Aker Solutions plans to buy Norwegian engineering firm

(process-worldwide) -- Aker Solutions announced plans to expand its portfolio by acquiring Sandnessjen Engineering, a Norwegian company specialised in oil and gas engineering.

Oslo/Norway - Aker Solutions grows in Norway: The company has announced plans to acquire the Norwegian engineering firm Sandnessjen Engineering, a company specialised in oil and gas operations as well as civil engineering. "We are pleased that this team now becomes part of Aker Solutions and our rapidly growing engineering network. With the acquisition, Aker Solutions gains a firm foothold in the region, and we hope to grow," says Tore Sjursen, Aker's head of maintenance, modifications and operations.

"Our ambition is to double the company's workforce from the current 24 over the next couple of years. The pace of growth will of course depend on our success in the market and our ability to recruit first-class team members, but generally our markets are strong," Sjursen added.

Aker Solutions already operates a Norwegian office in Troms, that will closely co-operate with the operations at Sandnessjen, company speakers explained. Sandnessjen's former managing director Halvard Lie will continue to head Aker Solutions in Sandnessje.
"We have had a good dialogue with Aker Solutions and we believe will see many positive effects by becoming part of such a large oilfield products, systems and services company. We believe Aker Solutions will offer better opportunities for growth than we would have been able to achieve as an independent company," Lie commented.

MRC

(shanghaidaily) -- CHINA seeks to increase its oil-processing capacity to 600 million tons in 2015, or 12.5 million barrels a day, under a five-year plan for the petrochemical industry.

That's up 25 percent from the 10 million barrels of daily capacity that the Paris-based International Energy Agency estimated China held in 2011.

The nation's average refinery size will rise to at least 6 million tons a year by 2015, according to the plan published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on its website yesterday.

MRC

(Fibre2fashion) -- The traditional textile industry of Changle in suburban Fuzhou, located in east Fujian province of China, will undergo transformation as several projects have been signed for introduction of new technology and upgradation of the textile industry.

A total of 17 projects, with a combined investment of 15.33 billion yuan, have been signed at the
Changle ⌠Love Hometown and Start Business Spring Festival Symposium.
Textile industries dominate the economy of Changle and were facing problems like high energy consumption and high pollution due to their reliance on outdated technology. This, along with the
prevailing high labour cost, was reducing the competitiveness of the Changle textile industry.

Last year, the Changle government outlined plans aimed at transforming and upgrading the textile industries. This included schemes for financing, technical upgradation and brand promotion. There was also a consensus among entrepreneurs to introduce new technologies at their manufacturing plants.

At the Symposium, a contract was officially signed for the Jingfen chemical fibre project. Jinjiang Spinning Co. Ltd., Shanli Chemical Fibre Industry Co. Ltd. and Fujian Jinlun Fibre Shareholding Co. Ltd. also announced investments in major high-tech projects that include projects related to value-addition.


The new projects would also boost production capacities of various firms that are engaged in the production of caprolactam (CPL), Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA), fabrics and garments.

MRC

(reuters) -- About 150,000 tonnes of mainly heavier naphtha grades will be shipped to Asia from the
Mediterranean in March, but a shortage in Europe is likely to halt further shipments to Asia.

The volumes are mainly heavy full-range and heavy naphtha, grades which can be used to make
paraxylene, a material needed in polyester manufacturing and production of PET bottles.
Open-spec grades, or those with a higher paraffin content, are usually used for cracking into ethyleneand propylene needed to make plastics.

Prices in Northwest Europe of most naphtha grades were rising as supplies were shrinking on refinery outages and shutdowns due to monetary losses. The strong European market may even result in Gulf/Asian naphtha barrels being shipped to the West in what traders term as 'reverse arbitrage'.

"The February East-West values are now at a discount, but March prices are still in a high single-digit premium. So there could still be a chance that Asia may keep the Gulf/Asian barrels," said another trader.

MRC

(polyestertime) -- Singapore-based Indorama Corporation plans to invest up to Rs 1,000 crore within three years in India to set up three manufacturing facilities to produce spandex fibre, used in various applications like stretch denims and sportswear.


The company, which is present in India through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Indorama Industries Ltd, has already invested Rs 400 crore for its first plant at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh. Two new units will come up at the same location.

"In the next three years, when all the three plants are completed the investment will reach Rs 1,000 crore," Indorama Corporation Managing Director Amit Lohia said. The company would fund the expansion process through a mix of debt and equity, he added.


The Baddi plant, which will be commissioned next month, has a capacity of 5,000 tonnes per annum to produce its branded spandex product 'Inviya'. "With the commercialisation of three plants, our total capacity to produce Inviya will treble to 15,000 tonnes per annum over the next three years," Lohia added.

The company, which exports polyester yarn to India, is looking to cash in on the high growth of
spandex utilisation in the country. According to the company estimates, the consumption of spandex in India is nearly 6,000-7000 tonnes per annum, all of which is imported.

MRC