Two days in Marina Bay

A visit to Marina Bay Sands in Singapore for the inaugural UTECH Southeast Asia in November showcased why the region’s PU industry is poised for growth

Shortly after rescuing Elizabeth Swann from the ocean – in the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – rogue pirate Jack Sparrow cut her bodice so she could resume breathing. “I’d never have thought of that,” says one of the dim-witted soldiers tasked with keeping the ships in Port Royal secure. “Clearly you’ve never been to Singapore,” replied Captain Jack.

It’s a line I have struggled to understand since the film’s release back in 2003. Having now travelled to Singapore, I still don’t understand it. I didn’t learn how to revive drowning heroines or how to release a bodice, but I did learn a lot about the ambitions and focus of the polyurethane industry in South East Asia.

As is usual with these features, I am obliged to point out that UTECH Southeast Asia is organised by Crain Communications, the company that publishes this magazine. And it is the first-ever UTECH Southeast Asia. It is not, however, the first UTECH show in Singapore. In fact, the first UTECH show to be held outside Europe was UTECH Asia (as it was then known) in Singapore in 1993. The show would be held again in 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2005, before the axis of the industry in the region shifted towards China.

But now the axis is shifting: China’s economy has suffered in recent years, and this has been to the benefit of countries in South East Asia, including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and, in particular, Vietnam. So UTECH has headed back to the region, this time at the magnificent Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. Being a new show, UTECH Southeast Asia was two days long, rather than the usual three. But that didn’t stop the show having an active and engaging conference programme.

On the first day, analyses of the market for polyurethane products and precursors were given by several speakers, including Leo Yang of PUdaily (talking about the dynamic interplay between the polyurethane markets of China and South East Asia). ICIS’s Shannen Ng gave an insight into the polyurethane industry in Asia, looking at precursor chemicals. She noted, for instance, that there has been a downward year-on-year demand for imported propylene oxide (PO) in China – but within that trend there has been notable growth in imported PO from Thailand. Giving a more anecdotal account of the industry,

Stefan Hermes, chairman of the Asian Polyurethane Business Association (APBA), looked at the market for comfort foams and technical foams in the region.

Hermes later joined myself and Will Collins of Argus Media’s Recycled Polymers Service to discuss the road map for sustainable polyurethane production in South East Asia. Hermes took a rather pessimistic stance by saying that there isn’t a road map for sustainable PU production in the region and it simply isn’t going to happen when the renewable feedstock is so much more expensive than fossil fuel-based raw materials. Collins, meanwhile, debunked the notion that it would be uneconomical to drill for oil mainly for petrochemical use rather than fuel use. In summary, the conversation led to discussion on the imperative for international, intergovernmental stimulus to
ignite sustainable PU production in the region.

Another panel discussion later the same day saw our editor talk with PUdaily analyst Cecilia Cai, Jason Wu from BASF and Jose Junior Naraval of Ikea about the potential of the South East Asian polyurethane market. This struck a rather more optimistic tone, with the panel largely in agreement about the region inheriting growth from China’s decline.

Naraval, material and technology engineer – foams, material and innovations – at Inter Ikea Group, kicked off the presentation with a lively discussion (including his hilarious, and quite uncanny, impression of English as spoken by his Swedish colleagues) on Ikea’s sustainability objectives: “Circular foam for the many”.

After lunch, the presentations resumed with a talk on digitalisation in flexible slab stock foam production processes from Michael Krebs of Evonik. Michael Krebs is no stranger to the UTECH stage, having picked up the Flexible Foam Innovation Award at April’s UTECH Europe Awards in Maastricht, Netherlands. The award was given for Tego Rise, Evonik’s software for virtual modeling of foaming processes. Krebs spoke in Singapore about Tego Rise, this time looking at a practical example of its use: reformulating a foam after the phase-out of stannous octoate (because of its reclassification as a chemical toxic to reproduction). Krebs explained how the software could be used to
manage the transition from Evonik’s Kosmos T9 stannous octoate catalyst to its Kosmos T900 tin catalyst.

Wu, head of business management – footwear, sport and leisure polyurethanes – at BASF, gave a presentation entitled “Sustainable pathway of BASF Polyurethanes: transforming towards a greener future”. Wu looked at the growing drive away from fast fashion and towards sustainability in sports and footwear, with an emphasis on not just the use of sustainably materials but also designing with recyclability in mind.

Richard Stevenson of Econic spoke about his company’s CO2-to-polycarbonate polyols process, talking about new licensees of the technology and explaining how Econic was able to demonstrate the production of viscoelastic foams made using redeemed-CO2 polyols.

Jason Xu, product director for polyurethane Asia-Pacific at Dow Singapore, gave a talk on Dow Polyurethane’s sustainability journey, with specific relevance to the South East Asia Region. And Ryan Tan of Wanhua gave the last presentation of the day: “Innovation and solution introduction of polyether polyols”.

The second day started with a presentation, “Improved properties of sandwich metal panels with modified isocyanates components”, from Ilhan Kurt, head of research and development at Pearl Polyurethanes. The Dubai-based firm has recently made a foothold in the South East Asian market by opening its first systems house in the region, in the Dong Nai province in south eastern Vietnam.

Kurt was then joined on stage by Pearl CEO Martin Kruczinna and myself (breaking the fourth wall here, because I can’t bear to write about myself in the third-person) for a lively discussion about sustainable polyurethane solutions for construction in South East Asia. Panel discussions at conferences can fall flat but, thanks to an alert and enquiring audience, the discussion considerably overran its allotted time. Once again a one-sentence summary of the discussion would be: shared despair of the lack of standards and harmonisation across the region.

More market analysis followed with Brian Leonal of Argus Media looking at “Complexity and volatility: unpicking the market and price drivers for isocyanates and polyols in Asia”. Leonal showed how price fluctuation in isocyanates and polyols is caused by competition for precursor chemicals across various chemical industries. Leonal showed there was some predictability, when tracing cycles of competing industries, but the market can be distorted by sentiment.

The morning’s presentations were concluded by Ray Mun Chan, technical account manager at Altair. In his talk, “Designing with simulation: expand the possibilities of polyurethane foam”, Chan explained how Inspire PolyFoam software from the Troy, Michigan-based multinational information technology company could be used to simulate polyurethane moulding, to cut time and expenditure in product development.

James Zhao, technical marketing manager at Cardolite Chemical, hosted the first post-lunch session with “Bio-based polyols, diols and diluents for EV PU applications”. Cardolite has developed several technologies utilising cashew nut shell liquid (CSNL). As CSNL comes from a resource that is usually discarded (cashew nut shells), its production doesn’t compete with agricultural land for food or fodder. And it’s a resource that is in good supply in the region (Vietnam is the world’s third-largest producer of cashew nuts, Philippines is sixth, and Indonesia 10th).

The final presentation of the second day was given by Chow Wai Mun, sales manager at Cannon Far East: “Cost-effective machinery: high-pressure mixing heads for today’s needs in polyurethane processing”. Mun said that mixing heads are the most critical component in a foam maker’s arsenal. The highlight of the presentation was a short video showing Cannon’s Quick Color Change (QCC) technology. Foams were mixed and dosed into individual cups, each with a different colour – red, then yellow, then black – without changing heads and without leaving a residue of the previous colour in the next foam.