Formosa restarts 700 KTa No. 1 naphtha cracker

(Plastemart) -- Formosa Petrochemical Corp has restarted operations at its 700,000 tpa No. 1 naphtha cracker at 65% capacity. The cracker has been shut down since a fire on May 12, as per Reuters. It will a matter of a less than a week that the cracker will start running at full tilt.

A 1.2 mln tpa No. 3 cracker has been shut for a 40-45 days maintenance in mid-August, while its No. 2 cracker is running at full-tilt. Its 540,000 bpd refinery was completely shut following a separate fire in end-July. Run rate at the refinery has been restored to nearly 75%, after restarting its three crude units in stages. However, one of its two 84,000 bpd residual fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) is still shut and will not restart this month because another fire on Sept. 6 at an alkylate unit has caused it to conduct additional safety checks.

MRC

(Plastics Today) -- In Germany, the Plastics and Rubber Machinery group within the country's machine manufacturing trade association, the VDMA, says its members expect exports of plastics and rubber machinery to continue to rise. Last year saw a robust recovery in foreign deliveries by German plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers, according to the VDMA, with annual growth of 25.6%. Despite that surge, exports fell far short of the record achieved in 2008.

Germany is the leading exporter of plastics and rubber processing machinery. According to the VDMA, the countries with the biggest sales markets all boast significantly above-average growth rates. China ranks first with a 67% increase, followed by the U.S. with 60%, India with 95%, Russia with 80.1%, Mexico with 96.8% and Turkey with 87.3%.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- South Africa-based petrochemicals group Sasol Ltd. along with its partners Uzbekneftegaz and Malaysia's Petronas, has agreed to install a gas-to-liquids (GTL) project in Uzbekistan, signing an investment deal with the country's Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Investment and Trade. Production at the facility will comprise high quality, environmentally friendly diesel, kerosene and naphtha.

The subsequent phase of the venture involves front-end engineering and designing of the plant that is expected to start by the end of 2011. Following the final investment decision, the GTL project will come online in the second half of this decade. As per the feasibility study conducted by Sasol, the venture has the prospects of building a GTL plant in Uzbekistan with an estimated nominal capacity of 1.4 mln tpa. Sasol and state-owned oil company Uzbekneftegaz hold a 44.5% interest each, while Petrona controls the remaining 11% stake.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) and ECO Plastics have formed a pioneering joint venture - a first for the UK recycling and beverage industries, the new business will be known as Continuum Recycling Limited. The name reflects the fact that the joint venture company will establish a continuous process for re-processing plastic bottles in Great Britain. Used plastic bottles will be recycled in Lincolnshire and the high quality materials produced will be re-used in new Coca-Cola bottles.

Jonathan Short, Managing Director of ECO Plastics said: ⌠Today's news is important because it demonstrates again our commitment and progress towards realising what will be a revolutionary project for the British recycling and beverage industries. I'm delighted that we are on track to deliver against the ambitious project timetable. ⌠ECO Plastics' plant is already the largest and most sophisticated in Europe and we will now be able to increase capacity from 100,000 tpa to 140,000 tpa of mixed plastic bottles, just under 50% of the total collected last year.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Asian petrochemical shares declined on Friday along with product prices, following heavy sell-offs in the equities and commodities markets overnight on heightened concerns that the global economy is heading towards another recession.

Markets are on their second day of rout, following the US Federal Reserve's comment that the US - the biggest economy in the world - faces ⌠significant downside risks. Asia's stock markets are reacting on Friday to the 3.51% decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average overnight.

At 13:29 hours Singapore time (06:29 hours GMT), South Korean producer LG Chem was down by 5.07%, SK Innovation declined by 6.96% and Honam Petrochemical fell by 6.19% as the KOSPI composite index dropped by 5.56% to 1,700.47. Japanese markets are closed on Friday for a public holiday.

In Malaysia, PETRONAS Chemicals Group was down by 1.08%, with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia down by 1.11% at 1,372.37.

Thailand's petrochemical major PTT Chemical was down by 5.99%, while Siam Cement Group fell by 4.41%. The Thai SET index fell by 4.30% at 947.98.

MRC