News from Notch Consulting, Inc.

Phillips Carbon Black Ltd., a part of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, has commissioned an eight MW power plant at its carbon black plant in Mundra, Gujarat, India.

On June 14, the International Carbon Black Association (ICBA) awarded certificates of recognition to 12 Birla Carbon sites for achieving a level of safety performance above the industry average. The ICBA awarded twelve gold awards to Birla Carbon plants across North and South America, Europe, and Asia. The sites include the company’s two R&D centers in the United States and India. These sites are recognized at the Gold level for their safety efforts for the calendar year 2020. Of the 12 sites, seven sites have consistently received the Gold rating for the third consecutive year.

In a press release announcing the awards, Joe Gaynor, Chief Legal, Risk, and Sustainability Officer, Birla Carbon, said, “Despite the challenging times which were faced due to the pandemic, Birla Carbon continued to build and maintain its culture of safety, globally. All our plants maintained the highest safety standards for all employees.”

This recognition was started by the ICBA to acknowledge outstanding safety records and educate policymakers and the public about the carbon black industry’s regard for making employee safety a pre-condition for successful operations. It is a voluntary program where the participating companies submit the previous year’s safety performance data, which gets certified by the company’s members on the ICBA Board of Directors. Awards are given in three categories, Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

Monolith Materials (Lincoln, NE) has announced new investments to support its growth in the areas of carbon black and clean hydrogen. The new investments come from a consortium of investors led by Korea’s SK Inc. and includes NextEra Energy Resources, LLC and Perry Creek Capital. This round also included additional investments from current Monolith funders Azimuth Capital Management, Cornell Capital, and Warburg Pincus. The additional funds will support Monolith’s further development of commercial-scale, clean hydrogen manufacturing technology. According to the company, Monolith Materials is the first U.S. manufacturer to produce “green hydrogen” on a commercial scale using its proprietary methane pyrolysis process. This allows the production of clean, economically sustainable hydrogen using 100% renewable energy. Monolith Materials plans to collaborate with SK on expanding global markets for green hydrogen while also working with NextEra Energy Resources on North America growth opportunities.

Monolith Materials is currently in the operating stage of its first commercial-scale carbon black production facility in Hallam, Nebraska. The new facility uses renewable electricity to convert natural gas into carbon black and hydrogen. Monolith also recently announced plans to produce clean ammonia at a second phase production facility nearby.

On June 1, Cabot Corporation announced a price increase for all carbon black products sold by its Reinforcement Materials segment in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, effective July 1, 2021, or as customer contracts allow. All Black Pearls®, CRX®, Endure®, Propel®, Regal®, Sterling®, Spheron® and Vulcan® carbon black products will increase by €115 per metric ton, in addition to any applicable index-related adjustments. According to a press release announcing the move, the price increase is necessary to address rising costs associated with manufacturing, regulatory and environmental compliance, packaging, and logistics.

This increase in the EMEA region follows a previous announcement on May 12 that Cabot was raising prices by $0.06 per pound on all carbon black products sold by its Reinforcement Materials segment in North America, effective July 1, 2021, or as customer contracts allow. According to Cabot’s press release, this price increase is necessary to address the increasing costs to provide reliability and supply assurance to customers as the industry continues to rebound strongly from the COVID-19 crisis and experiences rising utilizations in line with long-term fundamentals. At the same time, Cabot is investing approximately $200 million in NOX and SO2 reduction projects to meet requirements related to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) national enforcement initiative to control air emissions from carbon black manufacturing facilities. Cabot’s operating costs are increasing substantially as these systems are put into service to meet industry deadlines in 2021 and 2022. In addition, Cabot is making significant investments in its manufacturing network to maintain and enhance equipment reliability to meet strong customer demand even at high plant utilizations.

In addition to the price increase, effective for all shipments made on or after July 1, 2021, to the extent allowed under customer contracts, Cabot will apply a feedstock surcharge of $0.05 per pound to all carbon black products sold by its Reinforcement Materials segment in North America. This replaces the previously announced feedstock surcharge of $0.03 per pound that was effective as of October 1, 2019. According to Cabot, the increased feedstock surcharge is necessary to address the rising premiums for rubber carbon black feedstock relative to fuel oil indices in North America. These premiums are being driven by changes in the crude oil refining industry, which in turn has been affected by the IMO 2020 regulations, reduced demand for gasoline since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, and several severe weather events.

On June 3, Birla Carbon (Marietta, GA) announced a price increase for all products produced in the Americas by US$170/ton. All shipments made on or after this date are subject to the increase. In a press release, Birla Carbon said that the increase is attributable to increasing costs in freight, logistics, and overall operations, as well as investments required to meet environmental regulations and ensuring sustainable operation of our facilities.