Crimea Titan reached record production capacity in 2011

(titanexport) -- 2011 saw Crimea TITAN produce 108 069 tones of its main product which is an all-time best record since the foundation of the plant. To compare: 2010 saw 105 681 tones of titanium dioxide produced. Original design capacity of the plant amounted to 80 thsn. tones of titanium dioxide per year.

Breakthrough in production capacity was possible due to large-scale modernization of the plant as well as determined professional effort from the plant workers.

MRC

Petrochemical holding Sibur disposed non-core tyre business

(sibur) -- Petrochemical holding company SIBUR has completed the sale of 100% of OAO SIBUR-Russian Tyres (SRT) to a group of investors including the management of SRT and Vadim Gurinov, former CEO of Russia's largest tyre manufacturer.


The disposal follows the restructuring of SRT with the sale of two of its non-core plants: OAO SIBUR-Volzhskiy, a manufacturer of synthetic fibres, which was acquired by CJSC Gazprom Stroy TEK Salavat and OAO Volzhkiy Nitrogen and Oxygen Plant, which specialises in commercial grade gas production and was sold to the ROEL Group.

"The sale of our non-core assets for the production of tyres and fertilizers has been very efficient and we look forward to maintaining a mutually beneficial partnership with the new owners on feedstock supply," commented Dmitry Konov, CEO of SIBUR. "The new structure of SIBUR will allow us to focus on developing our core petrochemical business of gas processing and the production of polymers, organic synthesis products and synthetic rubbers."

The deal was completed on 29 December 2011.


MRC

Bemis Clysar introduces new polyolefin shrink film

(clysar) -- A high-performance polyolefin films supplier, Bemis Clysar introduces single-source printed polyolefin shrink film with high-impact, 360-degree graphics for multi-packs and bundled items, including juice minis, wipes canisters, personal care products, automotive supplies and promotional products.

Strong enough to replace wrapped paperboard trays or paperboard sleeves, Clysar printed shrink film is said to deliver a more production-friendly, sustainable solution than traditional multi-pack formats. "Printing polyolefin shrink film poses a unique set of challenges due to the thin gauge and balanced shrink characteristics of the film," explains Vicki Larson, Clysar's marketing manager.

Bemis Clysar adds, multi-pack operations utilizing printed shrink film can be fully automated, eliminating the hand assembly and slow speeds of many traditional packaging operations. Replacing traditional multi-component tray, film and label packaging with printed shrink film saves up to 69% in material and offers sustainability improvements throughout the package's life, the company claims.


MRC

Nissan-Renault alliance recorded in sales last year

(bbc) -- The Renault-Nissan partnership's global vehicle sales increased 10% last year to a record high.

Deliveries by the two car companies and their Russian partner AvtoVaz rose to 8.03 million vehicles, up from 7.28 million in 2010.

Renault-Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn announced the results at the Detroit motor show.

The rise has been attributed to a rebound in the US car market and strong demand from China.

Japanese car makers suffered major disruptions to production in 2011 due to the earthquake and tsunami in March and the floods in Thailand.

Despite this, Nissan's deliveries jumped to 4.67 million cars and light trucks.

Nissan's factories and production lines were not as badly hit as rivals Toyota and Honda.

Nissan was able get production back up to 80% of its capacity by mid-May and said it had recovered fully by September.

Mr Ghosn told reporters in Detroit that passenger car sales role 8.9% in the US and about 10% in China. Nissan's chief Carlos Ghosn is hoping to increase market share in 2012.

MRC

Saudi Aramco to sign a final deal with Sinopec to build a new oil refinery

(Arabian oil and gas) -- Saudi Aramco is set to sign a final deal with China's Sinopec Group on 14 January, to build a new 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) oil refinery in Yanbu, according to a Reuters report.
Under the initial agreement, Aramco will hold a 62.5% stake in the joint venture formed to develop the project, now rebranded as Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Co (YASREF), with Sinopec owning the rest. Construction of the refinery, located on the Red Sea, is now underway.


The refinery is slated to process heavy crude from Saudi Arabia's Manifa oilfield, which is currently under development to reach an output of 900,000 bpd by 2014.


Sinopec is partnered for a mammoth natural alcohol plant with Kayan under a USD130 million contract.


MRC