Colorant Chromarics enters agreement with India's Nishigandha Polymers

(plasteurope) -- Extending its market reach to India, Swiss colorants, dispersed pigments and speciality compounds producer Colorant Chromatics Group (Zug) recently entered into a cooperation with Nishigandha Polymers (Mumbai / India) under the terms of which the latter will distribute the Swiss group?s entire production portfolio.

The range includes colour concentrates, specialty compounds, pigment dispersions and additives as well as high performance plastics and fluoropolymers, including PEEK and PTFE, for instance.

The Swiss group operates plants in Aland / Finland, Shanghai / China as well as Bethel, Connecticut / USA. In addition, Colorant Chromatics runs a distribution centre in Germany and works with sales agents in Spain, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and India.

The Swiss group in 2007 became part of US liquid colourant, additive and fluoropolymer producer ColorMatrix (Berea, Ohio), which was acquired by PolyOne (Cleveland, Ohio / USA) earlier this year.
MRC

(Reuters) - Valero Energy Corp's 142,000 barrel per day (bpd) Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery reported flaring in its West Plant on Friday because a third party facility was starting up, according to a notice the refinery filed with the U.S. National Response Center.

The Markwest Javelina Co in Corpus Christi, which processes exhaust gases from the area refineries to extract chemicals such as ethane, ethylene and hydrogen for further industrial use, has been performing maintenance has been performing maintenance on its plant.

Valero Energy Corp said work underway Wednesday on a butanizer in the west plant of its 142,000 barrel per day (bpd) Corpus Christi, Texas, refinery would have no material impact on production at the refinery.

The work triggered flaring at the refinery, according to the Corpus Christi Local Emergency Planning Committee.
MRC

(scidev) -- Cities in a number of Asian countries, including China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan, are currently on the warpath against plastic shopping bags.

The cities have passed local laws that ban such bags, on the basis that they clog sewers and drainage canals, cause street flooding, choke animals and are responsible for other forms of environmental damage.

China and Taiwan, for example, impose heavy fines on violators. Other countries are appealing for a switch to the production and use of biodegradable bags.

Plastic bags were designed to satisfy a need. Thin plastic can do many things that paper, which is recommended as a good substitute for plastic, cannot. Indeed, there are ways in which thin plastic may be more useful than paper.
MRC

(member.bnamericas) -- Brazilian petrochemicals company Braskem has signed an agreement with Australian bioplastics company Plantic Technologies for the use of polyethylene resin produced by Braskem from sugarcane in Plantic's eco Plastic product line.

Braskem said in a statement that Plantic's eco Plastic line will be the first ultra-high barrier packaging made from renewable raw materials.

"Braskem's strategic vision is to become the world leader in sustainable chemicals by 2020. The partnering of Plantic products with Braskem's green plastic will lead to new packaging options that are not only better for the environment, but also offer superior performance for retailers and brand owners," said Marcelo Nunes, director of the renewable chemicals
MRC

(plastemart) -- F&N Beverages Marketing (F&N Malaysia) has invested RM18 million to install a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) production line and supporting infrastructure at its Kota Kinabalu facility to meet the growing demand for PET packaged sparkling beverages in the state.

The line provides F&N production scalability in anticipation of future growth, without the need for plant expansion. It also reduces logistics costs of transporting the products from F&N?s main Shah Alam plant or from Kuching while facilitating speedier delivery to market.

"Sabah continues to be a significant market for F&N and our investment in this line will enable us to cater to the potential growth for PET sparkling beverages in Sabah, one of our significant markets in Malaysia. We can scale up production seamlessly to thrice the current capacity with no additional investment required,?" said Khalid Alvi, managing director of F&N in a press statement.

"We can drive consumption of our PET range of soft drinks in Sabah with minimal logistic costs while ensuring our consumers in Sabah can get their share of F&N products when they want it," Alvi added.
MRC