News from Notch Consulting, Inc.

Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings plans to carve out and divest its petrochemical and coal-chemical units by its 2023 fiscal year, according to Bloomberg. The petrochemical business had sales during the last fiscal year of $3.8 billion, about 13% of Mitsubishi’s total. It makes olefins and polyolefins. The coal business, which makes coke, carbon black, and synthetic rubber, had sales of $1.0 billion, according to C&E News. This segment includes two carbon black plants in Japan. Mitsubishi says the businesses face both limited growth potential and difficulties as Japan shifts toward carbon neutrality. Going forward, the company will focus on electronics and health care, along with businesses such as methyl methacrylate and industrial gases.The carve-out plan is the first major move from Mitsubishi’s new CEO Jean-Marc Gilson, who joined the company in April.

Cabot Corporation announced today that it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Tokai Carbon (Tianjin) Co., Ltd from Tokai Carbon Group for $9 million, subject to customary closing adjustments. The carbon black manufacturing facility was commissioned in 2006 and is located in close proximity to Cabot’s current carbon black and specialty compounds facility in Tianjin, China. The transaction is expected to close in the second fiscal quarter of 2022.

Cabot said in a press release that the acquisition is expected to support the growth of Cabot’s Battery Materials product line, while continuing to serve existing carbon black customers. The growth of electric vehicles has led to rapid development in lithium-ion batteries. Conductive carbon black additives play a key role in battery chemistry to increase the range and cycle life of lithium-ion batteries. The site currently can produce up to 50,000 metric tons of carbon black annually and Cabot plans to invest to upgrade the capabilities to produce battery grades.

Cabot will run the plant and intends to continue to supply current customers while conducting technology upgrades. The upgrades to manufacturing and environmental equipment will enable the site to manufacture conductive carbon black for battery materials as well as other carbon black products while meeting environmental standards.

Birla Carbon (Marietta, GA) has announced a global price increase for all its Specialty Blacks products effective December 1, 2021. All shipments made on or after this date are subject to the price increase. In a press release, Birla said the price increase was the result of the steady rise in raw material costs and increased costs for freight, logistics, and overall operations. The company did not disclose the amount of the increase. 

Orion Engineered Carbons announced today that next year the company will invest to convert a reactor line at its plant in Ivanhoe, La., from manufacturing soft (or semi-reinforcing) carbon black to producing hard (or reinforcing) carbon black, commonly used in tire treads.

Orion’s CEO, Corning Painter, said in a press release, “With the continued onshoring of tire production to the U.S., the carbon black supply-demand balance is getting tighter, particularly for hard carbon black. To help support this aspect of the automotive tire supply chain, we are going to invest in converting a reactor at our Ivanhoe plant, increasing the domestic supply of hard black by about 30,000 tons per year by mid-2022. Soft black capacity will be decreased by about the same amount.”

On Oct. 27, Cabot Corporation announced the launch of VULCAN® 3-LP carbon black, a new low polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) product for rubber applications. VULCAN 3-LP carbon black is the fourth product in the Cabot LP carbon black series, providing customers with a full suite of carbon black products for the use in applications that require a controlled, very low PAH content, such as consumer rubber goods as well as food and potable water contact applications.

VULCAN 3-LP is a pelletized reinforcing carbon black that is engineered for end-use rubber products that need a higher reinforcement, strength, abrasion and tearing resistance level than semi-reinforcing carbon blacks. The full Cabot LP carbon black series, including VULCAN 3-LP carbon black, is manufactured through a special process to yield a consistent, very low level of PAH that comply with the increasing regulatory requirements and quality certifications across the globe that limit the content of PAH in certain rubber applications and the carbon black used to prepare them.

Key application uses include:

• Consumer rubber applications, such as toys and childcare items, sporting equipment, housing items, tools, clothing and accessories
• Rubber products intended to be taken in the mouth or with foreseeable long and repeated short-term skin contact
• Rubber components that have direct contact with drinking water, including hoses and liners in drinking water systems and pipes and tanks
• Rubber products that have contact with food, such as gaskets, o-rings, seals and food transportation belts

On October 26, Cabot Corporation announced a global price increase for carbon black product sold by its specialty carbons business. The increase is effective for all shipments on or after December 1, 2021, or as contracts allow. The company said in a press release that the price increase was necessitated by the significant rise in prime raw material costs across regions.

In addition, effective for all shipments on or after November 1, 2021, or as contracts allow, Cabot will apply a surcharge on specialty carbon black products produced in Europe. This surcharge is necessary to address the unprecedented and rapid increase in natural gas costs.

On November 1, Orion Engineered Carbons announced a global price increase for its specialty blacks.

On November 1, Orion Engineered Carbons announced it will raise prices for all specialty carbon black customers. The increase, which will be communicated individually, will vary depending on the product, manufacturing process and location.

“Sharply rising raw material, energy and supply chain costs have made the price adjustment necessary. It will enable us to continue to deliver reliable and sustainable solutions to our customers,” said Corning Painter, CEO of Orion Engineered Carbons.

The increased pricing will be effective for all shipments beginning December 1, 2021, or as contracts allow.

On October 26, Cabot Corporation announced a global price increase for its specialty black products.

On Monday, Orion Engineered Carbons announced that effective January 1, 2022, the company is implementing a carbon dioxide (CO2) surcharge on all carbon blacks produced in Europe, to the extent contracts allow.

The official EU Emission Trading System (ETS) aims to support the EU climate neutrality target by 2050 and the intermediate target of at least 55 percent net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990. The EU ETS has entered its fourth trading phase (2021-2030) resulting in additional costs based on direct CO2 emissions for the carbon black industry. As a result, Orion will introduce a respective surcharge to its customers.