NOVA to sell North American styrenics unit to PFB

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- PFB Corp. has agreed to acquire performance styrenics business of Canada's NOVA Chemicals, including the expandable polystyrene (EPS) and ARCEL resin products. PFB says the acquisition will underpin a vertically-integrated, construction-materials focused product offering in the US.

PFB Corp. has agreed to acquire performance styrenics business of Canada's NOVA Chemicals, including the expandable polystyrene (EPS) and ARCEL resin products, the companies said late Wednesday.

NOVA says it will acquire an equity stake in PFB and hold two seats on PFB's Board of Directors following closing. Financial terms were not disclosed.

NOVA Chemicals and PFB said they expect definitive agreements to be executed during the second quarter, and closing to occur during the second half of 2012.

The acquisition is subject to the definitive agreement being entered into, regulatory approval, and other customary conditions, including the NOVA board of directors' approval, and PFB's board and shareholder approval.
MRC

(yarnsandfibers) -- Saudi Kayan Petrochemical on 9 May stopped production at some of its plants at Al-Jubail in Saudi Arabia because of a technical failure, the producer said on Wednesday.

Among the plants that were taken off line are those producing high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP) and ethylene glycol (EG), the company said.

Saudi Kayan has a 400,000 tonne/year HDPE plant, a 350,000 tonne/year PP plant in Al-Jubail and a 650,000 tonne/year EG plant at the site.

The company also has an ethylene capacity of 1.48m tonnes/year at the site. Saudi Kayan is 35%-owned by Saudi petrochemical giant SABIC.
MRC

(yarnsandfibers) -- China's textile industry, which contributes significantly to the country's exports, posted slower growth in the first quarter of 2012 due to weak external demand, according to National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) data released on Thursday.

Industrial output by major textile enterprises rose 14.7 percent year-on-year to reach 1.24 trillion yuan (USD197 billion) in the first three months of this year, marking a slowdown of 16.92 percentage points from a year ago, the new figures showed.

The combined profits of major textile companies dipped 2.21 percent year-on-year to 33.42 billion yuan between January and February, compared with an increase of 61 percent in the same period of last year.

In the first quarter, fixed-asset investment in the textile industry totaled 117.81 billion yuan, up 17 percent over a year ago. The growth rate was 21.51 percentage points lower than last year.

The NDRC data showed China exported USD20.44 billion worth of textiles and USD29.57 billion worth of garments from January to March, at a year-on-year growth rate of 1.4 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

MRC

(akersolutions) -- Aker Solutions on Monday inaugurated its carbon capture plant in Mongstad, Norway, calling it an important milestone for the company. The plant was completed mechanically in June 2011 and was followed by commissioning and start-up activities.

Aker Solutions on Monday inaugurated its carbon capture plant in Mongstad, Norway, calling it an important milestone for the company. After years of research and development, the capture technology will now be tested and verified in a large plant, according to the company.

The main objectives are to verify operational parameters and to increase the technical and economical knowledge regarding operation of an industrial-scale plant.

The facility includes a new amine plant, which has a capture capacity of about 80,000 tpy.
MRC