Petron acquires 40% stake in Petrochemical Asia

(plastemart) -- Oil refiner Petron Corp. has acquired 40% stake in Petrochemical Asia (HK) Ltd. (PAHL), with an option to raise its interest to 51%. PAHL is the parent firm of Philippine Polypropylene Inc. (PPI) which operates a polypropylene (PP) plant in Bataan. Nameplate capacity at the PP plant is 160,000 tpa of polypropylene, that can be expanded to 225,000 tons. Feedstock will be provided by Petron's refinery with capacity to produce 140,000 tpa of propylene.

MRC

Sabic presented two new HDPE grades

SITTARD (SABIC) -- SABIC's two new High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) grades for Industrial Container applications - SABIC HDPE ICP4907S and SABIC HDPE ICP5602 - are commercially available for the global market from now on. Both grades meet the latest market challenges offering an optimal balance of properties, improved processing behavior and the potential to reduce system costs. The structure of the two SABIC grades open up new opportunities for noticeably energy and material savings and cycle time reductions - which support converters to improve their cost-efficiency as well as their sustainability performance.

MRCMRC Reference

Sabic. The share in the Russian market in 2008:
PE - 0.2%;
PP - 0.4%;
PS - 0.2%.

Annual sales growth in Russia over the last 5 years:
PE - 33%;
PP - 62%.

Styron introduces new impact polystyrene line

(Styron) -- Styron announced today the commercial availability of its transparent grade for food packaging converters in Europe. STYRON C-TECH Polystyrene is the new transparent High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS), an extension of the well-known STYRON A-TECH family of polystyrene products.

STYRON C-TECH Polystyrene can be used in all types of rigid food packaging applications with great aesthetics and excellent organoleptics against traditional transparent blends. In particular STYRON C-TECH Polystyrene has also been successfully introduced into the bakery and delicatessen market through BOPS (bi-oriented polystyrene) sheet extrusion.

MRC

Formosa to determine naphta cracker launch deadline next week

(plastemart) -- After gauging damage caused by a fire at its 700,000 tpa naphtha cracker, Formosa Petrochemical Corp will determine the duration of the shutdown by next week. A very small fire inside the pipe is making it unfeasible for the company to fully assess the damages or the duration of the shutdown. The site is estimated to shut for 2-3 months as the base of the distillation tower, wires, cables and a pyrolysis gasoline unit were damaged.

MRCMRC Reference Formosa

The share in the Russian market in 2008:
PVC-S - 3.0%;

PP - 0.4%.

Annual growth sales in Russia :
PVC - 79 % (over the last year) ;

PP - 272 % (over the last 3 years).

Supply by processing technologies:
profile extrusion

film extrusion

Chemtura files new reorganization plan

(prw) -- Chemtura and 26 of its US affiliates have filed a revised reorganisation plan and related disclosure statement with the US Bankruptcy Court in New York.

The plan, like a previous version filed on 17 June, was filed with the support of the company's official committee of unsecured creditors and the ad hoc committee of its bondholders.

A significant provision of this latest plan follows the conclusion that, in order to resolve certain asserted diacetyl liabilities, Chemtura's Canadian subsidiary, Chemtura Canada Co./Cie, intends to file for protection along with the current US debtors under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.

MRC