Fire nearly halts production at LyondellBasell site

HOUSTON (Houston News) -- A fire at LyondellBasell's oil refinery in the Houston Ship Channel this afternoon sent huge clouds of black smoke into the sky and all but halted fuel production at the sprawling facility.

The fire started at about 2:30 p.m. at one of two crude distillation units at the plant and raged for an hour before company firefighters put it out, according to LyondellBasell spokesman David Harpole. Neither the cause of the blaze nor the damage to the unit was immediately known.

No workers were reported injured in the fire, however, two firefighters were being treated for heat exhaustion after battling the blaze, Harpole said. The 268,000 barrel per day Houston plant is the nation's 16th largest oil refinery, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

MRCMRC Reference

LyondellBasell. The share in the Russian market in 2008:
PE - 1.4% (including HDPE - 2.5%, LDPE - 0.3%);
PP - 4.1% (including block-copolymers - 9.5%).

Annual sales growth in Russia, during the recent 5 years:
PE - 27%;
PP - 88%.

The leader in the following polymers processing technologies:

pipe extrusion;

film extrusion;

injection molding.

(Plastics Today) -- Continuing difficulties in the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) market and the rapid rise of its next-generation copolyester have prompted chemical and plastics manufacturer Eastman Chemical Co. (Kingsport, TN) to reassess its portfolio, with the previously announced strategic review of its PET unit to be concluded this summer. On April 23, the company announced that it was considering a sale of that business, hiring financial management and advisory firm Merrill Lynch to assess its options.

At a May 13 event in Kingsport to celebrate the official opening of its new Tritan copolyester production line, Mark Costa, executive VP specialty polymers, coatings, adhesives and chief marketing officer told PlasticsToday that Eastman hopes to make a decision about the unit's fate this year. "We have been clear that the PET business obviously hasn't performed to our expectations," Costa said. "We have launched a strategic process to examine who would be the best owner of that business, whether it's us or someone else. We think it's a very attractive business, and there is very strong interest in that business as we run that strategic process."

MRC

MOSCOW (SIBUR) -- Federal authorities have accepted Sibur's project of a new polypropylene production complex in Tobolsk, Siberia. The project is admitted to be fully respectable to all the egineering conditions and appropriatable to all the Federal standards.

The complex will produce 500,000 tons of polypropylene a year. Its annual output of polypropylene, used in food containers and textile fibers, is now 220,000 tons. It is expected to be launched at full capacity at the end of 2012.

MRC

MRC Reference

Sibur Holding is the largest Russian petrochemical group.

Shareholders:
Gazprombank (70% minus 1 share);
Gazfond (25% plus 1 share);
5% reserved for option program.

The share in the Russian market in 2008:

polyethylene - 11.1%;

polypropylene - 16% (including PP-random - 11.2%);
ABS - 5.2%;
PVC - 8.1%.

(plastemart) -- A ban on manufacturing, importing, exporting and selling "baby bottles made of BPA-based products" has been approved in France by a majority of deputies this week. The government bill named "Grenelle 2" (which details the "national commitment for the environment"). But for actual implementation, bills need to go through review and vote in the Assemblee (French parliament), which was accomplished this week, when 314 French deputies approved the "Grenelle 2" against 213 deputies that disapproved this bill.

After this first national ban on baby bottles made with BPA-based products, further initiatives could reinforce the fight against BPA in France. The author of the related amendment, French deputy Mr.Bapt, already detailed his goal: to achieve "the total ban of BPA in food packaging designed for children up to 3 years old" taking the example of a similar ban already in place in Denmark. The main threat cited in the amendment detailing the ban is BPA's effect on disrupting the endocrine system. The French amendment defining the ban of selling baby bottles made of BPA-based products includes a requisite for the French government to accurately follow the progress in INSERM - French National Institute for Health and Medical Research's study. The French government has also been asked to inform the French parliament of its initiatives (past and future) towards reducing the human exposure to endocrine disrupting substances; thus including not only bisphenol-A, but also phthalates, the most widely used substances as PVC plasticizers.

MRC

(plastemart) -- Indorama Ventures, the world's second largest PET producer, saw a 20% growth in net profits this year following its acquisitions in Europe. The company is keen to acquire more polyester plants in Russia, India, China and Brazil with the expectation of a adding to profits. The company expects to start the new projects in Q3 with funding to finance the projects from the company's internal working capital and bank loans. The three projects, worth Bt2 bln, were acquisition of PTA and PET plants in Italy from Dow Chemical, expansion of the Rotterdam PET plant by 190,000 tpa to total capacity of 390,000 tpa, and energy integration at Rotterdam through the acquisition of a co-located power and utility plant from Air Products.

MRC