Evonik Industries and Saudi Acrylic Acid Company established a joint venture

(Plastemart) -- Evonik Industries and Saudi Acrylic Acid Company (SAAC) have established a joint venture called Saudi Acrylic Polymers Company (SAPCo) for the production of superabsorbents. SAAC is a joint venture of the Saudi companies National Industrialization Company (Tasnee) and Sahara Petrochemicals. The production facility with the capacity of 80,000 metric tpa is scheduled to begin production in late 2013. The total investment will be in the triple-digit million Euro range. The EPC-contract will be assigned to Fluor. The SAPCo superabsorbent production is part of a new acrylic acid and derivative complex on the Tasnee premises of the Al Jubail Chemical Park in Saudi Arabia and will benefit from favorably priced propylene feedstock from the adjacent cracking facility operated jointly by Tasnee, Sahara and Lyondell Basell.

MRC

(Yonhap) -- South Korean chemicals maker SK Global Chemical Co. said Friday that it broke ground for a petrochemical plant in Singapore that will serve as the company's production base in the Asian region.

Jurong Aromatics Corp. Pte. (JAC), a joint venture of SK Group's affiliates and other global firms, will funnel US$2.4 billion into the plant to be built in a petrochemical complex on Singapore's Jurong Island.

The plant will have an annual production capacity of 4 million tons of petrochemicals -- 2.6 million tons of refined oil products such as jet fuel and liquefied petroleum gas and 1.4 million tons of chemicals such as paraxylene and benzene, SK Global Chemical said.

The plant will begin operations in the third half of 2014, the company said.

MRC

(Chemical Engineering) -- Air Liquide (Paris) announced that its engineering and construction division has signed a contract with the Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group (SNCG; China) to build a 500 KTa methanol-to-propylene (MTP) plant. The new plant will follow the successful commissioning of the first industrial scale unit built with the same client.

The contract comprises the basic engineering, license and supply of proprietary equipment, as well as services for procurement and technical advisory services at the site. The large-scale MTP plant is based on technology licensed by Lurgi. SNCG, in close cooperation with the Lurgi team, played an important role in the commissioning and startup phases of the first MTP plant, thereby helping to prove the success of the Lurgi MTP technology at industrial scale.


The unit will be built in Ningdong, in the Chinese province of Ningxia. The engineering phase for the contract is to be completed within about eight months.

MRC

(MRC) -- Pipe PE100 prices are growing in the Russian market before planned shutdowns, according to ICIS-MRC Price report. The Russian market of pipe PE, unlike other consumption sectors, was on the sidelines quite a long time. Amid weak demand for finished PE pipes and sufficient supply of cheaper uncoloured PE100 (so-called uncoloured matrix), many Russian pipes producers were in no hurry to renew their feedstock. But last week this market segment had an upward rise in prices.

In mid-August, due to the technical problems, a major Russian supplier of black PE100 Kazanorgsyntez delivered polyethylene on the domestic market with interruptions. Besides, on-coming maintenance stop of HDPE production in Kazan and a tight feedstock supply last week boosted buying activity. In the beginning of the week spot price of Kazan PE100 started from RUB 60.700/t, including VAT, FCA Kazan. By the end of the week, it had reached RUB 62.500/t, including VAT, FCA. This week prices made RUB 63.000/t including VAT, FCA, at that a further price growth is expected.

In August, Nizhnekamskneftechem supplied a considerable amount of black PE100 to the domestic market. Pipe PE is offered so far only in North-West federal district for RUB 62.500/t, including VAT, CPT St. Petersburg. It is possible, that in September Nizhnekamskneftechem will increase pipe PE supplies due to growing demand.

Export prices of European coloured PE100 for August supplies to FSU markets made EUR 1.150 - 1.250/t, FCA. In Europe, ethylene contract prices for September delivery fell by EUR 5/t compared to August. Export prices of pipe PE from European producers have not been announced yet, but it is possible that they will remain in August level.

MRC

(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council has ⌠verbally requested that the state-back Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) tries to reach an amicable settlement with Dow Chemical over disputes following the cancellation of the USD 17.6 billion ⌠K-Dow joint venture, before any judgment is handed down.

Under the deal, cancelled by Kuwait in December 2008, K-Dow Petrochemicals was to be a USD 17.4 billion multinational 50/50 joint venture between Dow and PIC in which the company was to become the leading global supplier of petrochemicals and plastics.

Under the joint venture agreement, both parties committed themselves to an arbitration process in case of disputes, and a liquidated damages clause of USD 2.5 billion. Dow Chemical has reportedly stated the damages they are seeking may be in excess of that amount. The SPC is now verbally urging the PIC to do a deal outside the formal arbitration process.

MRC