wind power electricity. The bottle is 100% recyclable. It is formulated to perform in cold water conditions to help save energy but still can be used in any water temperature. Tide purclean™ is compatible with both high-efficiency (HE) and non-HE washing machines. The detergent has a suggested retail price from $11.99-19.99 depending on bottle size.





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Bio-based surfactants continue to see growth opportunities

The recently held ICIS World Surfactants conference in New Jersey, USA, revealed the continued growing opportunities for bio-based surfactants especially in the areas of oilfield applications, agriculture and in cleaning products.

In an annual survey held by Neil A. Burns LLC, the co-producer of the surfactants conference, around 115 surfactants-related companies (buyers and sellers) noted the top three biggest opportunities within the surfactants market are the growth of emerging markets, lower crude oil prices, and bio-based products and feedstocks. Other opportunities include regulatory changes, increasing availability of shale, information technology innovations and growth of online vs physical retail,.

Bio-based feedstocks for surfactants are expected to be the fourth most important trend after regulations in the surfactants market over the next ten years. Downstream integration by bio-feedstock suppliers is expected to be a trend as the market for bio-based products grows along with changes in product preferences. However, when comparing survey data between 2015 and 2016 there was a noticeable decline of companies choosing bio-based products as an important trend for the next 10 years, from around 54% last year to 41% this year. One reason is the steep decline in crude oil prices, which has made petroleum-based surfactants more competitive. Surfactant consumers have reportedly been worried about increasing cost pressure coming from their own customers, volatility in surfactant pricing as well as a cost/performance benefit trade-off especially when trying to reformulate existing products. Surfactant manufacturers have also been worried first and foremost about the volatility in raw material pricing as well as the difficulty in coming up with new/innovative offerings.

Based on the survey, surfactant manufacturers are spending most of their R&D efforts on new applications or application technology as well as customer-specific projects and process improvements to lower costs. Surfactant users are also spending their R&D efforts first on customer-specific projects and in brand new/improved end products as well as process improvements. Surfactant users pointed out that they want pricing stability from their suppliers for more than three months, price indexing to raw materials and tailored innovations. At the conference, Johnson & Johnson, a well-known consumer packaged goods manufacturer, noted its increasing use of the Principles of Green Chemistry approach when designing formulations and products. The company pointed out its use of a biodegradable polymeric surfactant product, NATRASURF™, which is a 90% renewable product based on potato starch, and is reportedly produced using a low-energy, solvent-free process that yields zero waste. The surfactant is said to be producing a milder cleanser formulation. NATRASURF™ products, such as AVEENO® Pure Renewal™ shampoo and conditioner line, have already been rolled out within the company’s baby and adult skin care lines since December 2015.

Johnson & Johnson said it has been encouraged by the developments in biotechnology-based surfactants pointing to Evonik’s sophorolipid surfactant, Rewoferm® SL 446, which was introduced last year. Johnson & Johnson is monitoring the fermentation-based surfactants market but cautioned that bio-based alone is not a benefit citing an example that plant-based coco-betaine is more irritating to skin than its synthetic counterpart, cocamidopropyl betaine. Alkylpolyglucoside (APG) is 100% bio-based and relatively non-irritating to skin, but unfortunately, it readily solubilise skin barrier lipids and therefore not as good in providing moisturisation in skin care products.

In a panel discussion at the conference, another well-known consumer products company, Unilever, also noted its interest in biotechnology-based surfactants but pointed out that manufacturers in this space have to first prove the safety of new products as well as compliance with various regulatory requirements worldwide before Unilever can incorporate bio-surfactants into its global supply chain. A representative from Procter & Gamble Chemicals pointed out that bio-surfactants have to be cost competitive with their petrochemical counterparts, noting the company’s initial cost projections for bio-surfactants use have not even included the possibility of crude oil costs at $50/bbl or less.

Seventh Generation, another US company that specialises in cleaning and personal care products designed with human health and the environment in mind, noted its use of plant-based surfactants such as





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75% bio-based sodium laureth sulfate and 46% bio-based laureth-7 in the period from 1990 to 1998. The company is aiming for a higher plant-based content level and started using 100% bio-based sodium lauryl sulfate and APG between 1999-2001. In 2002-2008, the company used 75% bio-based sodium laureth sulfate that has low 1,4 dioxane (5ppm) by-product, and 46% bio-based laureth-7. Since then the ultimate goal for the company is to use 100% bio-based with zero 1,4 dioxane byproduct.

Seventh Generation said it has already started using 100% bio-based laureth-6 supplied by Solvay’s Rhodasurf-6 NAT, which contains palm kernel oil-based lauryl alcohol and sugarcane-based ethylene oxide. It has also been using 100% bio-based sodium lauryl sulfate surfactant. For the future, it is also looking into the use of 76% bio-based lauryl dimethylamine oxide and 21% bio-based Ppg-10-laureth-7 (alcohol alkoxylate) for some of its products as an alternative to methyl-based feedstock. Other future goals are to replace palm kernel oil with algal oil and to use more sustainable sugarcane feedstock in the company’s supply chain.

Household and industrial and institutional (HI&I) cleaning products and personal care are the two key surfactants consuming applications, accounting for 65% of global surfactant consumption in 2015, according to Kline & Company, a US market research firm. Surfactants account for around 60% of the $17.7 billion total ingredients consumed in HI&I cleaning applications. Europe and the US represent about two-thirds of the consumption of HI&I cleaning ingredients last year. Anionic and nonionic surfactants represent the bulk of the $11bn, 5.7 million-ton global specialty surfactant market. According to Kline & Company, the move towards surfactants that have more a favourable environmental profile remains one of the key trends at the finished products level.

In industrial applications, surfactant consumption in the US was valued at $2 billion, with food, crop protection and lubricants representing the largest markets accounting for half of the total consumption. Surfactant consumption in industrial applications is expected to grow at rates close to that of GDP at slightly over 2%, but large differences exist within each application. BASF is said to the leading supplier in the US market for industrial applications, however, the market is said to be fragmented, with more than 30 companies having over $10 million in surfactant sales in the US.

In the agchemicals sector, a representative from US agbiotech company, Monsanto, noted the regulatory challenges in Europe on using glyphosate, which contains polyethoxylated tallow amines, a surfactant that is drawing heavy criticism from consumer advocates because of of its alleged toxicity to humans, animals and the environment. Glyphosate is one of the most widely-used herbicides in the world. While Monsanto claims that tallow amines do not pose an imminent risk for human health, the company said it has been preparing for a gradual transition away from tallow amines to other types of surfactants for commercial reasons. Tallow amines, when mixed with herbicides, help active ingredients to be absorbed efficiently by crops. Monsanto said there has been increasing interest in green surfactant options for the agchemicals market. The company has already looked into the use of APG surfactant, however, this is said to bring slow uptake and excludes high-load formulations. The biological-based surfactant category is expected to create new product opportunities and Monsanto is said to be looking heavily at this market. Agricultural biologicals, often referred to as bio-pesticides, represent a growing market segment of roughly $1.7 billion in annual sales, and are used to complement or replace agricultural chemical products.

The company noted the high growth of the global crop protection market between 2009 and 2019, and stated that herbicides remain the most important application for surfactant consumption in this sector. Global surfactants use in the agriculture sector was estimated to be worth around $1.1 billion.

In the oilfield sector, the issue with surfactants use is in the supply chain and logistics arena as surfactants production is not co-located in oilfields. In EOR applications, Shell noted that it is difficult to support investment in modern EOR surfactants production if oil prices are below $50-60/bbl. Around 2-4 lbs of EOR surfactants are required per barrel of oil that can be accessed. Instead of drilling new wells, Shell pointed out that it is better to create new surfactants that can recover the rest of the oil in existing wells.

Shell noted the use of its NEOFLO® surfactants in drilling, NEODOL® alcohol ethoxylates in the fracking process, and ENORDET® surfactants in enhanced oil recovery.





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Typical Surfactant Chemistries in Oilfield applications

Well & Reservoir Surfactants Use Function Drilling Fatty acid amines Emulsifiers and dispersants for AOS, AES, soaps, lignosulfates drilling mud formulations tall oil acid Fracture, Initial Production Mainly nonionics Flowback aids, initial frack (anionics at R&D stage) fluids, emulsifiers Enhanced Oil Recovery Alcohol alkoxysulfates, IFT reduction, mobility control, IO sulfonates, alkyl aryl sulfonates wettability alteration Source: Shell Chemicals

MALONIC ACID: Lygos, Sirrus in Malonates R&D

There has not been much news regarding malonic acid, which was included in the DOE’s Top 30 list of Value Added Chemicals from Biomass in 2004. The DOE noted the potential production of malonic acid as a derivative of 3-hydroxypropionic acid. It can be produced using yeast/fungal from sugars or also using chemical and catalytic processes.

Malonic acid, a C3 dicarboxylic acid also called 1,3 propanedioic acid, is currently produced as an intermediate from petroleum feedstocks (such as chloroacetic acid to produce diethyl malonate or DEM, the diethyl ester of malonic acid). According to Lygos, chemical synthesis is currently the preferred route for malonate and malonate-derived compounds. The ionized form of malonic acid as well as its esters and sales are known as malonates. Another example is the production of dialkyl malonates via a hydrogen cyanide or a carbon monoxide process. The existing petrochemical production routes to the malonate and malonate-derived compounds are said to be low yielding, environmentally damaging and require expensive treatment of wastewater and exhaust gas.

Lygos and Sirrus are one of the very few companies looking to produce monomers based on bio-based malonic acid. The companies recently announced the synthesis of Sirrus’ Chemilian 1,1 disubstituted alkenes using Lygos’ yeast-based DEM. This reportedly marks the first known synthesis and purification of this class of monomers using bio-based malonate esters at laboratory scale. Lygos and Sirrus are looking to scale-up the products on pilot scale that could lead to renewable product introduction in 2017.

Newlight to supply IKEA with AirCarbon PHA resins





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Lygos announced early this year that it has achieved a critical breakthrough in the cleaner production of malonic acid using engineered yeast, and has since then produced sample quantities of high-quality malonic acid to customers and partners in pilot scale manufacturing under a program funded in part by the DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). Lygos performed scale-up production in the Advanced Biofuels Process Demonstration Unit (ABPDU) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. BETO’s Biochemical Conversion Technology Area, along with its other technology areas across the biomass supply chain, aims to find cost-effective pathways to sustainably produce biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower.

Lygos has also been awarded a $300,000 Small Business Voucher from the DOE in March to help accelerate scale-up and commercialization of the malonic acid technology. The voucher is being used to run Lygos’ bio-malonic acid fermentation process at up to a 7,000-liter scale at NREL and to validate process performance using cellulose-derived sugars at the ABPDU. Lygos will purify the malonic acid produced at NREL and the ABPDU, producing high-purity bio-malonic acid derived from cellulose sugars and CO2.

Lygos said its malonic acid IP portfolio covers its engineered microbes, metabolic pathways, engineered enzymes, methods to produce malonic acid, and methods to purify malonic acid, among others. (Published U.S. patent application PCT/US2013/029441)

Sirrus was formerly called Bioformix led by then CEO Adam Malofsky. Ohio-based Bioformix was first founded in 2009 by mostly ex-employees of super glue developer, Loctite Company, which was acquired by Henkel in 1997. The company has been working on high performance resins and polymers that provide epoxy-like bonds with high-speed curing at ambient temperatures, and at the same time compostable and metabolically compatible. The polymers reportedly exhibit excellent UV and light resistance, as well as thermal, solvent and water-resistance.

The company’s monomer feedstock uses petro-derived acetic acid, but Malofsky already hinted the possibility of using a sugar-derived monomer, which the company had started looking into by 2012. BioFormix’s first target application back then was in light assembly adhesives that could include consumer electronics assembly and consumer adhesives. These are low-volume, high margin applications where the polymers could demand prices anywhere between $25/lb to $1000/lb.

Today, Sirrus is marketing this new chemical platform based on 1,1-disubstituted alkene monomers under the tradenames, Chemilian and Forza, which were first launched in 2014. Chemilian-enabled adhesive, coatings and inks reportedly do not require external energy sources such as ovens or solvents to activate, and can cure ambiently and bond in minutes, saving time, money and simplifying production. Chemilian-based products can reportedly deliver superior chemical and temperature resistance, low odour, optical clarity and no blooming, all the while meeting the demand for environmental suitability including reducing the need for building block materials including BPA, formaldehyde or styrene.

Also in 2014, Sirrus has partnered with Elmer’s Products for the development of consumer products based from Chemilian and Forza monomer platforms. While Chemilian products have one alkene group, the Forza products contain multiple alkene groups allowing cross-linking for the development of polymers exhibiting high strength, thermal and chemical resistance.

In a presentation during the BIO World Congress in 2014, Sirrus noted the possibility of either replacing acetic acid or malonic acid to produce a bio-based alternative for its platform monomers. Sirrus said that the conversion of glucose to malonic acid is already highly efficient, generating yields on a mass basis of over 100%, and the secondary reaction steps are also efficient, with water the only co-products.

The DOE’s 2004 Top Value Added Chemicals from Biomass report noted the malonic acid market at only around 453 tons and was estimated to be worth at EUR24,000/ton. Third party sourced prices for malonic acid resulted at varying prices ranging between $7-20/kg and $30/100g. Lygos is looking to produce its malonic acid at a cheaper price.

The US DOE also recently awarded a grant to Lygos to develop microbial catalysts that can convert renewable cellulosic sugars into aspartic acid, which has several end uses including biodegradable polymers, fertilisers, and even cosmetics.





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North America – Petrochemical

The US Gulf spot market was very active in the second half of May with more than 100 trades concluded. Spot pricing was consistently in the range of 25.0-25.5 c/lb. The weighted average price up to 20 May was 25.21 c/lb, nearly a cent below the April average. Ethane traded mainly around 19.5 c/gal during the month, about 0.5 c/gal higher than the April average. Various shutdowns – mainly for planned maintenance – restricted cracker operating rates during May to 90-91% of capacity.

The Americas - Bio-based

Gevo announced this month that it has entered into an agreement with Clariant Corp. to develop catalysts that will enable Gevo’s ethanol-to-olefins (ETO) technology, which uses ethanol as a feedstock to produce tailored mixes of propylene, isobutylene and hydrogen. ETO is a chemical process unlike Gevo’s biological process of converting sugars to isobutanol. Underpinning the ETO technology is Gevo’s patent of proprietary mixed-metal oxide catalysts that can produce polymer-grade propylene or high purity isobutylene, along with hydrogen in high yields in a single process step from conventional fuel grade ethanol.

For one million gallons of ethanol feedstock, the Gevo technology reportedly could produce around 1.5 kt of acetone or 1.1 kt of propylene, which can also be converted into 1.7 kt of n-butanol and/or 300,000 gallons of diesel or jet fuel. Alongside acetone or propylene, it could also produce 0.18-0.2 kt of hydrogen depending on co-products. This equates to around 0.5 MW of electricity or can be sold as renewable hydrogen.

Gevo said the technology has the potential to address a variety of markets such as automobile parts, packaging, durable goods made of plastics, renewable diesel fuel and renewable hydrogen for the chemical, energy and fuel cell markets. Once the ETO technology has been successfully developed and scaled up, Clariant will be in a position to produce quantities of the catalyst needed to meet commercial production requirements. Gevo expects to license the technology in the same way it did with its bio-isobutanol process. Partnerships are also expected to come from ethanol, chemical, hydrogen, and end-user markets.

Gevo also emphasised that the ETO technology can produce cost-competitive renewable propylene and hydrogen.





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In cellulosic ethanol news, Aemetis Inc. announced that it will acquire the privately-owned California-based Edeniq, which has developed a Pathway technology that includes equipment called Cellunator™ that can convert corn kernel fibre to cellulosic ethanol using cellulase enzymes. The Pathway technology can use existing fermentation and distillation equipment to produce up to 2.5% cellulosic ethanol and a 7% increase in ethanol yield. Aemetis will acquire all of Edeniq’s shares in a stock plus cash merger transaction to be paid over the next 5 years in an amount of up to $20 million (up to $18 million if Edeniq stockholders elect all stock consideration). Edeniq generated around $20 million in revenue and $6 million in positive EBITDA in 2015.

Edeniq’s technology is already commercially proven with 29 of the company’s Cellunators™ installed in 6 US ethanol plants. Upon completion of the deal, which is expected during the second quarter, Edeniq will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aemetis.

Meanwhile, POET-DSM noted late last month that it’s Emmetsburg, Iowa, cellulosic ethanol Project LIBERTY plant, is still in the process of ramping up to its full 20 million gallon/year capacity. Project LIBERTY came online in late 2014, and can convert 770 tons/day of biomass using enzymatic hydrolysis followed by fermentation. The company said it has produced and shipped several tank cars of cellulosic ethanol since its start-up phase began last year. Besides ethanol, the facility produces biogas from its anaerobic digester and steam from its solid fuel boiler to produce power to run its own processes, and export energy to the adjacent grain-based ethanol plant.

It was reported that just over 1 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol were produced during the first quarter of 2016 as announced by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Production this year is said to be well ahead of the pace in 2015, when 2.2 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol were produced for the entire year. Key cellulosic ethanol players in the US include Ineos Bio, POET-DSM, Quad County Corn Processors, Abengoa Bioenergy, and DuPont Industrial Biosciences. However, Ineos Bio’s facility is reportedly not producing any ethanol while Abengoa shut down its plant last December. Quad County’s potential is reportedly currently limited to a small amount of residual ethanol production at existing corn ethanol plants.

West Europe – Petrochemical

Problems at various European crackers, including both Total plants at Antwerp and Dow at Terneuzen, tightened ethylene supply in late April and early May. Spot prices rose to 3-5% above contract. The May contract settled up by €40/ton at €910/ton ddp. The June contract will be €25/ton higher. Supply eased around the middle of May and spot prices fell to more normal levels of 3-5% below contract in the second half of the month. Strikes in France affecting all forms of transport have led to force majeure declarations on ethylene and propylene at Feyzin, and Gonfrevillle and Lavera.

West Europe – Bio-based

Switzerland-based specialty chemicals company, Clariant, and its partner Scania, one of the world’s top heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers, have announced the one-year milestone in the use of Scania’s cellulosic ethanol-powered Ecotrucks, which Clariant uses at its Suzano plant in Brazil. In mid-2015, Clariant acquired three Scania P 270 model trucks, which run on ethanol and are the first of their kind to be sold by Scania in Latin America. The Ecotrucks transport ISO tanks with a 25,000 litre (6,604 gallon) capacity for Clariant’s chemical products coming from its plant in Suzano, Sao Paulo, Brazil, which is the company’s largest industrial complex in Latin America.

After a year of using the Ecotrucks, Clariant can verify a reduction in CO2 emission by around 90% compared to the diesel engines that were used before. The ethanol fuel is manufactured with the Master Batch ED 95 additive produced by Clariant in Brazil. The additive allows engines designed to run on diesel to run on hydrous ethanol because it adjusts the characteristics of the fuel to the engines’ requirements.





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In the second phase of this project, Clariant said it has now started using cellulosic ethanol manufactured from sugarcane bagasse using the company’s sunliquid® technology. Clariant noted that the total cost per litre of its cellulosic ethanol including feedstock, conversion and depreciation using the sunliquid® technology is price competitive with sugarcane ethanol pricing in Brazil. The company has conducted tests on over 40 containers of sugarcane bagasse, tops and leaves from Brazil and converted them into cellulosic ethanol at Clariant’s pilot and pre-commercial facilities in Straubing, Germany. Clariant has been operating a pre-commercial plant in Straubing since July 2012, producing up to 1 ktpa of cellulosic ethanol from around 4.5 ktpa of raw materials.

Alkol Biotech said it has sold 500 kilos of its EUnergyCane sugarcane bagasse for Clariant’s sunliquid® cellulosic ethanol testing. Alkol Biotech has been developing this hybrid sugarcane variety, which is grown in the company’s fields in Motril, Spain. The company claimed it is the only genuine native sugarcane variety in Europe and Alkol Biotech is improving it to grow in UK and Europe.

Asia – Petrochemical

Ethylene spot prices in Asia weakened in May especially in the second half of the month. From $1165-1200/ton cfr at the beginning of May they fell to $1100-1120/ton cfr by the 26 May. Supply increased with offers from Taiwan together with deep-sea imports from Europe and the Middle East. Chinese buyers pushed hard for lower numbers as demand weakened. The Shell Bukom cracker is expected to re-start in late July or early August. Petro Rabigh in Saudi Arabia is offering regular parcels of ethylene by tender – 6,000 tons early in March and 9,000 later in the month.

GLYCOLS


Benchmark MEG prices in the US fell by 2 c/lb and may do so again in June on lower ACPs. All turnarounds are now complete, although Pemex is having ethane supply problems and has cut back operations, resulting in higher MEG imports from the US. Demand from PET resin remained slow due to the weather affecting bottled water and CSD sales.

The benchmark price for DEG in the US was raised by 2.0 c/lb this month to give the new range of 37.0-41.0 c/lb ($816-904/ton) fob US Gulf. Since demand last month was not all that exciting, the general expectation from the market was for prices to drop in line with MEG prices, i.e. by 2.0 c/lb. However,

Scanla trucks use cellulosic ethanol produced via Clariant’s technology

Source: Clariant





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as the attempt to increase levels last month fell on stony ground, US producers decided that they would get their wish this month. Not all producers or suppliers were of the same mind. Indorama, for instance, probably felt that demand was still not robust enough to bear an increase and so announced a roll-over at last month’s levels of 35.0-39.0 c/lb ($772-860/ton) fob Gulf. A couple of the others, such as Formosa Plastics, were also of this persuasion and therefore the 2.0 c/lb increase attempt foundered for the second month in succession.

The North American MPG market is stable in May, with little change seen in market conditions since May. Supply is balanced this month, following a period where PG availability was restricted by planned turnarounds. Demand from the principal derivatives is still running well. The food, pharma and personal care side of the market is described as stable, which is to be expected in these sectors which are not as volatile as more cyclical MPG derivatives. Pricing this month is largely holding steady at a rollover, following a set of price increases which went through to a varying degree last month. This month’s propylene settlement has settled at a rollover. Looking ahead, market players will be keeping an eye on supply and demand in order to determine any further price movement.

North America – Bio-based

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), the sole producer of bio-based MPG in the Americas, is planning to leave the de-icing and antifreeze market due to its low margins. Like petro-based MPG producers, ADM has also faced downward price pressure due to lower crude prices that have lingered for more than a year since late 2014. ADM’s bio-based MPG price has to be competitive with propylene-based MPG although there are certain applications where the company can get slight premiums in exchange for the value-added sustainability and renewability claims that customers can use as marketing tools. ADM’s bio-based MPG is usually negotiated in long-term supply contracts.

ADM’s high-purity MPG materials (greater than 99.5%) can be used in applications such as heat transfer fluids; fragrance, cosmetics and personal care; food and flavourings; pet food and animal feed; and pharmaceutical excipient. Its industrial grade bio-MPG can be used in UPRs; hydraulic and brake fluid, and in paints and coatings.

The company produces its glycerol-based MPG at its 100 ktpa facility in Decatur, Illinois, using refined biodiesel-derived glycerine feedstock. The company sources the crude glycerine from its own biodiesel plant, and further refines it to USP grade glycerine as feedstock for MPG production; or sells the refined glycerine as is into the open market. ADM also has the capability of sourcing cheaper crude glycerine from its biodiesel plants in South America, especially as the bio-MPG plant consumes significant quantities of US glycerine. The company has disclosed that it has been exporting its bio-MPG into the European market.


One MEG contract settlement in Europe was announced at a drop of €25/ton, but a second has not been announced yet. Demand has not reached its peak and PET resin producers are faced with growing imports. Spot prices weakened by some €30-40/ton as demand for industrial solvent uses was poor and antifreeze blenders are not yet thinking of buying.

The DEG market is rather stable at the moment, since not much movement has been noticeable in the offtakes into the polyester polyols area, although those for UPR are thought to have dipped, but only very slightly. The continued low demand from the construction and house-building sectors has seen inventories throughout the chain fall and the downstream consumers are only just now coming into the market with increased interest. This has also made UPR and polyester polyols producers unwilling to make any more purchases other than hand to mouth and has tended to make them keep their inventories extremely low. This, of course, puts the working capital cost onto the suppliers as well as the burden of having to deliver on time. Fortunately for European suppliers there were several turnarounds on EO in April, which forced a re-arrangement in internal EO allocation away from glycols, and this month Ineos has a shutdown at its Antwerp plant.

The European MPG market is stable, supported by a firmer feedstock market, as well as a tighter supply situation during April and May. A number of shutdowns are taking place in the PO/PG sector, and this





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has supported a somewhat firmer MPG market in Europe. Demand is currently at reaching its peak for construction applications such as UPR, whilst other downstream sectors were stable. Overall demand is in line with forecast, but still remains fairly flat year on year. Prices have moved up by around €10-20/ton in May, following last month’s price negotiations which resulted in a €20-40/ton increase. There have been cases of larger increases this month, but this is thought to be only in cases where buyers’ requirements are above forecast. Once the current round of maintenance outages has come to an end, MPG availability is likely to return to the normal seasonal position. The DPG market is short and prices have firmed as a result.


Avatherm, based in Sweden, has launched its new line of Heat Transfer Media products using Neste’s renewable isoalkane that is produced as a co-product from Neste’s renewable diesel production based on hydrotreated fats and oils. Avatherm claims to be one of the first companies in the world to market heat transfer media produced from renewable raw materials. One of the first lines of products is a coolant to replace glycol. Future products include transformer oil and release fluids among others that are currently being developed.

The Heat Transfer Media products will have low sulphur and aromatic content, which is a specific concern to sensitive environments such as forestry and agriculture. The chemical composition of Neste’s Renewable Isoalkane is said to be comparable to the fossil equivalents, but it outperforms conventional fossil-based products in terms of quality, performance and environmental impact.

Neste has been selling its renewable isoalkane as is to customers directly and to partners, such as Haltermann Carless Solutions and Total Fluides, that further process and market isoalkane-derived products according to industry needs. Neste produces the bio-based isoalkane using its NEXBTL technology at its refineries in Singapore, the Netherlands and Finland.

Avatherm’s products have been tested in cooperation with the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, the Saybolt Laboratory in Gothenburg, and with research partners in Europe.

China – Petrochemical

Polyester operating rates in China remained above 80%, the PET resin season picked up, inventories and imports dropped, some producers cut back on negative margins and the spot prices came down, which

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MONOETHYLENE GLYCOL SPOT PRICESUS Dollars per Ton

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can only be due to speculation on the futures market. Spot levels fell by some $60-70/ton to $620/ton cfr and MEGlobal announced its MEG ACP for June at a decrease of $40/ton.

The consumption of DEG into UPR remained on the weak side again this month, with the estimated operating rate put at 40-50%. Much of the cause of this continued poor performance on UPR has come from the dire state of the house-building and construction sector, where DEG itself has previously been used in concrete accelerator mixes. This has also affected the downstream consumption of polyester polyols, although not to the same extent. Supply is amble for as virtually all the scheduled shutdowns have now finished and so it is expected that the inventories may well start to increase going into June. To some extent this will be alleviated by the enforced shutdowns of the #1 and #2 plants of Nan Ya at Mailiao and the turnaround of its #4 plant, the larger one, until early June. This should also be helped by the continued closure of the Shell plant at Singapore, the Mitsubishi lengthy turnaround at Kashima and some operating cutbacks due to low margins. The domestic prices dropped by some Rmb250/ton to Rmb4400-4450/ton exw in East China and the import spot levels came down by $20/ton to $560-590/ton cfr.

Asia – Bio-based

Bio-MEG producer, India Glycols, noted the increased prospects for bio-PET and bio-MEG demand in a recent presentation at the Biobased World Chemicals and Plastics conference held in Bangkok, Thailand. The global PET/fibre demand this year is expected at around 70 million tons, with an estimated growth rate of around 6%. At a conservative level assuming 3% of this demand is for bio-PET/fibre, the total demand then works out at 2 million tons. This converts to bio-MEG requirement at around 600 ktpa against today’s world bio-MEG capacity of around 250 ktpa.

According to India Glycols, bio-PET fibre demand is further expected to increase to 5% or around 4 million tons by 2018. The challenges for bio-MEG, however, are the current low cost of petro-MEG vs bio-MEG; smaller volume and capacity availability for bio-MEG; feedstock availability and options; supply chain management and also increased use of bio-ethanol as biofuel, which will continue to have impact on availability and costs of ethanol-based MEG.

India Glycols noted its collaborative project with DBT-ICT and the Government of India’s Ministry of Science & Technology, for the conversion of cellulosic waste to bio-ethanol, where a 10 tpd demonstration plant at India Glycol’s Kashipur site has recently been commissioned. India Glycols has its own ethanol distilleries at Kashipur as well as in Gorakhpur, India, with a combined capacity of around 200 ktpa of hydrous ethanol.

India Glycols expects bio-MEG availability worldwide would increase as new capacities are being added. The use of cellulosic waste could also lead to reduce bio-ethanol costs as well as give boost bio-MEG’s availability and competitiveness.

India Glycols’ current bio-MEG capacity is reportedly 175 ktpa and can be further expanded at its current location. Bio-EO derivatives capacity is around 100-125 ktpa in another facility. There are reportedly 3-4 Chinese producers currently active in bio-MEG production with a combined totally capacity of around 50-100 ktpa. Greencol Taiwan is considered to be the only serious competitor of India Glycols for bio-MEG.

It was reported that a significant volume of bio-MEG is also being consumed in anti-freeze products, driven by players in the automotive industry such as Toyota, and in fibre for sport clothes from companies such as Nike and Puma. Some in the petro-MEG markets doubt the significant use of bio-MEG in anti-freeze due to much more competitive pricing for petro-glycols in the de-icing and antifreeze sectors, and note that the current premiums for bio-MEG are prohibiting its use in these markets.



North American PET resin volumes continued to improve modestly in May. Producers reported high production levels and well controlled inventories. Imports from countries not included in the recent US





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dumping ruling including Mexico, Taiwan, Brazil and Thailand are gaining share in US markets and US imports through the first three months of the year are flat compared to the same period a year ago.


Texas-based, Wholesome Sweeteners Inc., has announced the transition of its Wholesome! Organic Blue Agave line into using bio-PET bottles designed in partnership with Berlin Packaging’s Studio One Eleven. The new bottles which contain up to 30% plant-based PET, will be available in 11.75, 23.5 and 44 ounces, and will start flowing through store shelves in late summer 2016. The bottles are moulded with the #1 SPI coding for PETE.

Wholesome Sweeteners has also partnered with How2Recycle, a standardised labelling program designed to make recycling easier to understand and act upon for consumers. The company said it is the first organic sweetener brand to join the How2Recycle movement, which has created a universal recycling language for consumers through the use of special on-package logos that provide clear instructions for each piece of recyclable packaging.

According to the company, bottle sizes and pricing will remain the same as they were in their previous packaging. Wholesome Sweeteners is looking to incorporate bio-PET bottles for its other liquid sweeteners.

While the plastics industry has been fiercely advocating recycling initiatives especially for bottled packages, the rapid decline of scrap bottle prices due to lower virgin plastics prices, has hit recycling companies hard across the US. In California, recyclers’ financial woes are compounded by a shortfall in state payments designed to reimburse recyclers when the cost of recycling is not covered by the commodity price of the recycled materials. According to the Container Recycling Institute, California’s 2,100 certified beverage container recycling centres lost $20 million in 2015 due to inadequate state payments.

California’s state recycling fund under the program CalRecycle (California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery) collects the deposits paid for bottles and other covered containers, and then pays out when bottles get redeemed, enabling centres to cover their operating costs and ensure a reasonable profit. These deposits are mandated by state law and adjusted quarterly.

With a four-year decline in scrap prices for these commodities, the state payment shortfalls have forced the closure of at least 269 redemption centres so far this year, leaving only about 1,800 centres still standing. The shortfalls in payments since 2012 now totals $42.7 million. The processing payments are based on a 12-month rolling average of scrap values for PET, glass and aluminium, with a minimum three-month lag time, and do not account for real time changes in scrap value prices.

For example, CalRecycle’s PET processing payments for July-September 2015 were based on the average price from 1 April 2014- 31 March 2015. However, the actual scrap value for the July-September 2015 period was $100 lower than the value calculated under the back-dated formula. PET plastic scrap prices have steadily declined from a peak of $500/ton in 2011 to roughly around $200/ton today, a decline of 60%.

CRI data shows that the average recycling costs at the smallest centres can run twice as high on a per-ton basis as at the largest centres due to economies of scale, leaving the smaller sites operating at a loss and even more prone to closures. CRI is calling on CalRecycle to work with the state legislature to immediately adjust the payment amounts for beverage container redemption centres. CRI also proposes a tiered payment mechanism to distribute the program’s resources more equitably and help smaller centres remain open.


PET resin demand in West Europe during May weakened as April’s restocking stabilised. Producers quickly responded to weaker volumes by cutting utilisation to the 80-85% range maintaining well controlled finished product inventories.





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Finland-based Valmet, a global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries, has partnered with Italy-based Biochemtex to develop technology for lignin-derived chemicals including production of bio-based paraxylene, a key raw material for producing 100% bio-based PET.

The development project will combine and adapt Valmet’s LignoBoost and Biochemtex’s Moghi technologies. Lignoboost is a proprietary technology for the extraction of purified lignin from black liquor produced by pulp mills. Moghi is a proprietary technology for the conversion of lignin into biofuels and biochemicals. Biochemtex already has an existing pilot plant at M&G’s Sharon Centre, Ohio, USA facility that uses the Moghi technology. Biochemtex has been obtaining lignin as a byproduct from the production of cellulosic ethanol using M&G’s PROESA process.

The core of the Moghi process is a catalytic de-oxygenation/depolymerisation of lignin followed by a purification/separation of the aromatics products obtained. The process uses hydrogen and an off-the-shelf catalyst. It is estimated that more than 50 million tpa of lignin can be sourced from the established pulp and paper industry, and more than 20 million tpa can be sourced from the novel biorefinery industry, for instance in the area of cellulosic ethanol production.

Commercially available technologies for lignin conversion

Technologies Companies Steam Explosion Biochemtex, Abengoa Organosolv lignins Lignol, CIMV, Dechema Hydrolysis lignins POET-DSM, Inbicon/DONG, Sekab Main Routes on bio-aromatics extraction from lignin

• Base-catalysed depolymerisation (BCD)• Acid-catalysed depolymerisation• Pyrolysis• Oxidative depolymerisation• Reductive hydro-deoxygenation (HDO)• Solvolysis• Hydrothermal, sub- and supercritical water• Supercritical solvents• Ionic liquids• Bio-conversionSource: Wageningen UR, Nova Institut International Conference on Bio-based Materials 2016

Several pulp and paper companies, especially in Europe, have been increasingly active in the development of lignin as chemical feedstock. Lignin, at a market price of around $100/ton, is currently being burned for energy but potential lignin-based products such as BTX, phenols, lignosulfates, thermosets, fertilisers, carbon fibres, vanillin, for use in asphalt manufacturing and other applications, could provide a much more attractive value for the by-product. The challenge in lignin utilisation, among others, is its low yields and a lack of understanding of its structure-property application relationships.

In PEF (polyethylene furanoate) news, Swiss biochemistry company AVA-CO2 announced the development of a new interface that allows the use of different solvents tailored to the oxidation process for producing 2,5 furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) on an industrial scale from 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF). This new development allows AVA-CO2 to use water as well as other solvents such as acetic acid in FDCA oxidation processes based on 5-HMF. This reportedly enables a more flexible implementation of industrial 5-HMF and FDCA production, paving the way for PEF in competitive application markets such as bottles or films for food packaging.

Water-based 5-HMF production perfectly fits some existing FDCA oxidation processes, according to AVA Biochem, a subsidiary of AVA-CO2 and a producer of 5-HMF. Solvent switching is only needed in order





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to support other oxidation processes. Of course, water is a better/cheaper alternative to other chemical solvents but for proprietary reasons, AVA Biochem declined to comment on how much savings the water-based 5-HMF production process can provide compared to a chemical solvent-based process.

FDCA purification, however, remains a substantial cost, and this will not change with the new process. The new interface will allow AVA Biochem to adapt its process to meet the specifications of most existing FDCA oxidation processes. The company noted that almost 100% solvent recycling is included in its 5-HMF production.

The company declined to comment on the current market price for 5-HMF but noted that prices depend on purity and type of 5-HMF produced (crystalline vs in water/solvent).

EUROPEAN UNION IMPORTS

Tons $/Ton Tons TonsFebruary 2016 Jan-Feb 16 Jan-Feb 15

PET PACKAGING RESIN

198 1,119 198 Canada - 566 1,278 1,005 Switzerland 902 292 942 556 Egypt 16,763 90 894 420 Oman 3,718

115 742 232 Tunisia 3 12,519 946 20,627 Turkey 6,217 15,472 878 34,514 India 22

9,568 926 18,009 Indonesia 14,886 499 879 499 Malaysia 176

2,024 889 4,071 Pakistan 667 1,562 843 1,562 China 1,826

26,638 949 49,670 South Korea 35,669 591 939 2,131 Taiwan 3,639 116 1,228 541 Others 942

134,035 85,430 Total 70,250

The figures in this table are the total, summed over all 28 EU countries, of trade with countries outside the EU. Readers should note, however, that some EU countries may havesuppressed data if trade for this product is commercially sensitive, so it is possible that there is under-reporting in the above figures.$/ton figures are calculated from customs data and may not reflect market prices

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AVA Biochem currently has a dedicated production plant for 5-HMF, which started in February 2014. It has an annual capacity of 20 tons of high purity crystalline 5-HMF or 300 tons of 5-HMF in aqueous solution and has been using fructose as feedstock. Its parent company, AVA-CO2 is expected to start industrial production of 5-HMF/FDCA in 2019 with a total capacity of 120 kt of FDCA annually. In a first phase starting in 2019, the plant will produce 30 ktpa of FDCA to be use for specific PEF applications.

The first PEF products based on AVA Biochem’s 5-HMF will be jointly produced and tested with active global partners in the value chain. A first financing round for the plant’s engineering work has already been completed.


Chinese PET resin shipments weakened in May after strong March and April volumes due to supply chain restocking. Downstream converters and beverage producers lowered utilisation during the month in response to growing inventories. Despite slowing sales in both export and domestic markets, Chinese PET resin producers maintained production rates due to optimism about June demand increasing yet again.



Adipic acid prices in North America are still catching up with the recent run-up in the cost of benzene, even though there has been some moderation in the benzene market in May. Sellers have been able to take a firmer line on pricing since the beginning of the year, following the closure of Invista’s adipic acid unit at Orange, Texas.

North America - Bio-based

South Carolina, US-based specialty chemical manufacturer, Gabriel Performance Products, has started commercialisation of its Versamid® line, which includes liquid epoxy curing agents such as reactive polyamides (modified and unmodified), amidoamines and selected modified amine curing agents. Gabriel acquired the Versamid® trademark in December 2015 from BASF. Gabriel also has exclusive licensing to the polyamide curing agent technology in the US. Versamid® polyamide curing agents are used for two component solvent-borne epoxy applications.

The transaction with Gabriel follows BASF’s announcement in July 2015 on the closing of BASF’s dimer and polyamide resins unit at the Kankakee, Illinois, site, including exiting the business and divesting IPs





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such as the Versamid® trademark. BASF has been working with Gabriel since the divestment to transition customers through March 2016. BASF will continue to manufacture, market and sell the Versamid® PUR polyurethane resins technologies through the back license of the Versamid® trademark with Gabriel. BASF South America is excluded from this transaction and will continue to manufacture, market and sell polyamide resins under the Versamid® trademark in the South American region.

Some of the Versamid® polyamide line includes products with 40-84% renewable content mostly using dimerised fatty acids based on tall oil or vegetable oil feedstock.

In sebacic acid trade updates, the US imported 1,036 tons of sebacic acid in March, 93% of which came from China and the rest from India, Canada and Italy. US sebacic acid imports were up 44% compared to a month ago, and 4% year over year. Sebacic acid import values in March were $3410/ton compared to $2780/ton in February.

US azelaic acid imports in March, which includes esters and salts of azelaic and sebacic acid, were 74 tons valued at $4080/ton compared to 136 tons imported last month, which had a value of $6280/ton. Azelaic acid imports mostly came from China, Canada and Germany.


Prices for adipic acid in Europe continue to rise in a surprisingly tight market. The near absence of imports from the US since the beginning of the year and what appears to be careful management of operating rates means that the structural surplus of adipic acid in the past three years has evaporated. Sellers were able to implement price increases of €70-100/ton in April, supported by an increase of €93/ton in benzene contract prices. In May, despite a decrease of €17/ton in the benzene contract price, adipic acid sellers have pushed ahead with further increases of around €70/ton for most customers and they are warning that further increases may follow in June. Not all business has been settled for May.


Tecnon OrbiChem’s April issue of the BioMaterials newsletter reported Rennovia’s recent milestone updates on its bio-adipic acid, bio-hexamethylenediamine (HMD), bio-based hexanediol and glucaric acid. The company announced this month that it has entered a joint development and license agreement with European pulp and paper company, Stora Enso, to produce bio-based chemicals based on Rennovia’s novel catalysts and processes. The companies did not indicate specific bio-based chemicals targeted under the partnership, and no other pertinent information was disclosed.

Rennovia has been developing production process of adipic acid, HMD, glucaric acid and HDO using sugar feedstock supplied by Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), which has an equity stake in the company. Rennovia’s technology involves catalytic chemical processing and has partnered with Johnson Matthey for the joint development and licensing of glucaric acid and adipic acid technology.

Stora Enso’s Biomaterials division has acquired cellulosic sugar developer Virdia in 2014, and has been also looking to use lignin as chemical feedstock. Stora Enso has been building a demo plant for cellulosic sugar production in Raceland, Louisiana, and is expecting to start the facility this year. The facility will convert sugarcane bagasse into industrial sugars particularly xylose. The plant will be installed beside the Raceland Raw Sugar Corp. mill where the company has secured an agreement to use 80 ktpa of the mill’s bagasse.


The Chinese adipic acid market witnessed noteworthy increases in March, while the rising momentum slowed down in April. Moving into May, domestic producers announced higher contract prices in line with rising benzene costs. However, the domestic spot adipic acid market remains mostly unchanged due to decreased buying interest. Spot adipic acid prices stood at Rmb7100-7400/ton in mid-April, and prices were up by Rmb100/ton towards the end of April at Rmb7200-7500/ton. During the first half of May, spot prices held steady from late April levels at Rmb7200-7500/ton.





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Asia – Bio-based

China-based refined castor oil (industrial grade) prices went down and then back up again in May and by the fourth week of the month were reported at Rmb11045 /ton exw. This is compared to Rmb11036/ton exw reported in April.

China had exported a total of 4,435 tons of sebacic acid in April with an import value of $3610/ton. March sebacic acid export was around 4,848 tons valued at $3760/ton. The Netherlands (27%), USA (20%), Japan (13%) and Italy (12%) were the largest importers of sebacic acid for the month of April.

CHINESE IMPORTS

Tons $/Ton Tons TonsMarch 2016 Jan-Mar 16 Jan-Mar 15

ADIPIC ACID

825 1,003 2,151 Germany 2,544 1,362 1,054 2,814 South Korea 3,220

699 1,289 888 Japan 374 102 2,818 220 Others 289

6,073 6,427 Total 2,988

$/ton figures are calculated from customs data and may not reflect market prices

CHINESE EXPORTS


ADIPIC ACID

360 907 520 Mexico 48 492 1,199 1,065 United States 508 419 821 468 Argentina 61 134 974 145 Colombia - 785 905 2,690 Italy 216 340 922 1,621 Spain 20 362 1,176 675 Switzerland 636 182 881 480 Russia 148 150 905 210 Iran 552 825 907 2,426 Israel 322 100 796 380 Syria -

3,380 799 11,632 Turkey 964 115 1,035 675 Australia 701

2,481 832 5,124 India 3,080 224 817 773 Indonesia 517 151 876 593 Malaysia 418

1,620 773 2,752 Pakistan 1,019 6,520 790 16,340 Singapore 9,590

426 801 1,522 Thailand 1,879 3,518 1,026 10,003 South Korea 4,027 3,022 811 8,502 Taiwan 6,809

649 983 2,392 Japan 1,747 558 997 3,093 Others 1,536

74,081 34,798 Total 26,813






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BUTANOLS


In the US, Looking at n-butanol prices, contracts linked to a formula in arrears with propylene slightly increased this month on the back of the 1.0 c/lb propylene increase in April. In the spot market, Oxea and Sasol announced a 5 c/lb increase effective from 1 May while BASF announced a 3 c/lb increase also effective from 1 May. Market participants are reporting some minor increases of around 1-2 c/lb, but they also said prices have remained more or less steady in many other cases.

North America - Bio-based

Bio-isobutanol producer, Gevo, noted during its fourth quarter earnings conference call that that it shipped the first railcar of finished isobutanol since the restart of production at its Luverne, Minnesota, facility in March following the completion of the $5 million capital improvement projects undertaken at the facility to decrease the cost of isobutanol production. The railcar was sent to a terminal owned by CW Petroleum Corp. in Dayton, Texas, where it is expected to be delivered to retailers throughout Texas and sold primarily for marine and off-road specialty gasoline blendstock applications. A railcar holds around 27,000-28,000 gallons of isobutanol.

Gevo said it has produced around 50,000 gallons of isobutanol since the restart of the facility. The company has installed a new stainless fermenter at the site and also a second distillation system designed to handle isobutanol fermentation output. The new distillation equipment reportedly reduced costs by around $1.50-2/gallon to its finished isobutanol product since the company previously had to send its isobutanol fermentation to an off-site third party.

Gevo also installed a seed train that allows for yeast production outside Luverne at a lower cost. Gevo previously contracted third parties to produce its yeast, a process which has been very expensive for the company. The company will still buy initial quantities of yeast from a third-party supplier but the new equipment will enable Gevo to produce more batches out of the same quantity of yeast purchased. This is expected to further decrease its production costs by over $1/gal.

Gevo still expects to produce between 750,000 to 1 million gallons of isobutanol in 2016. Production costs are expected to be between $3-3.50/gal by the end of the year compared to previous costs of around $7-8/gal range. The production improvements at the site are expected to result in the production

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of at least 18,000 gallons of isobutanol per batch, with a full batch cycle completed within five days. An expected run rate is 3-5 batches per month, producing between 50,000 to 75,000 gal/month.

Ethanol production is still expected to remain side by side with isobutanol production at targeted rates of at least 15 million gallons per year. Distiller grains produced a by-product of the isobutanol process, are also being sold off on par with traditional ethanol distiller grains, which contributed to Gevo’s ethanol margins, currently estimated at around 15-20 c/gal. Ethanol margins are said to be improving of late. For the greater part of this year so far, Gevo’s ethanol contribution margins had reportedly been running breakeven to slightly negative.

Gevo’s chairman of the board of directors just announced that it is seeking strategic and financial alternatives for company while simultaneously supporting its technology development and business. This will be in the best interests of all of its stakeholders, the statement said. Gevo’s board of directors and advisors will soon reach out to interested parties.

In R&D news, LanzaTech has been granted funding under the US DOE’s $10 million grant for innovative Bioenergy Research and Development, for its work on technology that enables manufacturing of acetone via biomass-derived syngas. LanzaTech’s process will use systems biology techniques developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to engineer completely new metabolic pathways in bacteria, eliminating by-product formation while also coupling acetone production with cell growth.


In West Europe, for contracts linked to propylene, n-butanol prices in April have increased by around €10/ton, on the back the €15/ton increase of propylene in May. In the spot market, producers have been trying to restore some margin over the raw material. However, supply in the market is good and in most cases they have only managed to increase prices by the corresponding raw material increase, around €10/ton, while in others prices have remained more or less steady. Spot prices remain in a wide range, at the bottom end of the range they are trading in the high €600’/ton but at the higher end they were reported to be in the high €700s/ton


In China, looking at butanol imports, prices have been assessed in the range of $630-650/ton cfr. Total butanol imports in April were at 29,149 tons. Imports from Saudi Arabia into China totalled almost 8,500 tons during the first four months of 2015. 3,600 tons were imported just in April. Saudi Arabia has become the third larger exporter during this period, after Taiwan and Russia, to the Chinese market.

CHINESE IMPORTS

(1,000 Metric Tons)Month 2014 2015 20152016 2016

$/ton$/ton

N-BUTANOL

Jan 28.8 14.3 871 22.7 535 Feb 17.9 23.2 832 20.3 507 Mar 17.9 33.0 813 38.3 517 Apr 21.1 25.0 830 - - May 14.1 19.1 865 - - Jun 5.4 23.7 899 - - Jul 12.0 14.6 870 - - Aug 12.0 14.4 809 - - Sep 19.0 19.7 755 - - Oct 12.2 14.2 665 - - Nov 8.6 19.0 641 - - Dec 24.9 10.6 576 - -


193.9 230.9 (52.7) 19.1

Jan-Dec% Change

64.6 831 81.3 520 (44.1) 9.2 15.2

Jan-Mar% Change

70.6 (37.4)(30.8)





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EPICHLOROHYDRIN (ECH) & EPOXY RESINS


The propylene contract price in the US for May was settled at a roll-over, which meant the same on ECH contract prices. Spot prices moved up slightly to 56.0-58.0 c/lb fob, though supply was sufficient, as South Korean exports to the US hit 1,193 tons in April. Demand dipped slightly in May due to lower LER demand.


The propylene contract price in Europe went up by €15/ton, equating to €11/ton on ECH, but suppliers were able to get increases of about €15/ton on average. Inovyn has one plant at Tavaux on turnaround, but has declared force majeure due to the French strikes. It also has some operating problems at its Rheinberg plant. However, supplies are still sufficient as Hexion’s turnaround is not due to finish until mid-June and imports from South Korea in April amounted to 1206 tons.


Swiss-based AVA-CO2 noted the growing interests in 5-HMF and whether this product can partially or fully replace formaldehyde in the synthesis of phenolic resins, melamine resins and urea resins for production of duroplastics, thermoplastics and elastomers. AVA-CO2 recently launched a research project with Bern University of Applied Sciences sponsored by the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation.

According an interview with AVA-CO2, partially replacing formaldehyde through cross linking during the resin production can drastically reduce formaldehyde emissions. AVA-CO2’s project with Bern University aims to develop a formaldehyde-free and sustainable adhesive for industrial use in the wood processing industry.

Formaldehyde production is estimated at 10 million tpa in the EU, and 47 million tpa worldwide. By 2017, it is expected to reach global annual production of 52 million tons. A large proportion of the synthesised formaldehyde is used in the production of glues and impregnating resins for wood-based materials.

A recent report from the European Union-funded project called BioConSepT noted that its biomass-based epoxides R&D project is now technically ready to go to the demonstration phase. A major achievement in the epoxide research was that a waste oil was converted using enzymes with good yield into the more valuable epoxide product with excellent properties. During pilot demonstration trials, the recyclability of the immobilised enzyme was shown in consecutive reaction cycles resulting in a total amount of 140 kg of epoxidised oil, which was then further converted to the final product and evaluated in application tests for the production of a plasticiser. The application tests reportedly demonstrated very good performance characteristics that were comparable with the performance of standard general purpose alternatives.

With the given assumptions based on experimental pilot-scale results and technical modelling, the base case scenario for the epoxidised oil production showed an investment for a 20 ktpa epoxidised oil facility

CHINESE IMPORTS


N-BUTANOL

938 538 4,553 United States 921 11,779 400 21,433 Russia 18,288

4,856 508 4,856 Saudi Arabia - - - 4,000 South Africa 1,141

999 520 4,616 Malaysia 8,286 - - 1,950 Singapore 3,000

19,746 588 39,896 Taiwan 38,904 - - 1 Others 40

81,305 70,580 Total 38,318






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would correspond to an IRR of 12% at a sales price of €1400/ton. The payback time was estimated at eight years. Epoxidised soybean oil and castor oil are currently some of the largest bio-based epoxidised oils used in the market.


Continued poor epoxy resin demand resulted in ECH prices in China dropping again, by Rmb200-300/ton to Rmb7000-7100/ton exw in East China and Rmb6750-6850/ton exw in Shandong. One of Shandong Haili’s plants at Zibo was on turnaround and the other at Yancheng ran at capacity, but Jiangsu Yangnong was still operating only at 30-40% rate. Import prices slipped another $30/ton in spite of rising propylene prices.

Asia - Bio-based

The Chinese ECH market continued to weaken in May. Prices were stable in early May and then started to drop, reaching the lowest level seen this year. Recent ECH prices were about Rmb7000-7100/ton in East China and Rmb6750-6850/ton in Shandong, a decrease of Rmb200-300/ton. Imported prices were about $1050-1150/ton cfr. Downstream epoxy resin production was not good and some producers were suffering the pressure of high inventories. This sluggish situation is expected to continue. Domestic operating rates were low. Some glycerine-based ECH producers ceased production or cut their operating rates due to low ECH market prices. Jiangsu Yangnong ran at low rates, mainly for captive use. Dongying Hebang shut down and a restart-date was not decided at time of writing . There is some speculation that the epoxy resin market will recover by the end of July and ECH market may follow this market up.

In product news, Toyota of Japan claimed to be the world’s first automaker to use biohydrin, a newly-developed biosynthetic rubber product, in engine and drive system hoses. Jointly developed by Toyota, Zeon Corporation and Sumitomo Riko Ltd., biohydrin rubber is manufactured using plant-derived biomaterials instead of epichlorohydrin. The first vehicles to use vacuum sensing hoses made from biohydrin rubber will be produced in May, with usage expected to be rolled out to all Toyota automobiles manufactured in Japan by the end of this year.

Epichlorohydrin is commonly used as a key compound in the production of rubber for components such as hoses since ECH offers exceptional oil resistance, heat resistance, heat aging resistance, ozone resistance and gas permeability. Engine and drive system hoses require a particularly high level of oil and heat resistance.

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Production of biohydrin rubber, however, uses a variety of compound technologies for bonding plant-derived materials with petroleum-derived materials at the molecular level to ensure that same type performance as conventional petroleum-based hydrin rubber. Toyota plans to expand the use of biohydrin to other high-performance rubber components, such as brake hoses and fuel line hoses.

Newlight to supply IKEA with AirCarbon PHA resins

Source: Toyota

Vacuum sensing hose production process

Zeon Chemicals has been marketing its epichlorohydrin monomer, Hydrin® derived from palm and other vegetable oils. The company manufactures the product at its Hattiesburg, Mississippi facility. Hydrin® elastomers contain 20-25% renewable content.

BUTANEDIOLS

We are not reporting bio-based BDO this month due to a lack of news and market movements.


Following the resolution of US BDO contract prices for quarter two, the market has stabilised in June. Opinions are mixed as to whether the market may now have bottomed out, and some on the buy side are still expecting to see further reductions in quarter three. BDO availability is ample, and indeed the market has seen an increase in overall nameplate capacity, following the completion of BASF’s expansion of its Geismar, Louisiana BDO plant last month. BDO derivative markets are still seeing quite buoyant demand, particularly those related to the car industry. Also construction related applications are seasonally strong.


The European BDO market is stable, with most downstream applications running to forecast. Contract prices moved down by €30-100/ton in Q2. Market players continued to vie for volume, and the competitive atmosphere in the market yielded the hefty decreases. There are rumours that one European producer may be taking a maintenance shutdown in the near future, although no further details were available. Currently, supply is ample and there are no restrictions on supply. PBT producers report a good year to date and PTMEG volumes are also reported to be fairly good in Europe, with the TPU business running well.


Although Chinese BDO producers attempted to increase prices after reducing utilization rates, prices remain at Rmb 7200-7400/ton. Many BDO producers have tried to increase offer prices for new business, but admitted that it was not easy to achieve further increases due to mounting resistance from customers, in





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particular in the PTMEG sector. As a result, since early May, more BDO producers have started to cut down or close BDO production with a view to increasing prices. Looking at the downstream market, demand for PBT resin continued to remain stable, but market sentiment for PTMEG and spandex is still negative.

SUCCINIC ACID


During its first quarter earnings call held early this month, BioAmber reported the ramp-up progress for its Sarnia bio-succinic acid plant between January and March of this year, noting the quality production issues in February due to elevated levels of humidity in its drying process, which led to below expectations for its first quarter sales reported at $1.5 million. The company was unable to hit its 3,000 ton first quarter sales target and based on actual sales, it is estimated that the volumes sold for the first quarter are just around 750 tons. BioAmber expects to be able to ramp up sales to 7,000 tons in the fourth quarter, and a total of 22,000 tons for 2016 as per its previous guidance. The 30 ktpa Sarnia plant began shipping product in October 2015.

BioAmber noted that plant uptime and percentage of off-spec product improved significantly since the production problem in February, and the company has reached target levels in recent weeks. Plant uptime is how much of the time the plant is operating and producing succinic acid, while if the product is off-spec, it means it fails to meet one or more of the company’s quality specifications and therefore it cannot be sold to customers.

In the first five weeks of the year, off-spec product reportedly averaged below 10% but in mid-February, off-spec product jumped to an average of 18% of total production. In mid-February to the end of March, off-spec product had a large jump because of the elevated moisture in the drying process. In April to mid-May, off-spec production dropped to under 20%. Off-spec succinic acid is re-dissolved in hot water and sent back into the purification process so it can be recrystallized back. The company’s goal is to have off-spec product below 5% on a consistent basis.

Plant uptime for the first five weeks of the year was reportedly around 57% but dropped to an average of 45% over the next five weeks because of the production issues. Average plant uptime in April to mid-May was at 67%, and climbed to 70% by the end of May. BioAmber expects to increase the average uptime to 80% and stay stable at this rate for the next couple of months.

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The company said it had very little inventory of finished product at the end of the first quarter. Its average selling price for the quarter, at around $2,000/ton plus or minus 5%, remain the same as the previous two quarters and was not negatively impacted by lower oil prices. However, average selling prices are below that of 2014 as customers were able to obtain lower pricing for production coming out of the Sarnia facility compared to the cost of product made in the demo facility in Pomacle, France. BioAmber estimated that a $1 increase or decrease in the per-bushel price of corn would result in only $0.024/lb change in the variable cost of its bio-succinic acid.

Sales goals for the second quarter are expected to surpass $2.5 million or around 1,250 tons based on the current average selling price. The company is said to be improving uptime and reducing the amount of off-spec product to build up inventory levels. BioAmber said it could find itself selling a little more aggressively into spot market depending on how the ramp up is going, availability of its product and how contracted sales are ramping up. The spot market is a near-term outlet where BioAmber could look for volume to give more time for the more valuable long-term contractual business to ramp up. However, asking prices could be lower in the spot market if crude oil prices remain soft, and average selling prices could eventually be impacted this year if oil prices persist in the low $40/bbl level.


Reverdia and Wageningen UR Food & Biobased Research in the Netherlands have launched a joint development program on bio-based polybutylene succinate (PBS) compounds for injection moulding, which will incorporate Reverdia’s Biosuccinium™.

Development will focus on longevity, appearance and processing characteristics. Plastic product manufacturers such as RPC Promens and Teamplast will collaborate to validate the compounds in reusable horticultural crates and rigid food packaging with hinges. The final compounds are expected to have an improved carbon footprint in comparison with polypropylene, which is typically used for these applications.

Most PBS available in the market is currently manufactured in Asia, particularly in China, using petro-based succinic acid. PBS is expected to be one of the biggest near-term applications for bio-succinic acid. Reverdia sees demand for bio-PBS in paper cups, agricultural films, packaging and adhesives. Reverdia confirmed that its bio-succinic acid is being used for PBS resin production. Reverdia has been collaborating as well with UK-based food tray producer, Sharpak and UK retailer, Waitrose, in the development of biodegradable plastic packaging and products using bio-PBS.

As of July 2015, petro-based PBS prices in China was quoted at around Rmb28000/ton (€3816/ton). This price was expected to have come down significantly since then driven by lower petro-succinic acid and 1,4 butanediol prices.

POLYOLS & POLYURETHANES


Polyether

With polyether polyol producers seeking increases during April and May, there is significant pressure on prices this month. Producers are clearly looking to push for margin improvement as far as possible at this time at which demand is reaching its peak season for rigid polyether polyols, whilst flexible polyether polyol demand is still holding up. Producers announced increases in April which amounted to 4-5c/lb, but buyers report receiving further price increases since then. Some price increases were agreed in April, whilst some, particularly in the CASE sector were still under discussion in May.

Polyester

North American polyester polyol market conditions are generally favourable in May, boosted by seasonality. Aromatic polyester polyol demand is seasonally strong as the construction sector picks up speed. Some sellers report that demand is above where it was this time last year, and that there is quite a backlog of





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demand which has carried over from last year. The aliphatic sector is stable, with no real change to the market versus last month. Demand should continue to be healthy during the second quarter and into July.


The Ford Motor Company claimed to be the first automaker to formulate and test new foam and plastic components using CO2 as feedstock. Ford began working with several companies, suppliers and universities in 2013 to find application for captured CO2 and among these companies is Massachusetts-based Novomer, who has been producing since April 2014 its Converge® CO2-based polypropylene carbonate (PPC) polyols at around 5 ktpa in a toll facility outside Houston, Texas.

Novomer’s core technology platform uses a highly active and selective cobalt-based catalyst system to combine waste CO2 with commodity epoxides producing highly precise polyols with up to 50% CO2 by weight. The Converge® polyols are currently available at 1000 and 2000 molecular weight grades.

Features of the Novomer technology include:

• Moderate Reaction Conditions – The Novomer CO2-epoxide reaction occurs at moderate temperature and pressure, typically 35º to 50ºC and 200-300 psi, and thus the polymerisation requires significantly less energy for synthesis as compared to conventional polyols

• Fast Reaction Times – The Novomer catalyst is reportedly more than 300 times active than previous systems developed to synthesise aliphatic polycarbonates, and therefore, results in fast and easily manageable reaction times

• Low Catalyst Cost – The catalyst system does not use precious metals and requires simple organic chemistry, which keeps it synthesis costs low. In addition, it is easily removed from the polymer and can be recycled and reused.

• Tunable Molecular Structure – Novomer polymers can be tailored to yield precise polymer backbones, structures, molecular weights and functionalities, creating materials with optimised performance properties for specific industrial applications.

In foams, the Converge® polyols incorporated into the formulation reportedly improves mechanical and tear strength, and increases the foam’s greater load bearing capacity at equivalent density. An additional reported benefit is a more than 40% reduction in heat or combustion versus conventional polyols, which is especially important where strict flammability requirements must be met.

In most applications, Converge® polyols are used in combination with conventional polyols to achieve the desired performance benefits. In general, Converge® polyols are said to be miscible with most polyester polyols while compatibility with polyether polyols is more limited and impacted by concentration and molecular weight of the polyols being blended. Novomer said its CO2-based polyols are cost-competitive with existing petro-based polyols.





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According to Ford, the CO2-based foam is showing promise as it meets rigorous automotive test standards. It could be used in seating and under-hood applications, potentially reducing petroleum use by more than 600 million pounds/year. Researchers expect to see the new biomaterials in Ford production vehicles within five years. Ford has already been using other bio-based polyols in its automobiles such as soy foam in seat cushions, backs and head restraints, since 2007.


Polyether

May contract prices for flexible polyols have firmed as a result of higher feedstock prices. Producers still see a strong need to improve on current margins, but competition for volume has sometimes frustrated this endeavour in the past, particularly as the market has been amply supplied. Producers sought to achieve price increments in May, on the back of increased raw material costs. One producer announced an increase of €100/ton for this month, whilst others were less bullish, and buyers did not see that such a hike was justified by market conditions. Prices have moved up by a range of values, but for the most part increases have amounted to around €20-50/ton, but some sources have seen higher increases this month of up to plus €70/ton.

One producer has taken a tougher stance on pricing this month, as a result of availability issues. Buyers were however able to successfully negotiate smaller price increases from other suppliers. Demand is reported to have been impacted by the tightness of the TDI market which is the coproduct used for producing flexible foam. Not all sources agree that this has been a significant problem this month, whilst other do see quite a sizeable impact. All in all, the dip in demand this month could have been a barrier to more sizeable price increases.

Polyester

The aliphatic polyester polyol sector is quite stable, as automotive demand in Europe remains steady, although some sellers saw May as a little behind expectation, but this could be due to a number public holidays during the month in some countries. June is expected to be a little better in terms of activity.

Aromatic prices are reported to be largely flat in May. Producers may look to move prices in June, depending on the feedstock progression and the level of demand. Demand for aromatic polyester polyols is robust in May, and the year to date has been a little better than expected, largely on account of the mild weather conditions and the extended opportunities for construction. The only question is, will the peak





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season be dented by the fact that activity started much earlier than it would have done had the winter been as cold as it would be in a normal weather pattern?


Polyether

Polyether polyol prices increased as a result of higher feedstock costs in April and May. However, the downstream market remained weak and there was no real improvement in demand. Additionally, there was an influx of imports which added to supply. Under the pressure of cost and low profit margins for flexible polyether polyols, most producers focused on selling profitable high resilience and elastomer grades. Overall, demand was weak. Rigid polyether polyols were stable to soft in May, with downstream demand still flat.

Polyester

Chinese polyester polyol prices ticked upwards this month. In the feedstock markets, adipic acid was stable to firm, whilst BDO prices were largely stable. EG prices dipped by Rmb350-400/ton. Polyester polyol producers increased offer prices on the basis of increased cost pressure.

FATTY ACIDS


US fatty acid prices rolled over from last month’s quotes amid a slight decline in the bleachable fancy tallow (BFT) price,which was recently quoted at 31.0 c/lb compared to 33.5 c/lb reported in late April. The decline in the tallow price is mostly led by the vegetable oil market dynamics especially as soybean oil has come down significantly this month due to a projected higher soybean production in the US and South America. US tallow-based fatty acid suppliers use a prior-month BFT feedstock average as a factor in their contracts.

The triple-pressed stearic acid price remains at $1000-1100/ton ddp while rubber grade stearic acid price is around $950-1050/ton ddp. However, industry sources say there is a strong price increase initiative being reported for stearic acid due to a very strong demand coming from the construction and automotive sectors. Stearic acid prices are expected to move up by $150/ton.

The same cannot be said for oleic acid demand especially as the oilfield market continues to be weak. Prices remained at $1290-1400/ton ddp, although one trader noted that $1400/ton is already a stretch and quoted $1250-1300/ton as its current average price, although it is believed that materials at this price level would have mostly originated from Asia. A major domestic producer quoted oleic acid price at around $1300-1400/ton.

There is also concern regarding increasing fatty acid availability in the US market as Unilever started importing its fatty acid raw materials from its new fatty acid subsidiary, PT Unilever Oleochemical Indonesia, which started operations of its new oleochemical complex in North Sumatra, Indonesia, in the first quarter of 2015. It is not known how much fatty acids Unilever consumes for its North American products but the company is a significant buyer of oleochemicals.

Compared to an oversupplied fatty acid market in Asia, the current supply/demand dynamics for fatty acids in the US is said to be in balance.


This month both animal fats and palm prices in Europe are reportedly stable. Tallow prices were heard at around $550-600/ton, while palm stearin and palm olein prices were reported in the range of $650-700/ton fob Malaysia and $700-725/ton fob Malaysia respectively, relatively unchanged from last month.





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European stearic acid prices increased slightly from last month’s €750-780/ton ddp to €750-800/ton ddp. There is reportedly good availability and supply is a bit on the long side. The oleic acid market on the other hand is stable and prices rolled over from last month’s quote at €920-980/ton ddp Northwest Europe.

Asia – Bio-based

In May, Malaysian palm kernel oil (PKO) prices softened slightly although they were still at relatively high levels of RM4828/ton ddp ($1174/ton) by the third week of the month. Some people believed the price of PKO was too high while demand has not been as good as expected. In addition, there has been no significant reduction in PKO stock volumes due to the speculated El Nino effect. As a result, market observers believe there is still some room for further downward adjustment of PKO prices in the coming weeks. On the other hand, the price of Malaysian crude palm oil (CPO) has been relatively stable from last month and by the third week of May it was reported at around RM2626/ton ddp ($639/ton).

This month there were some downward adjustments in most fatty acids prices. Last month C12 lauric acid saw a substantial increase of $300/ton, however due to this sharp price increase and reportedly low demand this month prices came back down quickly. By the fourth week of May, lauric was reported at $1450-1500/ton fob Southeast Asia, about $200/ton lower than prices quoted a month ago. C14 myristic was also quoted at the same price as lauric acid, compared to $1550-1650/ton reported last month.

The prices of palm oil or palm stearin-derived C18 stearic acid also came down by roughly $50-70/ton this month with TPSA quoting at $800-880/ton and RGSA at $750-800/ton fob Southeast Asia. The exception was oleic acid, and with continued healthy demand and a balanced to slightly tight market, prices were unchanged from last month at $1250-1300/ton fob Southeast Asia. Demand for C16 palmitic acid is still holding, with prices reported at $800-850/ton fob Southeast Asia by the fourth week of May, compared to $800-900/ton reported a month ago.

Market fundamentals remained unchanged for the short-cut fatty acids and prices are therefore still at high levels. May prices for single-cut C8 were heard at the $5000-5200/ton fob level and C10 at $3000-3200/ton fob, while blended C8-C10 were quoted in the range of $3800-4200/ton fob.

This month the general fatty acids industry operating rate in Asia was estimated at 55-60%.

In China, stearic acid producers were able to enjoy a slight increase in their profit margins this month as stearic acid prices stayed unchanged from last month despite falling feedstock prices. Prices in East and South China by the end of the third week of May were still quoting at Rmb6000-6300/ton and Rmb6100-6400/ton respectively. On the other hand, it was reported that Nantong Kangqiao has not restarted since the shutdown of its 100 ktpa stearic acid production facility last month, while producer Rudong Kaita reportedly is test running its new 250 ktpa stearic acid plant and is expected to boost market supply later on with a daily output of 500 tons. With increasing supply and off-season related weak demand, market sentiment tends to be bearish and most buyers are noted to be buying on a hand-to-mouth basis.

FATTY ALCOHOLS

North America – Petrochemicals and Bio-based

Natural mid-cut fatty alcohols prices in the US have finally caught up to the price levels reported in Asia and Europe amid competitive pricing coming from synthetic alcohol producers. Natural mid-cut C12-C14 alcohols prices have climbed to around $1800-1900/ton ddp compared to last month’s quotes of around $1600-1900/ton ddp. Synthetic mid-cuts alcohols were heard at around $1200-1400/ton ddp. Shell continues to gain market share in North America.

One trader noted that many natural alcohols suppliers were taken by surprise by how much available capacity Shell has for synthetic mid-cut alcohols production. There were reports that Shell has increased its alcohols supply as more ethylene-based alpha olefins have been converted into detergent alcohols and less into oilfield surfactants application.





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Prices for natural heavy-cut alcohols, C16-C18, rolled over from last month at around $1350-1500/ton ddp. Supply is said to be readily available for these cuts and demand is stable.


May supply demand fundamentals for mid-cut natural fatty alcohols in Europe are unchanged from last month with demand remaining healthy at low levels. Although most buyers in Europe would favour switching to cheaper synthetic alternatives, it is currently not possible due to the limited capacity in the region, and most synthetic alcohols negotiations were heard to be under long-term contract. By the fourth week of May, mid-cut natural fatty alcohols in Europe were quoted at €1750-1850/ton ddp Northwest Europe.

Stable demand was also reported for higher cuts C16-C18 alcohols. Suppliers’ numerous attempts to bring up prices have failed again and as predicted previously, May C16-C18 alcohols prices declined to €1200-1220/ton ddp Northwest Europe, compared to €1250-1280/ton reported a month ago.

Market fundamentals remained unchanged for the short chains C8-C10 alcohols and prices also rolled over from last month. Single cut C8 alcohol was quoted at €3800-4000/ton ddp Northwest Europe, while C10 single cut alcohols price was pegged at €2600/ton ddp Northwest Europe. Blended C8-10 alcohols were reported in the range of €3100-3200/ton ddp Northwest Europe.

Asia – Bio-based

This month, fatty alcohol supply in Asia was heard to be less abundant compared to last month as a result of production output control by producers. However, demand for mid-cut fatty alcohols has remained low and with weakened PKO prices this month the price of C12-14 softened slightly. By the fourth week of May prices were calling at $1770-1850/ton fob Southeast Asia, down by about $30-50/ton from last month.

On the other hand, stable demand was reported for heavy-cut C16-18 fatty alcohols this month, and prices were heard at $1200-1350/ton fob Southeast Asia, compared to last month’s $1200-1300/ton fob.

As regards short-chain fatty alcohols, market supply was heard to be not as tight as it used to be due to competition with synthetic alternatives. In particular, the majority of short-chain fatty alcohols that go to Europe are for plasticisers use and it was claimed that this market has almost completely switched to synthetics. Within Asia, the dominant use for short-chains is in agrochemicals and the requirement for biodegradability means penetration of synthetics in that market is less likely. In May, prices for natural-based single-cut C8 and single-cut C10 alcohols were heard at $4500-4700/ton and $2700-3000/ton respectively, while blended C8-10 was heard at around $3500/ton.

This month fatty alcohol operating rates in Southeast Asia were heard at between 40% to 60%. In China, Jiangsu Shengtai (80 ktpa) and Huaxin fatty alcohol plants (200 ktpa) were reportedly still shut down. Teck Guan, Jiahua and Sasol fatty alcohol plants are running.

At the recent ICIS World Surfactants conference held in New Jersey, a presentation from oleochemical trading firm, IP Specialities reported a 30% overcapacity for global fatty alcohols, representing a volume excess of at least 1 million tons as compared to current market demand. It is not easy for fatty alcohol producers to turn their facilities on and off, according to IP Specialities. The build-up in overcapacity was led by the availability of Johnson Matthey’s Lurgi fatty alcohol production technology, which pulled down the technical barriers for building fatty alcohols plants, and previous high economic growth in China has also led to more fatty alcohol capacity build-up in anticipation of demand.

Chinese demand for fatty alcohols has weakened in the past several months due to economic uncertainty.





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US refined and crude glycerine prices have rolled over from last month’s quotes. Kosher refined glycerine was quoted at $700-800/ton ddp while refined tallow-grade glycerine prices were $650-750/ton ddp Midwest. Crude tallow-based glycerine was $130-150/ton while kosher crude glycerine was $150-170/ton ddp.

The refined glycerine market is reportedly getting longer as crude supply from biodiesel production strengthens. Imports are increasing from Argentina, and one trader noted that Louis Dreyfus’ new refined glycerine production is vying for market share at slightly cheaper prices than the rest of the market. Demand, however, remains stable and is expected to further strengthen this summer.

The mild winter season has lowered demand for antifreeze and de-icing, and in turn, has weakened demand for crude glycerine. Crude glycerine availability remains long, further exacerbated by increasing domestic biodiesel production, where glycerine is a co-product.

The State of Iowa recently passed legislation that further encourages biodiesel production, blending and usage, with a 2 c/gal production tax credit extending through 2024, while B5 biodiesel blended fuel retailers will earn 4.5 c/gal credit through 2017 and 3.5 c/gal after 2017 until 2024. B11 biodiesel blend will get 5.5 c/gal credit. This is expected to stimulate biodiesel demand in the Midwest, and in turn increase crude glycerine supply.

There is an expectation that glycerine prices will also soon improve as the Asian glycerine market is said to be tightening due to downtime in oleochemical production and strengthening demand from China. Exports from Southeast Asia are expected to slow down. One trader noted that Indonesia-based Wilmar has been bringing in more refined glycerine imports for the past several months.

For the first quarter 2016, US glycerine imports at 30,670 tons have increased by 7% year-over-year compared to 28.704 tons reported a year ago. Indonesia accounted for 46% of imported glycerine in the first quarter, followed by Malaysia (36%) and Argentina (7%). The average import price for the first quarter was around $600/ton.

UNITED STATES IMPORTS


GLYCEROL

5,146 537 7,410 Indonesia 7,267 1,833 682 4,938 Malaysia 6,582 1,914 553 1,914 Argentina 977

789 600 1,139 Belgium 1,016 112 673 445 Thailand 200 192 2,140 268 Germany 571 16 2,923 267 Others 182

16,381 16,795 Total 10,002



The supply and demand balance for both refined and crude glycerine in Europe was stable in May and the market remained relatively quiet. However, it was reported that there was less availability of kosher grade material this month as a result of European biodiesel producers’ attempts to use alternative feedstocks in order to lower production costs.

As a result, both refined vegetable grade and crude kosher grade glycerine prices were adjusted up slightly from last month, with quotes heard at €550-580/ton ddp Northwest Europe and €230-270/ton ddp Northwest Europe respectively; while the prices for refined tallow grade and crude non-kosher grade material rolled over from last month at €490- 530/ton ddp Northwest Europe and €160-190/ton ddp Northwest Europe, respectively.





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Asia – Bio-based

In May, the crude glycerine price in Asia was on a decline trend despite low production. By the end of the third week of May, crude glycerine spot prices in China were reported at around $260-270/ton cif, down by $15/ton compared to a month ago. On the other hand, May refined glycerine demand was heard to be reasonable and, with low inventory pressure on crude material, the price of refined glycerine in Asia has stayed relatively stable at $630-700/ton fob Southeast Asia, compared to $600-700/ton reported in April.

With declining crude glycerine prices and continued weak downstream demand, the price of Chinese refined glycerine this month was stable to soft. While the May domestic price for 95% refined glycerine in South China was unchanged at Rmb3200-3500/ton ddp, prices in East China region softened slightly from last month’s Rmb3200-3300/ton ddp to Rmb3100-3300/ton ddp. The overall Chinese refined glycerine operating rate in May remained low at around 40%.

In biodiesel news, Louis Dreyfus Company Indonesia (LDC) started up its first biodiesel plant in Asia inApril. Located in Lampung province in Sumatra, the plant has the capacity to produce 420 ktpa of palm methyl ester and 50 ktpa of crude glycerine. LDC aims to help Indonesia meet its B20 biodiesel blending mandate. The company currently owns and operates four other biodiesel facilities located in Argentina, Germany and the US.

CHINESE IMPORTS


GLYCEROL

7,152 656 13,593 Malaysia 16,190 3,457 482 11,690 Indonesia 19,555 1,710 431 5,104 Brazil 3,399 1,281 358 4,322 Argentina 7,997

126 1,937 840 Others 408 200 551 800 Thailand 968

1 - 108 France 1,766 36,457 50,283 Total 13,927


INDIAN IMPORTS


GLYCEROL

1,760 639 4,476 Malaysia 1,296 1,799 617 2,777 Indonesia 3,332

444 637 1,030 Thailand 1,715 97 718 625 Others 1,453

220 592 340 Taiwan 40 158 487 158 United States 11

9,406 7,847 Total 4,478


POLYLACTIC ACID (PLA) & POLYHYDROXYALKANOATE (PHA)


In PHA news, Metabolix announced that it is exploring selling its specialty biopolymers business and its Yield10 crop science program, citing outside strategic interests in its biopolymers business as well as a challenging financing environment. The company is currently engaged in discussions with interested parties regarding the potential sale of the specialty biopolymers business as an operating business, and many engage in discussions with additional parties as it progresses through its plans. Metabolix has unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of around $5.3 million as of 31 March.





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The company is actively engaged in efforts to secure additional capital resources before the end of May. Lack of funding could force the company to wind down some or all of its operations and pursue options for assets liquidation including inventory, equipment and intellectual property.

As of 18 May, Metabolix said it was able to raise $2 million in amendment to licensing its PHA biopolymer technology for use in certain medical applications with Tepha, Inc., a Massachusetts-based medical device company. Metabolix has been making PHA for Tepha, which was spun-off from Metabolix in 2006 by co-founder Simon Williams. Tepha has exclusive rights to PHA for in vivo applications and uses it for absorbable sutures, cardiovascular devices and drug delivery systems.

The license amendment calls for a $2 million lump sum payment in exchange. Metabolix agreed to forgo future royalties under its existing license agreement with Tepha, and to provide two additional Metabolix production strains and related IP to Tepha for use in the production of Tepha’s medical devices.

In March, Metabolix announced its plans to build a 10 ktpa specialty PHA production unit at CJ CheilJedang’s Fort Dodge, Iowa, facility. With the lack of financing and revenue flow, this deal is expected to collapse unless revived by a new owner. One industry source noted that Metabolix’s new product strategy of selling specialised PHA materials, e.g. amorphous PHA as additive, has been difficult to push through due to their current price premiums, and therefore market penetration rates for these products have been lagging. The current low crude oil price environment leading to cheaper polymers in the market has not been very kind so far to the biopolymers sector.

In PLA news, the Netherlands-based Corbion announced the launch of its PLA portfolio of neat bioplastic resins for the North American market in anticipation of the 2018 start-up of its new 75 ktpa PLA production plant being built in Thailand. Corbion has now started construction of its 75 ktpa plant in Thailand and the company is also expanding its lactide plant production in Thailand by 25 ktpa to 100 ktpa.

Pre-marketing the resins in the USA is expected to accelerate the market acceptance of PLA and will enable the company to gain a deeper insight into various product-market combinations. Corbion noted previous positive launches in the European and Pacific markets.

Corbion’s portfolio for the Americas include a range of high heat, high-performance PLLA and PDLA homopolymer resins specifically targeted at applications where durability and/or high-heat resistance are key requirements. The range of PLA products is tailored for use in injection moulding, film and sheet extrusion, thermoforming and fibre spinning, and ideally suited to packaging and disposable as well as durable applications.

Corbion has set up a local warehouse in the US to ensure short delivery times to customers. NatureWorks is currently the sole domestic PLA producer in the USA with a 150 ktpa facility located in Nebraska.

In product news, California-based Tag Packaging has launched its 100BIO™ biodegradable foam for food packaging made from Ingeo® PLA. The 100% bio-based container is reportedly sturdy, cold-resistant, heat-insulating and shock-absorbing. The initial line offers a range of products such as cups, clamshells and sushi trays. The products reportedly disintegrate in about nine weeks. Current food foam packaging in the market is mostly based on expandable styrene (EPS), and there have been several proposed legislations across the US looking to ban its use in food packaging applications.

UNITED STATES EXPORTS


POLYLACTIC ACID

426 2,177 716 Taiwan 352 345 2,035 713 China 421 320 1,976 710 South Korea 459 330 1,661 465 Netherlands 3,783 178 2,039 360 Japan 480 212 2,821 358 Canada 125 261 2,618 338 Mexico 23 134 2,465 219 Others 1,022

3,879 6,665 Total 2,206






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Tag Packaging said their bio-foam packaging will be cost-competitive to plastics such as PS, PP and PE, and paper-based packaging that are recyclable and compostable. However, it will still have premiums over the cost of petroleum-based disposable polystyrene foam products. The company believes its environmental advantages such as compostability will compensate for the premiums. End of life options for the bio-foam products include composting in a commercial facility, it can reportedly be safely incinerated, recycled or even converted back into lactic acid.


U2, a major Italian supermarket chain, is now using 100% biodegradable and compostable bread bags made of paper and a transparent bioplastic window made of NATIVIA® film based on PLA, which is manufactured by Taghleef Industries S.p.A. The new bread bags, made by Turconi S.p.A, can be used as a container for the organic waste that ends up in the industrial composting facilities. Taghleef also noted that NATIVIA® can be recycled within the paper recycling stream.

The bread bags are certified for industrial composting by Vincotte (certificate code 5565). Taghleef will team up with U2 supermarkets in the “against waste” campaign for a period of a year.


The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) price index for global vegetable oils in April averaged 166.4 points, up 4.1% from March and represented the third consecutive monthly increase. The rise was again driven by palm oil, the prices of which, climbed to a 17 month high on concerns over a grim 2016 production outlook and a growing world demand. International prices of soybean oil also firmed due to less favourable 2015/2016 production prospects in South America. However, the US soybean price in late May has seen a slight fall due to decline in export demand compared in April. The palm oil price in May also went down slightly caused by the drop in soy futures price.

World supplies of oilseeds are still forecast at a historical high in 2015/2016 due to massive opening stocks. In EU-28, total 2016 oilseed production could see a slight rise from the previous year. Whereas an increase is expected in soybeans and sunflowers, the rapeseed harvest is expected, on the other hand, to dip further. The EU-28 member states are estimated to harvest 31.6 million tons of oilseeds in 2016, around 200 kt more than a year ago. The sunflower harvest is expected to increase by 4% and soybean production could increase by 13%. EU rapeseed production is expected to decline by 400 kt to 21.2 million tons.





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Fats and Oils Price (Northwest Europe, US$/ton)

Products March Apr Jan-Apr 2016 Jan-Dec 2015 Crude palm oil 686 723 653 623 Soybean oil 761 796 760 757 Rapeseed oil 768 811 784 776 Coconut oil 1,448 1,590 1,352 1,109 Tallow 796 922 768 733 Source: Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB)

Export Price of Processed Palm Oil (Malaysia, FOB, US$/ton)

Products March Apr Jan-Apr 2016 Jan-Dec 2015 RBD palm oil 625 694 594 586 RBD palm kernel oil 1,213 1,307 1,101 909 RBD palm stearine 599 650 578 531 RBD Palm olein 631 703 612 586 Palm fatty acid distillate 560 598 530 501 Source: Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB) *RBD - refined, bleached, deodorised

The July 2016 corn delivery contract on the Chicago Board of Trade as of 27 May settled at $4.13/bushel. This is compared to the $3.91/bushel settlement for July contract reported late last month. The September 2016 forward delivery contract settled at $4.14/bushel and $4.13/bushel for the December forward delivery. Corn futures pushed out to their highest levels since October on support from strong export demand and spread unwinding with the soybean market.

However, corn prices this year are expected to come down as corn planting intentions in the US indicate a 6% increase for 2016, and the total is expected to reach 93.6 million acres, 5.6 million over the 2015/2016 corn acreage. If realized, this will be the third highest acreage on record. US corn supplies for 2016/2017, at 16.3 billion bushels, are projected the highest ever and 885 million bushels higher than last year.

The average corn farm price for 2016/2017 is projected at $3.05-3.65/bushel, with a midpoint at $3.35/bushel, which is down by 25 cents from the projected midpoint of $3.60/bushel for 2015/2016. Large supplies and projected stocks reduce price prospects in 2016/2017.

Food, seed and industrial (FSI) use for US corn is projected at 6.67 billion bushels for 2016/2017, up by 60 million bushels than the previous year. Within FSI use, high fructose corn syrup is projected at 470 million bushels, unchanged from 2015/2016, glucose and dextrose are projected at 470 million bushels, higher than last year at 310 million bushels in part due to greater industrial applications. Starch is projected steady at 220 million bushels.

US Corn and By-products Prices

Month Corn ($/bushel) Starch ($/ton) Dextrose (c/lb) HFCS (c/lb) Jan 2016 3.55 322.22 39.00 26.75 Feb 3.56 316.27 39.00 26.75 Mar 3.54 324.21 39.00 26.75 Apr 3.61 324.21 39.00 26.75 Source: US Department of Agriculture (USDA)

In Northeast China, the average corn purchasing price in May was about Rmb1748/ton. This is compared to Rmb1759/ton reported in April. The Chinese government recently announced that it will start allowing market dynamics to dictate its corn prices after years of intervention purchases, which forced Chinese corn prices well above world trade prices. Since 2002, China has supported expansion of corn area and production with State purchases at a minimum price, a portion of Government stocks auctioned off later in the year.





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China has announced that intervention purchases will cease, even in the Northeast, and that direct payments will be made to producers, as has been previously implemented for crops such as soybeans. Some State-owned enterprises may be instructed to purchase corn from producers if prices become low and alternative buyers are not available. Details of subsidy payments to producers or the terms of purchases by State enterprises have not been clarified. China’s corn producers’ prices are expected to fall significantly in 2016/2017, but there is great uncertainty about how sharply prices will decline.

In Europe, the September 2016 delivery contract for milling wheat on Euronext settled at €167/ton as of 27 May. The May 2016 forward delivery reported in late April was at €153/ton. The recent European wheat futures market is weighed down by ample supplies and a generally favourable crop outlook, although the strong pace of exports helped to underpin the market. Wheat prices in late May were also supported by strong US wheat markets and a weak euro.

The FAO sugar price index in April averaged 215 points, down 1.7% from March. The decline reflected generally large export availabilities in Brazil, supported by a bumper crop and an expectation of reduced use of sugarcane for the production of ethanol in the country. However, the possibility of global sugar production falling short of the anticipated consumption for the second consecutive season limited the decline in international prices. As of 27 May, sugar no. 11 ICE futures settlement for July 2016 delivery was at 17.52 c/lb fob, and the October contract was at 17.68 c/lb fob.

In company news, Minnesota-based Calyxt Inc. has completed the expansion of its high oleic/no trans fat soybean variety in Argentina as part of its counter-season seed production. 30 tons of the soybean seeds have now been shipped to production sites in the US for further expansion, in preparation of a soft commercial launch, expected in 2018.

California-based Ceres Inc. has received approval to initiate field testing of its biotech sugarcane in Brazil, which is expected to begin in June. The company plans to test its biomass and sugar yield and stress tolerance traits in several commercial sugarcane cultivars adapted to Brazil’s major production areas. Results are expected next year.

Florida-based Alliance BioEnergy Plus (ALLM) has completed its year-long efforts to optimise its patented CTS (cellulose-to-sugar) dry mechanical process that can extract 100% of the sugar from virtually any cellulosic feedstock in a matter of minutes with no liquid acids, no applied heat, pressure or hazardous materials. ALLM is reportedly in negotiations with several major industry producers and distributors of ethanol and cellulosic sugar for a potential JV, a marketing and sales agreement, or both. ALLM is said to be in the process of designing a technology roll-out program, where its CTS process could be licensed to a producer for a one-time fee of $5 million and a 6% royalty fee based on the number of gallons of cellulosic ethanol produced.

ECONOMIC NEWS

GDP in the US increased at an annual rate of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2016, according to an “advance” estimate by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter of 2015, GPD increased at an annual rate of 1.4%.

Total nonfarm payroll employment in the US rose by 160,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 5%, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care, and financial activities. Job losses continued in mining.

The US manufacturing sector has started the second quarter of 2016 with a renewed slowdown in production and new business growth. Employment levels are also close to stagnation and input buying has dropped at the fastest pace in two and a half years. The Markit US Manufacturing PMI was 50.8 in April, down from 51.5 in March.

Consumer confidence in the US continued to fall in April due to weakening expectations for future economic growth. Views on current finances, however, remained positive. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Sentiment Index recorded 89.0 for April, down compared to 91.0 in March and 95.9 in April





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2015. The US Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index also declined in April to 94.2, down from March’s reading of 96.1.

US light-vehicle sales increased year on year by 3.4% to 1.49 million in April. Year-to-date industry sales are up 3.2% to 5,559,401 units compared with the same period in -2015. The seasonally adjusted annual sales rate (SAAR) was 17.32 million in April, marking the highest SAAR since 2002.

Building permits for privately owned housing in the US were issued at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,116,000 in April. This is 3.6% above the revised March rate of 1,077,000 but it is 5.3% below the April 2015 estimate of 1,175,000, according to the US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Privately-owned housing starts in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,172,000. This is 6.6% above the revised March estimate of 1,099,000, but it is 1.7 % below the April 2015 rate of 1,192,000.

Builder confidence in the US market for newly-built single-family homes remained unchanged in May for the fourth consecutive month at a level of 58 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

Seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 0.5% in both the Eurozone (EA19) and the EU28 during the first quarter of 2016 compared with the previous quarter, according to a flash estimate by Eurostat. In the fourth quarter of 2015, GDP grew by 0.3% and 0.4% respectively. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP rose by 1.5% in the Eurozone and by 1.7% in the EU28 in the first quarter of 2016.

Growth in the Eurozone manufacturing sector was lacklustre in April. The final Markit Eurozone Manufacturing PMI was 51.7 in April, marginally up from 51.5 in March. The rate of expansion eased for both production and incoming new orders but job growth gained momentum and deflationary pressures moderated. Italy (53.9) and Spain (53.5) saw the fastest growth, followed by the Netherlands (52.6), Austria (52.0) and Germany posted 51.8 on the PMI. France recorded a 12-month low of 48.0 on the April PMI.

Seasonally adjusted industrial production fell by 0.8% in the Eurozone (EA19) and by 0.5% in the EU28 in March compared to the previous month, according to estimates from Eurostat.

The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in the Eurozone was 10.2% in March 2016, according to Eurostat, down from 10.4% in February 2016 and 11.2% in March 2015. This is the lowest rate recorded in the Eurozone since August 2011. The EU28 unemployment rate was 8.8% in March 2016, down from 8.9% in February, and down from 9.7% in March 2015. This is the lowest rate recorded in the EU28 since April 2009.

Annual inflation in the Eurozone is expected to be -0.2% in April, down from 0.0% in March, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat.

New passenger car registrations in the EU increased year on year by 9.1% to 1,273,733 in April. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, this is the highest result in volume terms since April 2008, just before the economic crisis hit the automotive industry. Among the major markets, Spain (+21.2%) and Italy (+11.5%) recorded the strongest performances with double-digit percentage gains, followed by Germany (+8.4%), France (+7.1%) and the UK (+2.0%). From January to April 2016, new passenger car registrations increased by 8.5% to 5,094,026. All the major markets posted growth, Italy (+18.6%) and Spain (+10.3%) saw double-digit growth over the period, followed by France (+7.9%) and Germany (+5.6%). The UK market also grew (+4.4%) during the first four months of 2016, although at more modest rate.

Operating conditions in China’s manufacturing sector continued to deteriorate in April. Total new orders stagnated and new export work fell for the fifth month in a row. Weak market conditions and muted demand contributed to further job losses. Inventories were also reported to being kept under tight control, with stocks of finished goods and inputs falling at a faster rate in April. Price data also indicates inflationary pressure intensified last month. The Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI was 49.4





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in April, marginally down from 49.7 in March. Operating conditions now have deteriorated for 14 consecutive months.

Total deliveries of passenger cars and commercial vehicles in China grew by 6.3% in April to 2.12 million units, slower than the 8.8% year-on-year increase in March, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Chinese car sales growth peaked at 45% in 2009 and has fallen steadily as cities try to control smog and congestion with limits on new vehicles. Sales in the first four months of 2016 increased 6.1% year on year to 8.65 million vehicles. Production in the first four months of the year was up 5.7% year on year at 8.76 million vehicles, according to CAAM. In the passenger car sector, sales of Chinese brand cars were up 8.7% year on year at 748,000 units, accounting for 42% of total sales of passenger cars.

Chinese exports fell 2% year on year in April, while imports were down 11% compared with April 2015, their 18th consecutive monthly decline. The Chinese export sector has declined in nine of the last ten months.

The OECD (The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) has reduced its 2016 growth forecast for the South Korean economy to 2.7% from 3.1%, reflecting dull global trade and weakening demand from China.

Russian sales of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) fell 8.5% year on year in April to 121,272 vehicles, according to the AEB (Association of European Businesses) Automobile Manufacturers Committee. This followed a 10% year-on-year decline in March. Sales volumes are at a ten-year low in March and April, the committee said, and welcomed the announcement of further stimulus measures totalling Rouble50 billion by the Russian government earlier this month. In 2015, Russia suffered the deepest decline of all major global automotive markets, with sales falling 45.3% year on year to 1.28 million cars.

Japan saw its first growth in car sales in more than a year in April, with a 1.6% increase to 324,748 vehicles, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. Sales of cars excluding mini-cars (with an engine size of 660cc or smaller) were up 7.2% to 212,713 vehicles. However, sales of mini-cars fell 7.5% to 112,035 units in April, the sixteenth consecutive monthly decline as the April 2014 increase in the Japanese consumption tax and the additional tax imposed on mini-cars a year later continue to dampen demand.

Vehicle Production In Japan (1,000 Units)

Passenger Car Truck Bus Total Mar 2016 758 120 12 890 % Change (yoy) 2.3 -4.8 -3.5 1.2 Jan-Mar 2016 2,038 319 32 2,389 % Change (yoy) -2.7 -8.7 -8.1 -3.7 Source: JAMA (Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association)

India saw 10.9% year on year growth in production of all vehicles, including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three wheelers, two wheelers and quadricycles, to a total of 2,118,240 in April. Sales of passenger vehicles were up 11% year on year, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). In the full year from April 2015 to March 2016, production of all vehicles was 23,358,047, up 2.6% year on year. Sales of passenger vehicles grew 7.2% year on year to 2,789,678.

Sales and production of motor vehicles in Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) fell 3.8% and 4.7% year on year to 741,392 and 994,147 respectively in Q1 2016. Indonesia and Thailand saw further declines. Indonesian sales fell 5.4% to 267,227 in the quarter, while production was down 5.1% to 285,093. Thai sales were down 8.2% year on year at 181,560, while production fell 3.4% to 506,874. Malaysia was also down sharply, with sales of 131,267 22% lower than the same period of 2015, while production at 129,591 was almost 21% below Q1 2015 levels.





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CHEMICAL PROFILE: ETHYLENE

Introduction

Ethylene (also known as ethene), H2C=CH2, is the lightest olefin. It is a colourless, flammable gas with a slightly sweet odour. Ethylene is the largest volume building block for synthetic polymers, including high- and low-density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Nondurable or consumable packaging in particular, makes up more than half of global ethylene derivative consumption.

Processing Technology

The production of ethylene today is mostly based on feedstocks derived from crude oil (mainly naphtha) or from natural gas (ethane, propane and butanes). The leading technology for the production of ethylene is steam cracking, a high temperature pyrolysis reaction in the presence of steam. It was developed in the 1960s, but the principles have not changed. Recent developments have concentrated on increasing the size and scale of plants and improving overall economics. Today’s plants can produce up to 1.5 x 106 t/y of ethylene in a single-train plant.

The economics of ethylene production depend to a large extent on the prices of feedstocks and co-products. In North America and the Middle East the feedstocks of choice have been the lighter feeds ethane, propane and butanes (predominantly ethane), as opposed to Western Europe and Asia where naphtha predominates. Ethane cracking produces a high yield of ethane and some propane but virtually no C4s, butadiene and other co-products. Crackers designed to run mainly on ethane are cheaper to build and less complicated to operate than naphtha crackers reducing both capital and operating costs.

Ethane is the lightest of the natural gas liquids. Unlike propane and the butanes it has no alternative uses. Its market price is affected to some extent by movements in natural gas pricing but only indirectly by crude oil. The advent of shale gas in the United States has increased the supply and pushed down the prices of natural gas and ethane. In recent years ethane cracking as a route to ethylene has produced the most favourable economics despite the lower yield of co-products. A result of this has been the growth in the ‘on-purpose’ production of propylene by the PDH (propane dehydrogenation) process. A recent development, pioneered by Ineos, is the export of ethane from the US to feed steam crackers in Europe.

Alternative routes have been developed such as methanol to olefins (MTO), in which methanol derived from natural gas or coal is converted finally into ethylene and propylene. MTO offers flexibility in the quantity of propylene and ethylene produced; thereby producers can adjust plant designs to address market demands most effectively. As China is the largest producer of coal in the world, there is considerable interest in using this technology in the region with methanol produced via coal gasification.

One of the most promising alternative production routes is the catalytic dehydration of ethanol to produce ethylene. This process is rather simple because of the high selectivity of the catalyst systems. The technology was used in Brazil and India in the 1950s and the 1960s, but has since been replaced by steam cracking because of the availability of lower-cost petrochemical feedstocks. However, due to the dramatically increasing production of bioethanol worldwide, as a result of the recent boom in the fuel ethanol market, this route has been reconsidered as an alternative to conventional routes as bioethanol offers a production from renewable raw materials. In addition, it has been demonstrated that ethylene from bioethanol is competitive when crude oil prices are above $60/bbl.





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World Top Ethylene Producers 2015

Company Location Capacity (ktpa) Dow Americas & Europe 9,327 ExxonMobil Chemical Global 7,255 LyondellBasell USA & Europe 6,657 Shell Global 4,665 Braskem Brazil & Mexico 4,470 Ineos Olefins & Polymers USA & Europe 4,037 Chevron Phillips USA & Saudi Arabia 3,875 Abu Dhabi Polymers UAE 3,600 Nova Canada 3,016

Current Status of Bioethylene-based Projects

Company Location Feedstock Status Final Product Braskem Brazil Sugarcane Commercial PE, EPDM Indian Glycols India Molasses Commercial EO/MEG/PEG Toyota Tsusho Taiwan Sugarcane Commercial MEG SABIC Germany Fats/Oils Commercial PE Croda USA Corn Under Construction EO M&G Chemicals China Biomass Planning Stage EO/MEG Siluria USA Methane Demonstration Ethylene Zhongxin Chemical China Corn Unknown EO Heyang Alcohol China Corn Cancelled EO/MEG JBF Industries Brazil Sugarcane Cancelled MEG Dow Chemical Brazil Sugarcane Postponed PE Source: Tecnon OrbiChem estimates

Market Fundamentals

Because it is one of the largest volume petrochemicals in the world, ethylene demand is sensitive to both economic and energy cycles. Its broad use patterns also means that ethylene is often used as a surrogate for the performance of the petrochemical industry as a whole.

SCHEME OF A SUGARCANE-BASED BIOETHANOL REFINERY WITH INTEGRATED ELECTRICITY AND SUGAR PRODUCTION

Source: Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry

Juicetreatment

Sugarcane

Bagasse

Steam

Energy

Milling Juice extraction

Combustor

Sugar

CO2Juice

treatment Fermentation

Distillation Ethanol

SaccharomycesCerevisiae

Sugarproduction





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Almost all ethylene produced is consumed as feedstock for manufacturing derivatives such as polymer plastics, fibres and other organic chemicals that are ultimately used in the packaging, transportation and construction industries and in a large number of industrial and consumer markets.

In 2014, global demand for ethylene was estimated at just below 140 million tons. Polyethylene (PE) production represents 60% of total ethylene consumption. Markets include film, packaging, containers and articles for home and light industrial use. PE will continue to be the largest consumer of ethylene during 2014-2019, with a predicted average growth rate of 4-5%.

The second largest use is for the production of ethylene oxide (EO) for ethylene glycol (EG) used primarily to produce PET. In 2014, ethylene oxide accounts for 15% of total world consumption. While EO/EG has been predicted to grow at about 4% per year for the next five years, China is expected to account for over 40% of the increased ethylene consumption in EO in the next five years, illustrating the continued rapid share gain for bottle and traditional polyester fibre use.

Ethylene dichloride is the next largest use for ethylene and in 2014 it accounts for 10% of total world consumption. Ethylene dichloride is made by the chlorination of ethylene and can be cracked to make vinyl chloride monomer primarily used for PVC resin. Taiwan, Japan, Central Europe, the US and Western Europe have the highest regional share for ethylene dichloride, while the Middle East, Southeast Asia and China are among the lowest. Growth of ethylene consumption in ethylene dichloride is driven by PVC plastic uses in construction and pipe with a predicted average annual growth rate of about 3%.

Ethylene can also be used to make ethyl benzene, which is used to make styrene. In 2014, ethyl benzene consumption accounts for about 7% of total ethylene consumption. Other derivatives of ethylene include alpha-olefins, which are used to make detergent alcohols, plasticiser alcohols, vinyl acetate monomer, and industrial ethanol.

A very small amount of ethylene produced is also used in the agricultural industry for ripening fruits.

Bioethanol offers an alternative route to ethylene from renewable raw materials. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), based on recent estimates, bioethylene can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 40% and save fossil energy by up to 60% compared to petro-based ethylene. In addition, bioethylene and other bio-based products made from local resources can reduce a country’s dependence on fossil energy imports and stimulate local economies.

Biomass availability and the price gap with petro-based ethylene are the two most important determinants for the future of bioethylene. Due to the dramatically increasing production of bioethanol worldwide, Bioethylene has become potentially more economically viable. In particular with the development of the prices for crude oil in 2007 and especially in 2008, when prices increased from approximately $60/bbl to $140/bbl, ethylene production from bioethanol suddenly became very attractive.





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However, with the current low oil prices, analysts noted that it could take several years before crude oil prices have recovered to the point where bioethylene becomes economically viable again, except for applications where a premium price for ethylene derivatives is acceptable.

WORLD ETHYLENE CONSUMPTION BY END USE 2014


Polyethylene60%

Ethylene Oxide15%

Ethylene Dichloride

10%

Ethylbenzene7%

Others8%

Prices

Petrochemical based ethylene in all regions is sold mainly on a contractual basis. Spot trade is less significant and even contracts are often internal since many ethylene producers are downward integrated into polyethylene or styrene or other derivatives. Spot prices can be higher than contract if a market is tight since freight for gas shipping is costly. International trade is limited for the same reason.

So far there is no spot or contract market for bio-ethylene since most commercial producers are integrated to produce downstream products such as PE, EO/MEG and EPDM. Ethanol remains the biggest feedstock for bio-ethylene production. Brazilian industrial (non-fuel) ethanol prices are currently around 38-41 c/litre ($1.44-1.55/gal) in Sao Paulo, US fuel ethanol prices in the Eastern Cornbelt are around $1.63/gal, while fuel ethanol prices in Northeast Asia were quoted at around $1.97-$2.08/gal. Sugarcane-based PE is believed to still have a price premium of 30-50% compared to ethane-based PE. Bio-MEG is also believed to have price premium of around 30% compared to naphtha-based MEG.

In 2014, a report from IRENA estimated bio-ethylene prices in Brazil and India at around $1200/ton using sugarcane feedstock; Chinese bio-ethylene production based on sweet sorghum costs around $1,700/ton; and higher costs are reported in the US using corn and in the EU using sugar beets at about $2000/ton and $2600/ton, respectively.

US engineering firm, Scientific Design, noted in late 2014 the potential economics of a bio-ethylene plant would depend largely on feedstock costs and the energy/electricity used. Below is a sample calculation:





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Economics for a bio-ethylene plant UsagesEthanol MT/MT 1.8 MP steam, MT/MT 3.3 Power (with ethylene purification), kW/MT 300 Costs (per MT of ethylene) Ethanol*, $/MT 945-1,260 Utilities/catalysts, $/MT 70-100 Total, $/MT 1,015-1,360 Ethylene market price, $/MT 1,050-1,450 *Ethanol cost= $525-700/ton Source: Scientific Design

Research & Development

The advent of plentiful natural gas supply in the US has produced several developments in the use of methane as feedstock to produce ethylene either via biotechnology process or traditional chemical processes or both. For example, California-based Siluria can directly convert methane to ethylene using its proprietary oxidative coupling of methane or “OCM” technology. Siluria developed a patented nanowire catalyst made from genetically-engineered viruses that enables the methane-to-ethylene reaction to run at temperatures several hundred degrees lower than conventional processes, and at high selectivity.

To demonstrate the OCM process, Siluria partnered with Braskem to construct a demonstration facility at Braskem’s site in La Porte, Texas. The demonstration plant is designed to produce approximately one ton of ethylene per day (350+ tons per year), which will further validate the OCM reaction process to convert methane to ethylene and will provide engineering data for design of a commercial scale system. The plant is pipeline fed and includes integration with the host site.

In June 2014, Siluria also entered into a collaboration agreement with world leading gases and engineering company The Linde Group based on Siluria’s OCM technology. The companies have formed joint teams, which reportedly would fully integrate the companies’ respective technologies and collaborate through the final scale-up and demonstration of the OCM technology at the demonstration plant in La Porte, Texas. Siluria is currently engaged in feasibility studies with selected operating companies in the ethylene industry focused on the initial commercial deployments.

NEXT PRODUCT PROFILE: PROPYLENE

FUTURE PRODUCT PROFILE: METHANOL






Senior Consultant Doris de Guzman Bio-ECH Asia Zhao JieChemical Profiles Hu Kaiyin Asia Markets Hu Kaiyin

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Tel: +44 20 7924 3955Fax: +44 20 7978 5307

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CONFERENCES

20th World Chlor-Alkali Conference 16 - 17 June 2016, Bangkok, Thailand

13th China International Polyester & Intermediates Forum 7 - 8 July 2016 , Shanghai

STUDIES

Tecnon OrbiChem’s S/Db-CHEM is a truly comprehensive service, containing all the information you need - Supply/Demand data, Trade flows, Consumption trends, Capacity listings and Historical prices.

• Supply/Demand Balances contain an analysis of historical data and forecasts to 2025. • Trade Flows presented as country-to-country trade grids. • Capacity Listings give producer, owner and feedstock information. • Historical Prices for easy construction of tables, charts and margins.

S/Db-CHEM is available as:

• A constantly updated Internet Database – downloadable Microsoft Excel spreadsheets & Adobe .PDF files • A quarterly CD-ROM – with fully interactive Microsoft Access database and Adobe .PDF files • A Printed Report – in full colour, with commentary, tables and charts

The following studies and many others are available. Please follow the links to obtain more information or go to our website: www.orbichem.com

ACRYLIC ACID & ESTERS PET PACKAGING RESINMALEIC ANHYDRIDE POLYESTERPOLYAMIDE & INTERMEDIATES WORLD SYNTHETIC FIBRESETHYLENE OXIDE - MONOETHYLENE GLYCOL



http://www.orbichem.com/Events_Conferences.aspx?intEventId=8

http://www.orbichem.com/Events_Conferences.aspx?intEventId=12










Confirmed Speakers Include: Avantium, China Chemical & Fiber Economic Information Network (CCFEI), CNOOC Petrochemicals, European Man-made Fibres Association (CIRFS), Maag Automatik Plastics Machinery, State Information Center, Sinopec, Tecnon OrbiChem, Uhde Inventa-Fischer For further information please visit www.orbichem.com

13TH CHINA INTERNATIONAL POLYESTER & INTERMEDIATES FORUM

Shanghai, China

7-8 July 2016

www.orbichem.com

POLYESTER &

INTERM

EDIATES FO

RUM


Where Are We Now?

• 2016 has started with continuing low crude oil values.

• Renminbi depreciation has added extra costs for Chinese producers, rather than benefiting exports.

• Declining PTA inventories and a period of scheduled maintenance at paraxylene units as we enter Q2 has seen upstream sectors regaining strength.

• But, the G20 meeting in Hangzhou is expected to curb seasonal demand, as government attempts to improve the local environment impact textile production in the surrounding areas.

Where Are We Headed?

• What are the opportunities for hunting at the bottom of the cycle?

• Can crude oil futures be used as a tool for risk-management?

• Will idled PTA units restart? If they are, what will be the effect on market fundamentals?

What Are the Key Performance Indicators?

• An analysis of the economic environment in 2016

• MEG price movement - What are the driving forces?

• How will the polyester industry perform in 2016.

• What does the future hold for differentiated polyester products

• How do we utilise futures markets to hedge spots risks

Focusing on the topics of concern listed above, and in the light of experience gained from our of previous successful twelve forums, China Chemical & Fiber Economic Information Network (CCFEI) and Tecnon OrbiChem will host the 13th China International Polyester & Intermediates Forum.

As in the past, government institutions, industry associations, major feedstock suppliers, polyester producers, traders and financial experts - from up and downstream, from home and abroad - share ideas and valuable information about the polyester chain.

Conference themes will include paraxylene, PTA, MEG, polyester filament, staple fibre, polyester fibre chips, bottle grade resin and futures markets.

Supporters:

Polyester Committee of China Chemical Fiber Association

China National Chemical Fiber Corp.

Organisers:

China Chemical & Fiber Economic Information Network (CCFEI)

Tecnon OrbiChem

POLYESTER &

INTERM

EDIATES FO

RUM


Confirmed Presentations:

• Overview of China’s Economy in 2016 and Policy Proposals Qi Jingmei, Researcher, Department of Economic Forecasting, State Information Center

• New Normal of crude oil She Jianyue, Crude Oil Department of CNOOC Petrochemicals Import & Export Company Limited

• Development of China’s Polyester Fiber Market Zhang Youding, Deputy Director General, Synthetic Fiber Division of Sinopec Chemical Products Sales Company

• Polyester Fibres in Europe: Developments & Trends Frédéric VAN HOUTE, Director General, European Man-made Fibres Association (CIRFS)

• Commercialization of FDCA and PEF: biobased building block and polymer with performance benefits Nathan Kemeling,, Director Business Development YXY, Avantium

• Analysing The Global PET Resin Industry: Common Trends And Challenges Kim Hyun-Min, Senior Consultant Polyester Fibres & Resins, Tecnon OrbiChem

• Analysis on 2016 PET Market through Changes in Fundamentals Zhao Cheng, Deputy Manager of Inform Department China Chemical & Fiber Economic Information Network (CCFEI)

• Direct crystallization of PET pellets: High energy savings for a significant reduction of production costs Andreas Weidner, Sales Director Pelletizing-Greater China, Maag Automatik Plastics Machinery GmbH

• Technology Integration Opportunities along the Value Chain Speaker to be confirmed Uhde Inventa-Fischer GmbH

REGISTRATIO

N FO

RM

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Full registration fee includes: The cost of all sessions, conference documentation, luncheon, dinner and tea/coffee during the conference time, while excluding hotel accommodation. Copies of papers presented when supplied by the speakers.

Language: Chinese and English (Simultaneous Interpretation)

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CHEMICAL BUSINESS FOCUS - Tecnon OrbiChem · Valmet and Biochemtex collaborate on developing lignin-derived chemicals ... CHEMICAL PROFILE: ETHYLENE. ... (Bio-based) C12-C14 Contract