(Reuters) -- Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co expects to restart a naphtha cracker at its Tokuyama plant in early October. The 256,000 tpa naphtha cracker has been shut on Sept. 6 for scheduled maintenance for about a month. Idemitsu shut a 120,000 barrels per day crude distillation unit at its Tokuyama refinery on Tuesday as part of efforts to curb refining amid sluggish domestic demand.
(plastemart) -- Keyuan Petrochemicals, Inc. has commenced construction of its first Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene ("SBS") production facility in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, which will be adjacent to its current production facility. SBS is commonly used in soles of shoes, tire treads and other products that require a hard rubber to remain sturdy for a long time due to its durability. The new SBS facility is expected to add 70,000 tons to Keyuan's production capacity by end-2011, with an estimated cost of US$17.5 mln in capital expenditures.
(plastemart) -- Indonesia's largest PP maker- PT Tri Polyta Indonesia will acquire petrochemical firm PT Chandra Asri in a share-swap deal worth about US$1.2 bln. Tri Polyta will issue 2.93 bln new shares to Chandra Asri's shareholders in exchange of it's US$1.2 bln assets. Deutsche Bank and Singapore's DBS Group are advisors for the deal.
Both the companies are controlled by Indonesian tycoon Prajogo Pangestu through holding company PT Barito Pacific. Barito Pacific owns 77.9 of Tri Polyta and 70% of Chandra Asri. The new combined entity will be Indonesia's biggest listed petrochemical firm, when the deal is completed by January 1 2011. Barito will own 71.6% stake in the new entity.
(prw) -- Electronics component moulder Videoton Holding has diversified its portfolio by entering the alternative energy business.
The group, a major injection moulder of automotive parts based in Szekesfehervar, Hungary, has purchased a 51% majority stake in the Hungarian energy firm STS Group. It is involved in areas including wind farms, miniature hydro-electric plants, biomass-fuelled power plants and energy production using gases from waste landfill sites and sewage treatment facilities.
The deal represents an investment of around ┬5.34m by Videoton, which has accumulated a large amount of free capital some of which it aims to invest in fresh opportunities outside its traditional markets. Alternative energy has become part of its long term strategy.
(plastemart) -- Reliance Industries plans to invest Rs 40,000 crores in petrochemicals by 2014 to expand the world's biggest refining complex at Jamnagar, Gujarat. Rs. 16,000 crore has been earmarked to set up a cracker unit as part of a proposed petrochemicals project in Jamnagar. The cracker will produce ethylene, propylene, low-density polyethylene and monoethylene glycol. Rs. 15,000 crore will be invested in a coke gasification plant that will fuel power plants in the complex. It plans to spend Rs. 6,850 crore on a plant to produce paraxylene, used in the production of fibre and film, and a unit to manufacture butyl rubber that has applications in industries, including adhesives, agricultural chemicals and personal care products.Various supporting and ancillary projects would cost Rs. 4,000 crore. They include a fifth crude distillation unit (CDU) that would utilize crude from Cairn India Ltd's Mangala oil field in Rajasthan. A CDU is a front-end process in the refinery to separate crude oil into products such as naphtha, kerosene and light gas oil, among others. Thid is the first time that RIL executives have specified the investment on the petrochemical projects in Jamnagar as part of an expansion drive called J3, which denotes the third phase of expansion of the complex.
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