Ford Motor opens new factory in Chongqing

(newsflanders-chinabe) -- Ford Motor Co opened its fourth passenger vehicle assembly plant in China. The new USD490 million factory in Chongqing will initially produce the latest Focus compact model.

With a yearly output of 150,000 units, it will take the annual capacity of Ford's Chinese passenger vehicle joint venture, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile, to 600,000 vehicles. The opening of Chongqing Assembly Plant 2 is a crucial step in Ford's stated plan to introduce 15 vehicles to the country by 2015. Ford said Chongqing will become its second-largest manufacturing center in the world by production capacity, after Michigan, once two additional plants under construction are completed next year.

Ford executives say they also plan to expand production at the newly opened Chongqing assembly plant over time. The new facility is able to produce six different kinds of vehicles, including the Focus. Joe Hinrichs, Ford's President for Asia-Pacific and Africa, said production capacity in China will be devoted to the Chinese market. Ford sold 519,390 vehicles in China in 2011, 7% more than the year before. By comparison, Volkswagen's China sales rose 18% to 2.26 million vehicles and GM sales rose 8.3% to 2.55 million.

"We think for the rest of this decade the Chinese market will grow on average about 5%," Hinrichs said. Namrita Chow, Analyst at IHS Automotive, said the new Chongqing plant will give Ford a much-needed lift in a tighter market. "Chinese consumers are moving upwards. They want bigger cars," Chow said. "The interior regions are going to have much more growth, she added. The move to the interior ⌠is Ford's plan because it's really aiming to compete with the big players in China" .

MRC

(chemicals-technology) -- The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) is planning to construct an oil and gas processing and petrochemical complex near Baku, Azerbaijan.

The project, which is expected to cost around EUR13bn, is scheduled to start in 2020. SOCAR and the Azerbaijan government will invest 30% into the complex, while the remaining amount will come from private investors.
The complex will have 30 processing plants and a thermal power plant, and will process 10mt of oil and 10bn m? of gas.

SOCAR vice president Tofig Gahramanov was quoted by europeanplasticsnews as saying that the complex will also produce 670,000t of polyethylene and 550,000t of polypropylene. The complex has received interest from companies in Japan, the US, Korea and Italy, according to Gahramanov. SOCAR said the payback period of the project is between six and seven years.

Formed from the merger of Azerneft and Azneftkimiya, SOCAR is involved in the exploration of oil and gas fields, oil and gas production, processing and transportation, and the marketing of petroleum and petrochemical products.

SOCAR has its head office in Baku and representative offices in Bucharest, Frankfurt am Main, Geneva, London, Istanbul, Vienna, Astana and Tehran.

MRC

(polyestertime) -- Retail demand in several emerging markets will grow at double digit annual average rates in the in the five years to 2016 according to a new report by Textiles Intelligence.

The fastest growth will be in China and India, where demand is set rise by an average of 16.9% per annum in
each country. Double digit growth is also forecast for Indonesia (13.3% per annum), Russia (12.0% per annum),
Saudi Arabia (11.7% per annum), Turkey (11.4% per annum), Peru (10.3% per annum) and South Africa (10.1%
per annum), while growth in the high single digits is expected in Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Thailand.

By contrast, demand in a number of major Western European countries is set to grow only modestly between
2011 and 2016.

MRC

(polyestertime) -- Nestle Waters North America Inc. has committed to incorporating 50 percent recycled content in previously virgin-material bottles for its Arrowhead brand of spring water, using food-grade PET from CarbonLite Industries LLC's new recycling plant in Riverside.

Nestle will buy one-third of the USD58 million plant's output. Separately, bottler PepsiCo Inc. has agreed to purchase 40 percent.

Nestle chose the Arrowhead brand for the recycled content because it is bottled primarily at the Nestle Waters bottling plant in Cabazon, CA, 40 miles east of Riverside, where the plant is located, Verespej writes.

PepsiCo did not specify how much recycled content might include in any of its beverage containers, according to Plastics News. Paul Boykas, vice president of global public policy for PepsiCo, noted, "We believe in investing in sustainable growth for people and for the planet."

MRC

(lukoil) -- LUKOIL Mid-East Ltd (West Qurna-2 project operator) has signed several major contracts for the West Qurna-2 field infrastructure development in Iraq based on the tender results.

The contract with Samsung Engineering (Korea) sets out 29 months to construct 5 well pads with 67 development wells, 5 gathering lines, a central processing facility (CPF), a water intake on the Euphrates River and a water pipeline to the CPF, a power supply system and a field camp. The contract also covers utilities for water treatment, distribution and disposal (including formation water), fuel gas extraction, instruments, drainage systems, commercial oil storage tanks and pumping facilities, administration buildings, workshops, warehouses, chemical analytical laboratory, fire station, central control room and other facilities.

ENKA Insaat (Turkey) has been contracted for construction of a gas turbine power plant. This facility includes three bi-fuel industrial gas turbines by General Electric (USA) 42 MW each, a gas treatment unit with gas compressors, a diesel fuel loading, storage and distribution system with two tanks 2,500 cubic meters each, a power distribution system with step-up, step-down and auxiliary transformers and switch gears, a diesel generator, a control room, utility and infrastructure installations. The works are planned to be completed within 27 months.

Entrepose Projets/Rosco (France/Jordan) has been contracted for extension of the existing tank farm at the Tuba oil export terminal, namely construction of three oil storage tanks 66 thousand cubic meters each as well as state-of-the-art automation, remote control, power supply and fire fighting systems. The works are planned to be completed within 22 months.

These are turnkey contracts that cover engineering, construction and supply of required materials and equipment by the contractors.

MRC