Novamont & Genomatica made a joint venture of first European industrial plant for biobased BDO

(plast-world) -- Genomatica, a San Diego based producer of green chemicals has entered into a joint venture with leading bioplastics producer Novamont for the first industrial plant in Europe producing butanediol (BDO) directly from renewable feedstocks.

Novamont plans to use the biobased BDO for the synthesis of its biodegradable polyester Origo-Bi instead of the BDO currently in use that is derived from fossil fuels. In the future, the technology platform based on BDO may also be used for the formulation of new bioplastics. Novamont will have a majority of the equity in the newly formed joint venture, and Genomatica a minority interest.

Under the agreement, Novamont is converting the existing Bioitalia amino acids plant in Adria, Italy into a facility to produce biobased BDO using the process developed by Genomatica.


If all goes according to schedule, the plant, which has a projected capacity of around 20,000 tons/yr, should start producing bio-BDO by the middle of 2013.The performance of biobased BDO meets the standards set for petroleum-based BDO and lifecycle analyses show that its production consumes close to 60% less energy than acetylene-based BDO.

MRC

(fibre) -- Honam Petrochemical Corporation is adding a new polypropylene (PP) line at Yeosu with a capacity to produce 300,000 tons of PP per annum.

With the addition of this new capacity, Korean PP capacity of Honam, which had merged with Titan in 2010, will touch 1.2 million tons per year.

Honam operates PP plants at two locations in South Korea. One is in Daesan which has two lines, with a capacity of 500,000 tons per year.

The other PP plant is located in Yeosu which too has two production lines, with a capacity of 400,000 tons per annum.

The erection of the new PP line will be over by February 2012 and commercial production is expected to commence in early-April, a Honam official informed fibre2fashion.

He also added that Honam Petrochemical also operates PP plants in Malaysia with a production capacity of 480,000 tons per year.

MRC

(export.by)-- This week Indian officials are going to come to Belarus to recommence talks about purchasing shares in the Belarus-based company JSC Belaruskali.

Joint Stock Company "Belaruskali" is one of the world's biggest producers and it is the biggest producer and supplier of potash mineral fertilizers on the territory of the CIS.

Canadian and Russian potash market participants with JSC Belaruskali are the main suppliers of potash. They control over 55% of the whole production in the world.

JSC Belaruskali offered India 20% of shares in the company. The stake is estimated at USD 6 billion, but Indian officials regard the price as too high.

Meanwhile, the valuation of the deal is not the only obstacle in closing the bargain.

MRC

(ivl) -- To improve the production and marketing efficiencies of the Indorama Ventures joint venture Trevira GmbH, management of the company will reorganize and consolidate the strategic location of all its filament yarn production by moving its texturizing capacity from Zielona Gora in Poland to Guben in Germany, where Trevira already has production facilities.


This reorganization is expected to enable the business to lower its cost structure and serve customers more efficiently. The move is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.

MRC

(ivl) -- Indorama Company (IVL), Thailand's largest polyester producer, announced its plan to construct a world-class, state-of-the-art and integrated facility in India containing PTA (Purified Terephthalic Acid), PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) and PSF (Polyester Staple Fiber) plants fully-integrated with a third party Paraxylene producer. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Indorama Synthetics (India) Limited to enter into a joint venture that would construct and utilize the offtake of the plants.

Mr. Aloke Lohia, Group CEO and founder of Indorama Ventures said, "India today is a fast-growing market that is demanding attention from the world's fast moving consumer goods companies, who are our customers. It is imperative that we are there to serve these customers and the emerging local producers who will be consuming more and more PET and PSF over the next decade. We are looking at the long term double digit growth in demand for such products and feel this is the right time to move into the market. "

The large-scale project is expected to cost around USD 700 million. Details of the capacity and location are expected to be made public once formal negotiations have been completed.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, listed in Thailand is a leading producer in the polyester value chain in Thailand with strong global network and manufacturing across Asia, Europe and North America. Its products serve major players in diversified end use markets, including food, beverages, personal and home care, health care, automotives, textile, and industrial. The company's main products are PTA, PET and Polyester fibre, which are distributed across the world. IVL has approximately 8,920 employees worldwide and last 12 months consolidated revenue of USD 5.5 billion.

MRC