AkzoNobel net profits up 76%

(BFNWire) -- Dutch chemical giant Akzo Nobel's net profits rose to ┬273m in the second quarter - up from ┬155m last time - with revenues up 13% at ┬3.9bn.

Strong revenue gains were achieved in the higher growth markets in all business areas.

MRC

DPP calls to stop Formosa's expansion projects

(Taiwan News) -- A call to prohibit continuation of Formosa's expansion projects has been made in Taiwan. The Formosa Plastics Group should not be allowed to continue expansion of the sixth naphtha cracker on account of frequent accidents, said the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. The government has been urged to set up a nation wide framework to handle industrial accidents as the current fire emergency equipment at the plant in Mailiao, Yunlin County, is insufficient. Since the plant started operating 18 years ago, there have been several incidents at the site, while there are also more cases of cancer registered in Mailiao than in any other Yunlin County township.

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

Dow tests new polymers recycling technology

(prw) -- Dow is set to run a one-day pilot test to determine if plastic waste can be used as fuel in its operations. The trial will take place before the end of the month at Dow's headquarters in Midland, Mich.

During the test, plastic waste of all shapes, sizes and resin types will be burned in order to recover its energy, Dow plastics sustainability leader Jeff Wooster said in a 21 July interview.

Waste used in the test has been provided by Dow employees, customers and partners. Most of the waste will be composed of polyethylene and polypropylene, Wooster said, while items that are already commonly recycled ≈ such as PET and HDPE bottles and PE stretch film ≈ won't be used in the trial.

MRCMRC Reference

Share in the Russian market, 2008:

polyethylene - 2.5% (including LLDPE - 33.1%);

polypropylene - 0.8% (including PP-impact - 1.1%);

polystyrene - 2.6%.

Annual sales growth in Russia, recent 5 years:

polyethylene - 55%;

polypropylene - 28%;

polystyrene - 2%.

Imports by processing technologies:

pipe extrusion;

film extrusion;

sheet extrusion;

foaming.

Russian profile extrusion sector to recover in 2011

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PVC consumption in the profile extrusion sector totaled to 543,5 kt in 2009, which was 23% less comparing with the previous year - according to "PVC in Russia - 2010" MRC Annual report.

The structure of domestic supply changed last year. Sayanskhimplast (+6%), Sterlitamak-based Kaustik (+1%) and Plastkard (+2%) increased supplies to the profile extrusion sector.

At the same time, foreign PVC producers (Xinjiang Tianye, Xinjiang Zhongtai, LG Chem, Formosa and Ineos ChlorVinyls) cut down their supplies by 30-35%. In 2010, Chinese and US feedstock has been dominating Russian imports.

Analysts say that the recovery of the pre-crisis growth rates is expected not earlier than in the second half of 2011, or even in 2012. New Law "On Energy Saving and Increase of Energy Effectiveness" is going to be a good stimulus for the recovery.

In 2009, profile producers continued to invest in modernization of their production capacities. According to MRC assessments, 127 complete lines with total capacity of 114.000 tpa were installed in the market.


MRC

More detailed analysis of PVC processing capacities and PVC consumption by sectors, markets and types of finished goods by each converter is available in "PVC in Russia - 2010" MRC Annual report.

Indian Oil to build another giant refinery

(plastemart) -- In a bid to meet rising demand for petroleum and petrochemical products, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is considering the option of setting up another greenfield refinery with a capacity of 14-15 mln tpa at an investment outlay of Rs 15,000-20,000 crore. The proposed refinery is likely to be located on the West Coast.

MRC