SIBUR reaches agreement on sale of Novokuibyshevsk Petrochemical Company

(SIBUR) -- SIBUR has officially reached an agreement on the sale of CJSC ⌠Novokuibyshevsk Petrochemical Company to investors, which represent the controlling group of the company ⌠Samaraorgsintez.


The latter company did not fit in the industrial structure of SIBUR due to the remoteness of the distant location of the company's raw materials in West Siberia.


Despite the sale of this asset, SIBUR will continue to cooperate with enterprises in regards to a number of products according to market conditions within the scope of the company's ongoing business activities.


MRC

Saudi Ma'aden and Sahara Petrochemical Company to create a caustic soda and EDC plant

(US-SABC.org) -- The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) and Sahara Petrochemical Company (Sahara), which is 90 % owned by Zamil Group Holding, have established a new joint venture that will create a caustic soda and ethylene dichloride (EDC) plant. The USD 750 mln (SR2.81 billion) project, located within Sahara's complex in Jubail Industrial City, will produce 250 KTa of caustic soda and 300 KTa of EDC.


The two companies also agreed to use the procured caustic soda in the production of alumina for Ma'aden's refinery in Ras Azzour. The joint venture arrangement follows the announcement by both companies last year that they received the approval of the Saudi Industrial Development Fund to provide USD 240 mln (SR900 million) in project financing.


MRC

JBF Industries to set up 1.12 mln tpa PTA project at Mangalore

(Plastemart) -- A delay in JBF Industries' Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) project in Oman has led tot delayed o the decision by the company to set up a 1.12 mln tpa PTA project at (SEZ) Mangalore.


JBF Industries is a leading manufacturer of polyester chips, partially oriented yarn and polyester processed yarn/specialty yarn with plants at Silvasa and Valsad.


MRC

Netstal plans to install PET preform technology in Brazil

(Plastics Today) -- Netstal is aiming to chip away at Tetra Pak's dominance of the Brazilian dairy market, with plans to install its two-layer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) preform technology in the South American country by the end of the year.


There are some blowmolded plastic bottles for dairy currently on the market in Brazil, according to Zavaglia, but they utilize a label across the entire container to protect the milk from UV light exposure. Netstal's system first injects an opaque, black core, which is then overmolded with a white PET, creating a fully UV-protected container that doesn't require a complete sleeve.


This will be the first time this technology is deployed in Brazil, with the only other system in the world running in France. The 24-cavity mold actually utilizes 48 cores, with one set in white and the other in black. The black preform is injected first, and then the mold opens, the cores move, and white is overmolded. Zavaglia conceded that Tetra Pak is the runaway market leader but said even chipping away a few customers would be a huge victory for Netstal.


MRC

Higher sales pushed up the first-quarter profits of PTT Aromatics and Refinery Plc

(Bangkok Post) -- Higher sales and margins pushed up the first-quarter profits of PTT Aromatics and Refinery Plc (PTTAR) and PTT Chemical Plc (PTTCH), whose shareholders endorsed their merger last month.


PTTCH, Southeast Asia's largest olefins maker, posted a net profit of 6.18 billion baht, up 95% from the same period in a year earlier. Revenues rose 49% to 35.37 billion baht.


The company said it benefited from higher olefins production volume from the PTT Polyethylene Co (PTTPE) cracker, which started commercial operations last December. As well, it saw gains from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and ethanolamines (EA) production at Thai Ethanolamines Co (TEA) which started operations in January 2011, and the low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit of PTTPE, which started commercial operations in February this year.


MRC