Lotte Chemical of South Korea shut down its ethylene cracker in Daesan after an explosion that injured at least 31 people. It also announced an indefinite force majeure on supplies. The explosion occurred on March 4, about 3 am South Korea time from a fire at a compressor unit within the naphtha cracker. The fire … Read more
ExxonMobil Chemical has announced the restart of its Fife ethylene plant at Mossmorran, Scotland. The ethylene plant has been closed for maintenance since August when two out of the three boilers failed. The plant is one of Europe’s largest petrochemical cracker facilities with an ethylene production capacity of 830,000 metric tones per year. “In re-starting … Read more
Reliance Industries announced on 29th Feb that it has acquired a controlling stake in textile manufacturer Alok Industries Ltd for Rs 250 crore ($34.3 million). Alongside JM Financial Asset Rehabilitation Co Ltd, Reliance had a bid to buy Alok Industries which had been auctioned by lenders under the insolvency and bankruptcy law to recover their … Read more
Borealis announces a net profit of EUR 138 million ($151.8 million) for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to EUR 94 million ($103.4 million) in the same quarter of 2018. While the 2018 result was impacted by a one-off impairment charge of EUR 92 million ($101.2 million), the result in the fourth quarter of 2019 … Read more
Univar Solutions Inc. reported a fall in profit for the fourth quarter and full year of 2019. The results were impacted by reduced demand in global industrial markets. In the fourth quarter, the company reported sales of $2.2 billion, up 9.3% compared to the prior year quarter. The company reported a loss of $55.1 million, … Read more
Versalis, Eni’s chemical company, has acquired 40% of Finproject, the Italian leader in the compounding sector and the production of ultralight products, from the VEI Capital fund. The move was intended with the aim of creating value by integrating the respective production chains. This strategic operation will create a new industrial platform that leverages the … Read more
India’s I.G. Petrochemicals reported fall in profit growth in the third quarter 2019 on poor Pthalic Anhydride (PAN) margins. The company has reported net sales of Rs.276.60 crores ($38.6 million) during the period ended December 31, 2019, a decrease of 12.96% as compared to Rs.317.79 crores ($44.3 million) during the prior-year quarter. The company has … Read more
Vinnolit GmbH & Co. KG, a chlor-alkali and vinyls manufacturer announced the completion of expansion work at its paste PVC plant in Burghausen, Germany, and will use microsuspension technology to produce PVC with more flexible properties. “In Burghausen, we are now additionally producing with the microsuspension process, which we have already successfully used at our … Read more
Westlake Chemical Corporation saw lower profits in the fourth quarter of 2019, hurt by reduced global sales prices for its major products. The chemical maker posted a profit of $72 million down around 41% from $123 million it earned in the prior-year quarter. Decrease in profit was attributed to lower global sales prices for key … Read more
Shintech Louisiana LLC, the US subsidiary of Tokyo-based Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd.’s Shintech Inc., announced the start of production at its ethylene plant in Plaquemine, Louisiana. The 500,000-tonnes per year plant started producing ethylene as of Feb. 13, project contractor Toyo Engineering Corp. and subsidiary Toyo USA Inc. said. Earlier this month in a conference … Read more
Linde PLC announced it has commissioned a new air separation unit (ASU) in Freeport, Texas, as part of a long-term agreement to supply MEGlobal Americas Inc.’s new monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant at Oyster Creek petrochemical complex in Freeport. The new ASU will supply oxygen and nitrogen to MEGlobal Oyster Creek for use in its MEG … Read more
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. (MGC) to build a production facility for industrial hydrogen peroxide (IHP) at its Taiwanese subsidiary in order to further develop the company’s business for super-pure hydrogen peroxide (SPHP) used in semiconductor production processes. SPHP is used primarily as a cleaning, etching and abrading agent in semiconductor wafer and device manufacturing … Read more
Ascend Performance Materials, an integrated polyamide (PA) 66 supplier, has signed an agreement to purchase Poliblend and Esseti Plast GD from D’Ottavio Group. The acquisition includes a manufacturing facility in Mozzate, Italy, the masterbatch portfolio of Esseti Plast GD and the engineering plastics portfolio of Poliblend, which consists of virgin and recycled grades of PA … Read more
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is planning to expand Dahej Manufacturing Division (DMD), a petrochemical and downstream manufacturing unit, with an investment of Rs 5,100 crore ($700 million). “Dahej petrochemical manufacturing facility is proposing to set up the new plants and facilities, which includes manufacturing of Ethylene Dichloride (EDC), CHDM, PET-G, establishing New incinerator in VCM … Read more
Linde PLC has recieved a contract to provide technology for PJSC Sibur Holding’s cracker at Amur gas chemical complex (GCC). GCC is an integrated 1.5 million tons per year polyethylene and polypropylene production complex to be built near Svobodny in Russia’s far-east Amur region. The contract was awarded to Linde under a consortium with Sibur … Read more
Linde announced it has started up a new Air Separation Unit (ASU) effectively doubling the production capacity of its existing plant at Mims, Florida. “The expansion is in response to rapidly growing contracted demand for space launch activity,” the company said in its statement. The new plant will increase production to more than 500 tons … Read more
Asahi Kasei announced on 29 Januray that naphtha cracker of Asahi Kasei Mitsubishi Chemical Ethylene Corp. in Mizushima which was suspended on January 14, 2020, was restarted on January 28, 2020. Initially, the suspension of operations was a result of refrigerant-related equipment issues. The restart was delayed from the previously announced schedule of January 24, … Read more
Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, and Nouryon today announced they have signed an agreement for Celanese to acquire Nouryon’s redispersible polymer powders business offered under the Elotex brand (Elotex business). As part of the acquisition, Celanese will acquire all of Nouryon’s global production facilities for redispersible polymer powders across Europe and … Read more
Celanese Corporation announced preliminary plans to expand its emulsion polymers derivatives business to extend the value of its global acetyl chain. “Building on a commitment to our global customer base to be the partner of choice by solving their most critical needs, Celanese will begin key investments in facility expansions as well as expand on … Read more
Turkey and Algeria will jointly establish a petrochemicals plant in Adana on the Mediterranean coast, Algerian Energy Minister Mohammed Arkab told state-run Anadolu Agency. Turkey’s Rönesans Holding and Algeria’s state-owned energy company Sonatrach will take part in the project, Arkab said on the margins of the Turkey-Algeria Business Forum. The petrochemical facility is estimated to … Read more