Huntsman to expand Texas ethylene oxide plant


(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- The performance products division of US chemical producer Huntsman plans to add 250 million lb/year (about 113,000 tpy) of ethylene oxide (EO) capacity at its manufacturing plant in Port Neches, Texas. Huntsman already has 1 billion lb/year of annual capacity at the Port Neches facility.

The performance products division of US chemical producer Huntsman plans to add 250 million lb/year (about 113,000 tpy) of ethylene oxide (EO) capacity at its manufacturing plant in Port Neches, Texas, the company announced late Thursday.

The new capacity will be added to Huntsman's existing 1 billion lb/year of annual capacity at the plant, the company said. The expansion of EO capacity at Port Neches will leverage Huntsman's integrated EO derivatives production currently in place at the site to produce surfactants, ethanolamines, specialty chemicals and ethylene glycol (EG).

⌠The expansion of our ethylene oxide capacity enables Huntsman to leverage the favorable North American ethane cost position, which will benefit our intermediate chemicals and has an attractive projected return on investment, said Stu Monteith, president of Huntsman Performance Products.

Janice Latz, vice president of operations for performance products, said the company's new EO capacity should help allay customer concerns about having access to sufficient EO to support their growth.

⌠The Port Neches EO reactor will enable us to utilize currently untapped derivative capacity within our assets and meet future needs to match our customers' growth, she said.
MRC

Engel and Plastisud to make joint venture for China

(plastech) -- To meet the specific needs of the Chinese market more effectively in future, the mould manufacturer Plastisud has joined forces with Engel Austria, the producer of injection moulding machines, to form a joint venture.

Under the name of Green Cap, they are offering turnkey solutions for the production of sealing caps for water and soft drinks containers in China.

Around the globe, demand for caps and closures is expanding by around five percent per year - and China is the world's largest market in terms of volume. The world's most populous country is imposing increasingly stringent requirements on packaging products and their manufacture: the weight of packaging needs to be reduced, quality needs to be raised and uncompromising performance must be delivered with maximum energy efficiency. ⌠The Chinese market is very demanding. Chinese customers request nothing but the best, emphasises Walter J. Jungwirth, Director New Business Development at Engel Austria in the Austrian town of Schwertberg.
MRC

Erema shows best fiscal year ever

(plastech) -- Erema continues with the positive development of recent years. The Austrian manufacturer of recycling best fiscal year of all time.

This result represents an increase of 40 per cent compared to the previous year and is also around 25 per cent up on the former record year 2007/08 prior to the economic crisis. Erema produced 200 recycling systems and 100 individual components (such as screen changers and pelletisers, for example) for customers around the globe in the fiscal year which has just ended.

Erema Engineering Recycling Maschinen und Anlagen Ges.m.b.H. located in Ansfelden near Linz offers plastic recycling systems for both the in-house recycling of production waste and strongly contaminated post-consumer waste.
Together with its subsidiaries Erema North America Inc. in Ipswich, MA and 3S GmbH in Roitham near Gmunden the company has been committed to a consistent and sustainable growth strategy for many years, which can be seen in the consolidated group turnover for 2011/12 at approx. EUR127 million.

MRC

Sinopec breaks ground inTianjin on USD1pt 75bn project

(news.szenergy) -- China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) announced Wednesday that the corporation's joint venture with Saudi Basic Industry Corporation (SABIC), Sinopec SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical Company Limited, celebrated the foundation laying of its 260,000 ton polycarbonate project in Tianjin, Global Times reported.

The total investment of the project will be about 11 billion yuan (USD1.75 billion). The project was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission on January 13, 2012. Given the rapid development of the electronics, automobile, information and construction material industries of China, demand for engineering plastics such as polycarbonate is increasing, the newspaper said.
MRC

China's polyester markets shows downturn on high inventory levels

(news.szenergy) -- China's polyester markets, which started to show signs of a recovery last week, made a downturn once again after a three-day holiday as polyester fiber inventory levels remained high, market sources said Thursday.

As a result, the sentiment in the purified terephthalic acid and monoethylene glycol markets weakened as demand for the two key polyester feedstocks fell again.

China's polyester chain markets started to recover last week, driven by rising textile sales. According to market sources, textile sales in China hit over 6 million meter earlier last week, the highest level since the Lunar New Year holidays.

The sales/production ratio in the polyester markets also rose last week; and market sources said the ratio was at 150-200% compared with below 100% a few weeks ago.

But the sales/production ratio started to retreat from the weekend and was pegged at 50-60% this week.
MRC