Styron confirms contract pricing settlement for PS

(styron) -- Styron Europe GmbH announced that it has been able to settle prices for 90% of its PS EMEA monthly negotiated business within the first 10 days following its recent proposal for changing pricing settlement.

This will bring the European Polystyrene pricing process in line with other regions and polymers.

"Following our proposal for an improved pricing process for polystyrene, we are pleased to see that 90% of our PS EMEA negotiations for the month of May has already been settled. In addition, it is encouraging that most of our customers saw the benefits of this early month settlement and have made the necessary efforts to align to this accordingly", said Paul Moyer, Styron's Vice President and General Manager for Plastics. "We obviously recognize that the new practice is not fully operational and that it will take time for the industry to adopt this progressively but this result brings us one step closer to our goal of bringing more clarity and consistency on polystyrene pricing in the future."

Styron is committed to the proposed change for pricing settlement because it will provide improved visibility and timely information to facilitate decision making for both buyers and sellers during the month of delivery, particularly when it comes to managing volumes, financials and production.

MRC

(joboord) -- Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co., an affiliate of Saudi Basic Industries Co., or Sabic, said Saturday its plants resumed operations Thursday after a temporary halt of most of its factories earlier in the week.

The halt was caused by a technical breakdown in a unit that produces the steam used in the companys manufacturing operations, the petrochemical producer said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website.

The plants are now operating at their usual capacity, Kayan said, adding that its difficult to assess the financial impact at present but it will be very limited because the plants were stopped for a short period of time.

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

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- A gas processing plant belonging to Petronas Gas Bhd. in the northeastern Malaysia state of Terengganu caught fire Thursday, leading to 12 deaths and injuring many others. The fire, which occurred at complex A at the site in Kerteh, Terengganu, was brought under control within 30 minutes.

A gas processing plant belonging to Petronas Gas Bhd. in the northeastern Malaysia state of Terengganu caught fire Thursday, leading to one death and injuring many others. Contract workers from the Hyundai-PFCE Consortium (HPC), on site to undertake planned maintenance works at the plant, were affected by the incident.

One fatality was reported while two personnel were still warded at a hospital, Petronas said in a statement.

The remaining affected personnel received appropriate medical treatment, according to the company. Media reports identified as many as 23 injuries.

The fire, which occurred at complex A at the site in Kerteh, Terengganu, was brought under control within 30 minutes by the complexs emergency response team, Petronas said.

The cause of the fire was not known.

MRC

(yarnsandfibers) -- Huntsman Textile Effects and DBL Group have embarked on a strategic partnership that is set to drive sustainable excellence, improve overall cost efficiency while enhancing textile differentiation and quality without compromising the pressing needs of the environment.

A global leader in developing total textile solutions across all aspects of the textile chain and a committed player in developing sustainable, high performing processing and effects chemicals that have low environmental impact, Huntsman Textile Effects will support DBL Group to drive environmental and economic sustainability through the implementation of the Productivity Improvement Program (PIP).

In addition to the PIP, Huntsman Textile Effects will provide technical service support to DBL Group to improve compliance standards in keeping with the rigorous global customer requirements. As part of the partnership, DBL Group will award the preferred supplier status to Huntsman Textile Effects, to supply materials for their production facilities in Bangladesh. Kent Kvaal, Vice President of Global Sales and Technical Services at Huntsman Textile Effects, "Bangladesh is an important market for Huntsman Textile Effects as we continue to expand our presence in the Asia Pacific region."

MRC

(evonik) -- Evonik Industries (Germany) announces a capacity increase at Evonik Agroferm Zrt., a 100% affiliated company of Evonik, in Kaba (Hungary). The nameplate capacity is expected to be expanded to 30,000 metric tons L-threonine per annum, which represents an increase of 10,000 metric tons. The new capacity is scheduled to come on stream in the third quarter of 2013. The additional quantities shall serve the growing demand.

"This expansion will transform the Hungarian site into a world-scale plant with state-of-the-art technology. It is our ambition that all investment projects lead to a significant performance improvement of the process and the product form. This shall help us to meet rising needs and requirements of our customers," explains Dr. Walter Pfefferle, head of Bioproducts business line of Evonik.

The expansion complements two recent expansion announcements by Evonik, namely the construction of a new 150,000 metric ton MetAMINO (DL-methionine) production complex on Jurong Island (Singapore), which is scheduled to come on stream in 2014, and the expansion of Biolys (L-lysine source) to an annual capacity of 280,000 metric tons in Blair (Nebraska, USA), by the end of 2012.

MRC