Ramco will not purchase Vinyls Italia

(Polimerica) -- The group, headquartered in Qatar, has informed the Italian government that it is no longer interested in the purchase of Vinyls Italia, a major PVC manufacturer under bankruptcy proceedings. This nullifies months of negotiations and a "quasi-agreement" reached just days ago in Rome with ENI, the petrochemical group, top management.

One step from signature, after months of negotiations with the ENI group to purchase the plants in the chlorine-soda supply chain along with Vinyls Italia CVM and PVC, in a letter to the Ministry of Economic Development, Ramco stated to be no longer interested in the operation, referring the presumed difficulties encountered during negotiations.

Failure of the negotiations appears to be due to a lack of agreement on the purchase price of the Vinyls Italia business (yet expressly listed in the tender) and the salt works held by the ENI group, as well as to the lack of authorization for a quay within the Porto Marghera petrochemical industrial park.

MRC

OTTAWA (Marketwire) -- The Competition Bureau announced today that Solvay Chemicals Inc. has been fined $2.5 million by the Federal Court after the company pleaded guilty to criminal charges for fixing the price of hydrogen peroxide sold in Canada.

The Bureau's investigation revealed that Solvay Chemicals Inc. conspired with competitors to fix the price of hydrogen peroxide in Canada between July 1998 and December 1999. Solvay's total sales of hydrogen peroxide in Canada during this time period were approximately $15 million. Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical oxidant and bleaching agent used mostly in the pulp and paper industry. It is also used in the environmental, chemical, textile and food processing industries.

"Price-fixing is a crime that deprives consumers and businesses of lower prices and product choice,"said Melanie Aitken, Commissioner of Competition. "Eliminating illegal cartels continues to be a top priority for the Bureau."

MRC

(plastemart) -- Saudi Arabia-based Al-Waha Petrochemical Co's 450,000 tpa polypropylene (PP) unit was taken offline this week owing to a technical issue at the Al Jubail site. The facility had only recently come back on stream following scheduled maintenance. Cause of the shutdown is unknown.

MRC

(prw) -- Polyamide producer Aquafil Engineering Plastics of Italy has appointed Ultrapolymers as a new distributor for its product range in the UK and Northern Ireland.

Ultrapolymers said it will focus on application developments with its customers utilising Aquafil's core product strengths. These include a speciality portfolio including semi aromatic, high modulus and impact modified grades; Colour - full compound or XB patented technology; commodity PA6 grades; the first UL Environmental accreditation for any recycled PA.

David Viehoff at Ultrapolymers said: ⌠We are delighted to represent a company that meets our customer needs. AEP has an economic business and flexible plant setup capable of fast turn around for new developments, small lot orders and regular production. They are a forward thinking technical company with a flair for development. This partnership will be appreciated by current and potential customers alike.

MRC

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.