Sinopec to up its holding in Australia-Pacific LNG venture

(gulfnews) -- China Petrochemical Corp has agreed to pay USD1.1 billion (Dh4 billion) to increase its stake in an Australian liquefied natural gas development led by Conoco-Phillips and Origin Energy.
Sinopec Group signed a binding accord to boost its holding in the Australia-Pacific LNG venture to 25 per cent from 15 per cent, Sydney-based Origin said yesterday in a statement.

The state-owned Chinese company will buy a further 3.3 million metric tonnes of LNG annually for 20 years, taking its total commitment to 7.6 million tonnes a year.

China plans to more than double its natural gas consumption to cut its dependence on coal and oil. With the completion of the Sinopec Group deal initially announced last month, China has contracts to purchase more than 18 million tonnes of Australian LNG annually, Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said.
"Any number that doubles in China is a huge number," Origin Managing Director Grant King said. "The diagnosis is for robust growth in demand."

The Sinopec Group transaction clears the way for a final investment decision on the second phase of the USD20 billion coal seam gas-to-LNG venture in Queensland state. The companies expect to approve the second stage in "early 2012," Origin said .

MRC

(Lanxess) -- Customized polyamides and polyesters for sustainable mobility concepts and colorants for plastics are the focal points of LANXESS' exhibition at INTERPLASTICA 2012 in Moscow. The leading plastics and rubber fair in Russia and the CIS countries is an ideal forum for the specialty chemicals group to present state-of-the-art innovations such as new lightweight construction methods for car bodywork.

⌠The market for cars in this region has enormous potential. Excellent growth opportunities will open up in the next few years for the engineering polymers that we are developing for low-emission, efficient and environmentally friendly cars such as electrical or hybrid vehicles, said Dr. Werner Breuers, member of the Board of Management of LANXESS AG.


LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 7.1 billion in 2010 and currently around 16,100 employees in 30 countries. The company is at present represented at 47 production sites worldwide.

The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals. LANXESS is a member of the leading sustainable indices Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) World and FTSE4Good.

MRC

(IMCD) -- Altropol Kunstoff GmbH (Germany) and IMCD Group announce a new distribution partnership. As of 2012, IMCD will be promoting the polyols with the trade name "Neukapol" in Europe and South Africa.

The ⌠Neukapol specialties are based on renewable resources and are used e.g. in coatings,
adhesives and sealing compounds.

Altropol strives to always offer the best product for customer needs. Sustainability and responsible use of resources are key for the development of new products according to the latest scientific trends.

IMCD Coatings with its international network and five coatings laboratories worldwide is the ideal distribution partner for Altropol. The ⌠Neukapol polyols complete the IMCD portfolio and are a perfect fit with other resin systems.

MRC

(Husky)-- Husky Injection Molding Systems today announced that it has signed an agreement to sell Injectoplast, the former closure injection molding operation of KTW, to Alpla Holding GmbH (A-6971 Hard, Austria).

Injectoplast was a division of KTW, a closure mold maker that Husky acquired in early 2011. At the time of the KTW acquisition Husky announced that it would be divesting Injectoplast due to potential conflicts with its existing injection molding customers. After completing a thorough process, a deal has been signed with Alpla Holding GmbH. The deal is anticipated to close before the end of the first quarter of 2012.

About Husky ≈ Husky Injection Molding Systems is a leading global supplier of injection molding equipment and services to the plastics industry. The company has more than 40 service and sales offices, supporting customers in over 100 countries.

Husky's manufacturing facilities are located in Canada, the United States, Luxembourg, Austria and China.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Leading Indian polystyrene producer Supreme Petrochem (SPL) has reported a net loss of Rs 7.25 crore for the quarter ended December 31 amid higher cost of inputs and lower demand for end products.

A profit of Rs 15.85 crore was reported by SPL in the same period last year. SPL's total sales for the quarter rose to Rs 499.52 crore from Rs 456.7 crore in the corresponding period last year.

"High input costs, shrinking domestic market due to low demand for end products including household appliances, sluggish export market as a consequence of economic slowdown and political unrest and volatile foreign exchange rates resulted in reduction in overall sales by 11.65 per cent and squeezed margins, adversely impacting the quarterly performance," the company said in a statement here adding it foresees an improvement in the market conditions in the second half of the financial year.

MRC