China's Shandong Petrochemicals to build new downstream facility

(chemmonitor) -- A new petrochemical manufacturing facility will appear in Binzhou City (China). The unit will produce propylene as well as isobutylene. Its total annual output will amount to up to 0.22 million tonnes.

Shandong Chambroad Petrochemicals, a domestic company, will operate the plant. It selected US-headquartered UOP to provide the process technology to the new facility.

Financial data of the agreement concluded between the firms and the project's cost were not revealed.

The startup will be in around 2 years.

MRC

(chemmonitor) -- The Mexico-based company Idesa and the Sao Paulo-headquartered Brazilian petrochemicals manufacturer Braskem formed a JV Braskem Idesa, which together with the US-based corporation GE will start polyethylene (PE) complex.

It will result in reduction of Mexico usage of the imported product used in manufacturing and packaging. GE applies the plant with its compressor technology.

Currently, Mexico has to import more than a half of all locally used PE.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- A new polymeric flame retardant for use in extruded (XPS) and expanded (EPS) polystyrene applications has been introduced by Albemarle Corporation.

With this, the company has expanded its Earthwise platform of sustainable product. This new technology, licensed from Dow Global Technologies LLC (DGTL), a subsidiary ofThe Dow Chemical Company, will be commercialized under Albemarle's Earthwise brand and provides a stable, high molecular weight, non-PBT (Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic) polymeric technology for use in these demanding applications.

This new technology is expected to become the preferred choice to meet critical fire safety requirements for both XPS and EPS. Albemarle's agreement to manufacture and sell this premium technology confirms the company's commitment to provide customers with sustainable, innovative fire safety solutions that meet the increasing demands of global regulations and standards, such as energy efficiency and sustainable design for these thermal insulation materials.

MRC

(Reuters) -- Chemical maker LyondellBasell Industries NV's quarterly revenue missed Wall Street's expectations and its profit was drained by high supply costs in Europe and Asia.

The mixed results -- profit narrowly beat expectations -- highlight the growing advantage North America has in the production of ethylene. LyondellBasell's European chemical plants use pricey crude oil-derived naphtha to produce chemicals, a process that is much more expensive than in the United States, where cheap natural gas can be used to make the same products.

"U.S. ethylene manufacturers are in a great competitive position relative to other producers," Chief Executive Jim Gallogly said in a statement. Despite the high costs in Europe, the company should see "positive momentum" for the rest of the year

In January, LyondellBasell mothballed its Berre, France, refinery, which employs 370 workers, due to poor European margins. The company said it would try to attract a potential buyer within two years. The closure dented profit at the company's refining and oxyfuels unit, which makes gasoline and other products.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- China's petrochemical industry expanded at much slower pace in the first quarter amid the economic slowdown, according to data released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) as per X inhua.

Petrochemical industrial production rose 16% annually to reach 2.4567 trillion yuan (USD 391.3 billion) in the first quarter, decelerating further from 22.1% in Q4-2011, according to NDRC. From January to March, the petrochemical sector processed 114.91 mln tons of crude oil, up 3.1% year-on-year, while refined oil products added 5.5% annually to reach 69.15 mln tons, according to NDRC. Investment of the petrochemical sector, however, kept rapid growth during the first quarter, with the combined investment amounting to 202.4 billion yuan, up 33.5 percent year-on-year.

MRC