Huntsman Corp. returned an ethylene unit to normal operations in Texas

(Bloomberg) -- Huntsman Corp. returned an ethylene unit to normal operations at its Port Neches, Texas, chemical plant after a ⌠power blip caused an interruption in operations, according to a filing with state regulators. The power interruption at the ethylene oxide unit caused the flaring of ethylene and ethylene oxide, the company said in a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

⌠The ethylene unit returned to normal operation as soon as the ethylene oxide unit was restarted yesterday, Anne Knisely, a spokeswoman based at company headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas, said in an e-mail today.

The facility, called a cracker, splits oil products like naphtha and liquefied petroleum gases through pressure and heat. Outages can increase prices for ethylene and propylene as companies turn to spot markets to help them meet supply contracts. The plant is 100 miles (161 kilometers) east of Houston.

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(ICIS) -- French industrial gases firm Air Liquide expects to double its annual sales revenue from Singapore to USD 813m by 2015, with three new facilities built at Jurong Island, a company executive said on Friday. The company's Singapore Oxygen Air Liquide (SOXAL) unit inaugurated its Jurong Island infrastructure expansion on Friday. Jean Marc de Royere, chairman and CEO of Air Liquide Asia Pacific and senior vice president of the Air Liquide group, said at the inauguration that the company expects to invest more in Singapore. He also told ICIS that he expects China to overtake Japan as a major revenue contributor to the company in three years' time.

Japan is the company's biggest contributor from the region with sales at USD 1.74 bln against Asia Pacific sales of EUR 2.6 bln in 2010.

China generates just half of Japan's contribution, but growth in China is very strong, de Royere added.

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(Plastics Today) -- Specialty thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) supplier Merquinsa (Barcelona, Spain) has opened its first office in China to provide TPU product training, application development and technical sales & marketing support to local users. The Guangzhou operation is headed up by technical sales manager Stephen Xu. Merquinsa global business manager Jean-Marc Galvez (right) toasts Guangzhou office opening with customers and distributors.

Speaking at the company's Innovation Award Ceremony and Dinner held during the recent Chinaplas show in Guangzhou, global business manager Jean-Marc Galvez said the new office would spearhead the companies efforts to raise its China sales to 30% of global sales by 2015.

Merquinsa highlighted the development of a 62% bio content TPU grade for electronic applications at Chinaplas: Pearlthane ECO D12T80. The soft, transparent, UV- and scratch-resistant grade targets cellphone applications, among others, and features 40% less CO2 emissions.

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(Plastics Today) -- During the recent Chinaplas show in Guangzhou, Borouge (Singapore), introduced a range of polypropylene materials manufactured at its new plant in Abu Dhabi, UAE, specifically developed for the manufacture of non-pressure pipes used in gravity sewage and drainage applications in infrastructure and industry.

The flexible lightweight pipes produced from these materials are also easy to handle and install, and they provide a long maintenance free life being resistant to the corrosion and cracking that occurs in rigid concrete and asbestos cement pipes.

A prime example is the high stiffness Stormboss twin-walled drainage pipes produced in New Zealand by Waters and Farr (Onehunga) from BorECO BA415E polypropylene. These products have reportedly gained a reputation amongst engineers for being tough and durable solutions in a number of applications, including flood control and highway drainage.

In Iran, BorECO BA415E was successfully introduced for the production of internal wastewater pipelines used in luxury high rise buildings, hotels and villas. The pipes are of multi-layer construction comprising of a PP outer/inner layer and a mineral filled central PP layer for acoustic insulation.

In industrial applications, BorECO BA212E, a high modulus (HM) PP block copolymer grade, is being used for the production of spiral wound non-pressure pipes for industrial sea intakes, outfalls and large diameter sewage systems in Europe and the Middle East. The latest example is in Abu Dhabi, where local pipe producer Union Pipe Industries is using the Bauku spiral wound technology to produce a 3 metre diameter PP pipeline for a local refinery project. This is the first pipeline of its kind to be produced in the Middle East and has been pioneered by Borouge in close cooperation with the system owner, consultants and customer.

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(ICIS) - -LyondellBasell declared force majeure on polyethylene (PE) following a power failure earlier in the week at its plant in Morris, Illinois, sources said Thursday. The power failure occurred on Sunday following high winds and lightning, according to a filing with the National Response Center. An ethylene storage tank was overloaded because of the power outage and was at risk of exploding, the report stated.

Depending on how long the outage lasts, producers might use the force majeure, and subsequent supply disruptions, to lend strength to a proposed 5 cent/lb (USD 110/tonne) price-increase nomination that most sources said rolled over from May to June. But one buyer suggested the outage will not last long and will have little to no impact on a fairly well supplied market.

The Morris plant includes a 549 KTa ethylene unit, a 295.4 KTa linear low density PE (LLDPE) unit and a 275 KTa low density PE (LDPE) unit, according to the ICIS plants and projects.

The cracker was also off line, a market source said, adding, however, that the outage was unlikely to impact the overall US ethylene market balance because monomer consumption at the site was captive.

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