Polystyrene Market
November 2023- Unigel will restart this week its polystyrene (PS) plant in Sao Jose dos Campos, state of Sao Paulo, the company's PS commercial manager said to ICIS. Rogerio Cauduro said the company was aiming to tap into a tightened supply situation that has affected the Brazilian PS market in the past weeks. Demand is ticking higher leading to the summer period, and, in addition, Innova is running at reduced rates at its plant in Manaus because of logistic issues, which has also tightened the market. Cauduro was speaking on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the Latin American Petrochemical and Chemical Association (APLA). Unigel shut down its Sao Jose dos Campos plant in June due to economic reasons. The plant has a production capacity of 130,000 tonnes/year. The restart should bring some relief to PS supply in Brazil, where severe weather conditions have impacted the market in recent weeks. In the south of the country, imports via Santa Catarina ports have been delayed due to heavy rains and flooding disrupting key infrastructure assets.
November 2023- With more than 100 years of experience in molded fiber packaging technology, Huhtamaki, the maker of Chinet® tableware, is launching fiber-based egg cartons made from 100% recycled material for US egg producers. Huhtamaki is bringing its fiber expertise to the US as an alternative to foam egg packaging. As of today, twelve states have enacted legislation aimed at banning expanded polystyrene packaging. The most common application for this material includes foam "peanuts" for packing, coolers, food service cups and plates, and egg packaging. In 2022, Huhtamaki announced a $100 million investment into a 250,000-square-foot expansion of its Hammond, Indiana, molded fiber manufacturing plant. Huhtamaki's state-of-the-art technology will provide a full range of highly customizable egg cartons that are fiber-based and manufactured from 100% recycled North American materials. The cartons will offer increased branding space and will be available in several colors.
Major Polystyrene market players, including Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA Inc., BASF SE, Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation, KUMHO PETROCHEMICAL, Chi Mei Corporation, SABIC, Trinseo, INEOS Styrolution Videolar-Innova S.A., The DOW Chemical Company
