The Belgium-based Solvay published financial achievements of Jan-Mar 2012

(chemmonitor) -- The Brussels-headquartered Belgium company Solvay S.A. unveiled its financial results of January-March 2012.
The company's REBITDA dropped by about 9% year on year, in Q1 2012, and demonstrated a 47% hike, if compared to October-December 2011.

Solvay's net sales from January through March reached about EUR 3.2 million. The figure rose by 8.1% year on year and by around 3%, as opposed to Q1 of the last year.

The Belgium chemical company showed a snug increase in its business through Q1, 2012.

mrcplast. com

(chemmonitor) -- The Russia-based company Omsk- Polymer, engaged in the production of polystyrene and its downstream products, was put up for tender for the fourth time at an initial price of around RUB 1.1 billion (USD 36 million).

However, potential buyers did not demonstrate any interest. As a result, the price was lowered to RUB 995 (USD 32) million, VAT not included.

Omsk Chemical Company is one of the industry leaders in polystyrene production in the Russian Federation and the CIS. Production volume has grown to 60,000 tons annually. Omsk Chemical Company supplies polystyrene to a number of chemical and light industrial enterprises.

Omsk Chemical Company is one of the biggest producers of polystyrene film, disposable tableware and packaging. The company is one of the largest suppliers of disposable utensils and packaging in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belorussia, and the Baltic States.

MRC

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- Dow Chemical said an early Wednesday lightning strike hit two storage tanks holding ethyl acetate and butyl acetate at its Bristol coatings plant near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The lightning strike led to a fire, which was safely extinguished by a combination of on-site emergency response along with local area fire companies.

"Material that escaped the tanks is contained in surround dikes with no anticipated impact to the community," Dow said in a statement.

The fire broke out at 3:35 a.m. local time at the Bristol plant. Employees at the site were evacuated and none were injured, Dow said.

However, a member of the Bristol fire department suffered a heart attack and died shortly afterwards, according to media reports.

MRC

(2merkato) -- The Endowment Fund for Rehabilitation of Tigray is building the first PVC resin plant in Ethiopia with a capital investment of seven billion birr. The plant will manufacture other industrial chemicals as well as PVC resin.

The plant will be constructed in Tigray Regional State near on a 48 hectare plot of land which has large deposits of limestone. It is expected that the plant will have the potential production capacity of 60,000 tons employing a method of production that is known as the limestone to calcium carbide to acetylene route.

It is expected that the plant will save foreign currency and help enhance domestic manufacturing dependant on industrial chemicals said Girma Alemu, Finance Manager of Oromia Pipe Factory plc.
MRC

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- Nord Stream, the consortium that operates a natural gas pipeline that ships Russian gas to western Europe via the Baltic Sea, said over the weekend it is considering further expanding the pipeline.

In a written statement, the consortium, led by Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, said its shareholders have asked the company to conduct "a feasibility study" into possible options to further increase capacities.

"Over the next eight months, Nord Stream will make an assessment of various criteria of up to two potential additional pipelines, including technical solutions, route alternatives, environment and financing," the company said.

It didn't say by how much the expansion could increase gas shipping capacity.

A Nord Stream spokesman said the exact amount of the possible capacity expansion will be determined in the feasibility study.

"We will look at how much additional gas will be needed in northwestern Europe in the coming decades" and make a decision accordingly, the spokesman said.
MRC