Borouge introduced a range of polypropylene materials

(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.

MRC

(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.

MRC

(Reuters) -- Gazprom Neft's Moscow refinery is offloading oil products on schedule after putting out a fire at a power substation, a Gazprom Neft spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday. "The incident will not affect the offloading of oil products on the Moscow market. The loadings are on schedule," she said. Traders told Reuters that the refinery had stopped oil products loadings on Friday following the fire.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Chevron's 220.000 bbl/day UK refinery at Pembroke in Wales remains fully operational following an explosion and fire at the site which killed four workers, the company said on Friday. The blast happened at 18:20 local time (17:20GMT) on Thursday in a 730 cbm (cubic metre) storage tank while maintenance work was being carried out, local police said. "The refinery remains fully operational, however, we would emphasise that at this difficult time, our main priority is the welfare of our employees," Chevron said in a statement.

Police and the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are jointly investigating the cause of the explosion, however early indications suggest it was a "tragic industrial accident", Chief Superintendent Gwyn Thomas, of Dyfed Powys Police, said. A fifth contract worker is being treated in hospital for serious injuries sustained in the blast, which also damaged an adjacent storage tank.

Chevron has agreed to sell the refinery to US-based Valero for USD 730m (EUR 504m). The deal is expected to close in the third quarter. Valero said on Thursday it was too early to know what effects, if any, the incident will have on the sale.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Malaysia's Johor state government has accepted plans to set up a petrochemical plant by a Taiwan-based petrochemical company previously rejected at home over environmental concerns. Protesters in Malaysia debate about the standard of the country's Preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment (PEIA) methodology vis a vis Taiwanese standards. The country's Pasir Gudang and Pontian local councils had reportedly approved the project despite having no formal application.


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