Sipchem started construction operations to build plants of Phase III projects

(Arabian oil and gas) -- Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) has started construction operations to build plants of Phase III projects. ⌠The first of these two plants produces ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and low density polyethylene (LDPE), the company said in a statement. ⌠The second plant produces ethyl acetate and butyl acetate. Both plants will be located in Jubail Industrial City, it added.

The 200 KTa vinyl acetate plant will be operated by the International Polymers Company Limited, an affiliate of Sipchem, founded in 2009, owned by Sipchem (75%) and Hanwha Chemical. of South Korea (25%).

The total cost of the project is estimated at approximately USD 800m, and slated for start up during the second quarter 2013.

GS Engineering & Construction is the main contractor of the project, and has already started works on the site. The project will utilize ExxonMobil's technology. Sipchem has already signed a technology license agreement with ExxonMobil.

MRC

(BASF) -- BASF SE and INEOS AG have received approvals from all relevant antitrust authorities for the formation of the joint venture Styrolution. Closing is effective as of October 1, 2011. From this date on Styrolution operates independently.

BASF and INEOS have combined their global business activities in styrene monomers (SM), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), styrene-butadiene block copolymers (SBC) and other styrene-based copolymers (SAN, AMSAN, ASA, MABS) as well as copolymer blends into the new joint venture, Styrolution. The business with expandable polystyrene is not part of the transaction. BASF and INEOS will retain their respective businesses.


The company headquarters will be located in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. In the JV 50% of the shares will be owned by BASF and 50% by INEOS. Styrolution will have sites in Germany, Belgium, France, Sweden, Korea, India, Thailand, the USA, Canada and Mexico. In 2010 the joint venture had pro forma sales of about EUR 6.4 billion and employed approximately 3,400 people.

MRC

(Lanxess) -- From October 1, 2011, specialty chemicals company LANXESS will market its foundry-grade chromite sand to customers around the world direct from its own chrome ore mine in Rustenburg, South Africa. LANXESS is already among the world's top producers of chrome ore for chemical applications. "In the future, we will also make our chromite sand available for a wider range of industrial applications," said Dr. Andreas Eickhoff, head of Strategic Marketing Chrome at LANXESS. "Through integration of the supply chain from mine to end-user, all from a single supplier, we can provide the foundry industry with high-quality chromite sand products of consistently high quality," he added.

Chromite from LANXESS comes exclusively from the company's own mine and is noted above all for its low content of minor minerals. Because it always comes from the same mine, consistency of quality is guaranteed - a very important factor for the foundry industry. With backwards integration through to the actual mining of the ore, customers are also ensured of maximum reliability of supply.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Royal Dutch Shell's Singapore refinery has cancelled the lifting of 4 mln barrels of Saudi Arabian Light crude. It is also in the process of shutting down a chemical complex on lack of feedstock to feed the plant after a fire forced the closure of its biggest refinery, as per Reuters. Du eto the shutdown of the adjacent 500,000 bpd refinery, Shell is unable to meet supply commitments on naphtha and monoethylene glycol for October. Hence Shell has declared a force majeure on output from the complex. Force majeure has been declared for October naphtha supplies to Petrochemical Chemical of Singapore (PCS) and to customers who buy the MEG.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Orissa High Court may lift the restriction imposed on construction of a water intake system on Mahanadi river in Cuttack for Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL)'s Paradip refinery project, subject to a proposal by IOCL to invest a substantial amount on peripheral development, when the petition filed by it for modification of order imposing the restriction is taken up on October 19. The bench has hinted that it expected IOCL to take up peripheral development in the form of dredging of Mahanadi river around the land mass where the construction work was undertaken for the water intake system, increasing the capacity of the reservoir of barrage at Jobra and strengthening the river embankment along Ring Road. The court further expected "supply of drinking water from the intake well for Cuttack city through the public health department".

Construction work of the intake system had stopped since July 30. The high court had imposed restrictions on it on July 29 in an interim order. The IOCL had filed a petition for lifting the restrictions stating that water was one of the main utilities and essential for commissioning of the refinery project as per schedule in March 2012.

The intake system is required to be completed and commissioned by September 2011 so as to carry out trial running and commissioning in next two months to be in readiness to supply water to the refinery project by November 2011.

MRC