Document 0JEBwmwZe4Mj05j37Zj2roOJO

Plastiscope 1 ducts. Targeted to begin operating in 1977. this new alter nate-feedstocks facility will cost S165 million. Although Dow has not released information on volume, it is esti mated that an expansion of this magnitude will Yield be tween 450.000 and 550.000 tons.xr. of ethvlene alone. These plans h\ Dow and Union Carbide represent the onl\ domestic ethylene additions coming on from com panies that are not oil majors. A glance at the domestic ethvlene table indicates just how active are the oil-based producers in the 1975-78 scheme of things. As previously noted. Arco has doubled up its ethylene expansion at Channelview. Tex --with identical 591.000-ton plants com ing in 1976 and 1977 (each producing approximately 360.000 tons/vr. of propvlene). Amoco also has doubled up: now conrirms that a second 455.000-ton ethylene facilitv will be brought on at Chocolate Bayou in 1977. follow ing a same-size plant set to begin production next year at the same locale. Both will be heavy on propylene. Bigger plunge abroad. If U S. ethylene expansion is picking up some much-needed steam, check what's hap pening abroad. Reports of ethylene buildup are coming in from all parts of the globe (see table on p. 18; also May mp. p. 10. June. p. 128 and July, p. 14). Although proposed starting dates are not available in all cases, most of the foreign ethvlene expansions are targeted for the 1975-78 period. Adding them up. they total 6.700.000 tons. Even though it mas be wise to take some of this new s w ith a grain of salt, that still leaves a lot of ethyl ene and byproducts. And it includes onlv the buildups for w'hich tonnage volume has been reported. There are ventures under wav that have not yet been quantified or settled. Among them is a feasibility study be tween Union Carbide and National Petrochemical Co. of Iran, for a jointly owned major petrochemical complex in that country . It's one of many such projects in planning. In Japan, where the shackles seem to be coming off both the national economy and the plastics industry (see p. 60), there has been relaxation of government controls on pro duction. Thus two new 400.000-ton ethvlene expansions have been announced, following an earlier report of a 400.000-ton addition in 1977 that has been scheduled by Mitsubishi Petrochemical at Kashima. New VCM regulation is only one influence on a changing outlook for PVC Although mans of its long-range impacts remain to be de termined. there are several outfalls that can already be proiected regarding the Occupational Safety & Health Ad ministration's tough new standard on workplace exposure to vinvl chloride monomer. Effective this month, the regu lation mandates new low levels of permissible emission (see June MP. p. 60. and Aug., p. 12). One of the foregone conclusions is that the technology of compliance will cause at least a temporary diminution in the ratio of polwinvl chloride production to capacitv. Already, for example, a major pvc producer reports that the safetv measures it has initiated to reduce vcm work place exposure to the 50 parts per million interim level es tablished bv osha last spring has cut the firm's pro grammed 1974 increase in pvc production by two-thirds. Another highly probable result is that mandated lower levels of vcm exposure will add a new impetus to rising resin prices. A recent economic-impact study, conducted for the Department of Labor bv Foster D. Snell Inc., re veals that costs of polymerization increase sharply as vcm exposure levels decrease. Thus, according to the Snell re search. a 50 p.p.m. level adds 0.72c/lb. to pvc costs, a 25 p.p.m. level adds 2.73C, and a level of 10 p.p.m. or less adds a minimum of 8C/lb. Shitting the sights. Another development to keep an eve on is that there will be a shift of as-yet undetermined magnitude in producers' resin and compound lines. This movement is only partially a reflection of the osha regu lation on vcm. or other federal concern about use of the monomer. Influences that mav be as great or greater are persistent raw materials shortages that are widening the demand-supplv gap in some important markets, and the basic economics of resin/compound manufacture. Some evidence of these changing producer priorities are already surfacing. The raw materials/economics issue has. in fact, caused some defections among producers of pvc bottle compounds. Both Borden Chemical and B.F. Good rich Chemical have advised the trade that they are phasing out of this segment of the pvc business. Goodrich cites the fact that its six-vear participation in the pvc-for-bottles business has been "substantially less profitable than forecast." And it observes that demands from other markets, coupled with the scarcity and higher cos! of key raw materials, dictated a judicious reassessment of product lines. Borden says, succinctly, that pvc bottle compounds are being priced out of the market. Both pro ducers will put the resin into other growth areas. There are other indicators of sight-shifting among pvc producers. Tenneco Chemicals will convert its existing homopolymer plant at Flemington. N.J.. to the production of pvc/acetate copolymers. The switch is scheduled to be completed bv the end of this vear and will, savs Tenneco, strengthen its position in the flooring and phonographrecord markets. Firestone Plastics' new plant in Perrwille, Md.. to be operational by mid-1975. will produce only dis persion-grade resins, primarily for carpet backing, floor covering, fabric coating, and footwear. Meantime, concern about vcm exposure at the processor level can be expected to lead to an increase in tech nological improvements in the supplying sector. In a re cent development. Goodyear Tire & Rubber (a pvc pro ducer with a big stake in the food-films market) has introduced a low-temperature cutting unit for supermarket meat wrapping. The new cartridge-heater device is said to permit film cutting at 260F.. compared with 700 to 800" F. for conventional hot-wire cutters. Besides reducing vola tiles. says Goodyear, the new cutter enables maintenance of existing wrapping speeds. In another customer-oriented safety development, Robintech Inc. reports Patent Office approval for its Rocor IKC (In Kettle Compound) manufacturing process. The proprietary process is said to eliminate the need for preblending in manufacture of pvc pipe, and eliminate worker exposure to vcm at the conversion facility.-end 3718001 20 Modern Plastics, October 1974 BFG26963