Lubrizol Advanced Materials started the multimillion-dollar expansion project

(Plastemart) -- Lubrizol, an innovative specialty chemical company, announced that its business unit, Lubrizol Advanced Materials has started the multimillion-dollar expansion project at its manufacturing plant in Louisville, Kentucky. The facility expansion will help to tackle the rising worldwide demand for Lubrizol's TempRite chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) resins and compounds. The expansion is expected t o be completed in 2012.


The Louisville manufacturing facility has been producing CPVC solutions for use in the variety of industrial, commercial and residential piping products. The products are presented under the brand names Corzan, BlazeMaster and FlowGuard. CPVC products have become preferred building materials for a spectrum of applications due to its unique properties, durability, lower material costs, easy installation and inherent temperature and chemical resistance features.


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Amyris Inc. signed a collaboration agreement with Kuraray Co. Ltd.

(Plastemart) -- Amyris Inc. has signed a collaboration agreement with Kuraray Co. Ltd. to develop innovative polymers from Biofene, a renewable hydrocarbon building block made using Amyris's technology. Under the agreement, Kuraray will use Biofene to replace petroleum-derived feedstock such as butadiene and isoprene in the production of specified classes of high-performing polymers. Upon successful completion of the technical development program for the first polymer, Amyris and Kuraray will enter into a supply agreement for Kuraray's exclusive use of Biofene in the manufacturing and commercialization of these polymer products.


⌠We are very excited to partner with Amyris, a leading renewable products company, to develop innovative polymer products with Biofene, said Yasuhiro Yamamoto, director and senior executive officer of Kuraray. ⌠We are confident the new Biofene polymer products will become important additions to our product portfolio and be an integral part of our growth strategy. ⌠We are committed to bringing innovative, high-performing and sustainable products to the polymers market, said John Melo, CEO of Amyris.


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European propylene contract price for August down by EUR 15/tonne

(ICIS) -- The European propylene contract price for August has fully settled at EUR 1.115/tonne (USD 1.593/tonne), down by EUR 15/tonne, market sources said on Friday. This was the second number to emerge as the initial EUR 1.130/tonne rollover settlement on 26 July failed to garner the necessary support from the majority of propylene consumers.


They said the rollover was unacceptable and out of line with reality. One source said that buyers were utterly dismayed because a rollover had been the opening position of most suppliers and that firm offers had already been received at EUR 20-30/tonne reductions.


The opposition to the rollover settlement was primarily because many sources felt it did not accurately reflect the current bearish market conditions. Sources added that it was especially unrepresentative in the light of the August ethylene contract settlement, which was up by EUR 30/tonne at EUR 1.120/tonne. A higher contract price for propylene compared with ethylene would indicate that firmer market conditions prevail, but this is clearly not the case.


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Solvay in JV with Sadara to build plant in Saudi Arabia

(Plastemart) -- Solvay announced that it plans to create a 50:50 joint venture with Sadara Chemical Company (itself a planned joint venture of Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and The Dow Chemical Company (Dow)) for the construction and operation of a Hydrogen Peroxide Plant in Jubail industrial City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.


Scheduled to be operational in the second half of 2015, this new plant is intended to supply Hydrogen Peroxide (HP) as a raw material for the manufacture of propylene oxide (PO) by Sadara at its world-scale, fully integrated chemicals complex. Propylene oxide is used to produce propylene glycol, polyurethanes and glycol ethers. Solvay will use its proprietary, high-yield hydrogen peroxide technology for the world-scale plant.


Dow and Saudi Aramco announced the planned formation of Sadara on July 25, 2011. Building on Saudi Aramco's project management and execution expertise, and utilizing many of Dow's industry leading technologies, the Sadara chemicals complex, comprising 26 manufacturing units, will be one of the world's largest integrated chemical facilities, and the largest ever built in one single phase.


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Formosa Plastics to invest in pipeline improvement

(Plastemart) -- Formosa Plastics Group will invest about USD 413 mln to improve pipelines at a major oil refinery amid fresh safety concerns after recent blazes. The group plans to work on 1,063 pipelines totaling 1,266 kilometres (786 miles) at its affiliate Formosa Petrochemical Corp.'s oil refining unit, as per Commercial Times.


The project is expected to be completed in mid-2014. The economic ministry has demanded of Formosa to speed up replacing old pipelines after the latest blaze was reported this week -- the sixth since last year. The ministry has reportedly halted the group's recent China-bound investment applications in a bid to pressure it to enhance safety measures.


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