SK Energy, Kuwait agree to build Indonesia refinery, petrochemical complex

(bloomberg) -- Kuwait Petroleum International Ltd. and South Korea’s SK Energy Co. (096770) agreed to develop a refinery in Indonesia that can process as much as 300,000 barrels a day of crude, Kuwait’s state-run KUNA news agency reported.

Officials with the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding on Aug. 29 to develop the facility in West Java, which will be designed to process Kuwaiti oil, KUNA said on its website Sept. 5, citing a statement by Kuwait Petroleum.

PT Pertamina, Indonesia’s state-owned oil company, will also be a partner in the project, KUNA reported.

Kuwait Petroleum International, often referred to by its trademark Q8, refines and markets fuel, lubricants and other petroleum derivatives in Europe. SK Energy Co. is N1 oil processer in South Korea.
MRC

(taipeitimes) -- Formosa Petrochemical Corp reported the largest increase in monthly revenue among the Formosa Plastics Group’s four core companies, stock exchange filings showed.

The oil refiner said in the filing that its revenue last month rose 12.5 % to NTD70.84 billion (USD2.37 billion) from NTD62.97 billion in July, bolstered by the recent price surges in global crude oil amid tighter supply, as well as higher prices for olefin products.

Last month saw increased sales of products such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), but these were mostly offset by lower revenues from other products like polyethylene (PE) due to weak demand, the company said in a filing.

However, the company said it expected to see strong revenue growth this month, along with a gradual increase in utilization rate, which it hoped would reach 87 %, from 77 % last month, and rise further to 93 or 94 %next month.

Formosa Plastics Corporation, U.S.A. (Formosa Plastics) is a growing, vertically-integrated supplier of plastic resins and petrochemicals. With annual revenues of more than USD4 billion, we employ over 2,100 people who operate 18 production units in six business divisions - Olefins, Polyolefins, Vinyl, Specialty Polyvinyl Chloride, Chlor-Alkali, and Oil & Gas.
MRC

(abb) -- The Dow Chemical Company recently completed the multibillion-dollar expansion of its production facilities in Thailand into a fully integrated complex of world-class downstream processing plants that is now the company’s largest manufacturing site in Asia. ABB was one of Dow’s key partners and largest suppliers in the project.

Known as the Thai Growth Project, the expansion encompasses five new plants and their integration with existing production units into a fully integrated complex of world-class downstream facilities - Dow’s largest manufacturing site in the Asia Pacific region.

All the facilities were commissioned and completed safely and successfully on-time and within budget, and with what is thought to be the best safety record ever achieved in the petrochemical industry – 41 million man-hours with no lost time to injury.

The new plants were officially opened in March 2012 and include a new hydrogen peroxide plant, which is the largest in the world.

Dow’s investment in the Thai Growth Project continues. A new propylene glycol plant is currently under construction and scheduled for completion later this year. ABB is providing the distributed control system and much of the electrical equipment, instrumentation and analyzers, including installation and commissioning.

Dow Chemical is an American multinational chemical corporation. As of 2007, it is the second-largest chemical manufacturer in the world by revenue after BASF. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
MRC

(platts) -- Spanish polyethylene terephthalate producer La Seda de Barcelona said Friday it has sold industrial and intellectual rights to a number of its processes to India's Invista.

The Spanish company, which has made trading losses for the last four years, said in a stock exchange filing that it sold its technology to Invista to build and operate PET and purified terephthalic acid plants in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

La Seda has retained the right to use the technology in its existing plants and the latest deal will not affect other agreements it may have previously signed with third parties regarding the technology, the company said.

La Seda did not disclose financial details of the deal.
MRC

(plastemart) -- Mitsui Chemicals has set up a new company for functional polymeric materials, Mitsui Chemicals Functional Composites (Shanghai) in the Jinshan District Shanghai, China.

The new company will manufacture and distribute Milastomer, a thermoplastic olefinic elastomer widely used in glass run channels for automobile windows and in sheathing applications, and Admer, a polyolefin widely used as an adhesive for automobile fuel tanks and food packaging.

Demand for Milastomer and Admer has grown in China. To respond to this growing market demand, the Company established a new supply base in Shanghai. Automotive manufacturers are concentrated in eastern China and the new company is expected to serve as the Group’s compound base and future base for automotive polypropylenes in the area.

Mitsui Chemicals is one of Japan's largest producers of petrochemicals and its leading producer of phenols (plastics). The company produces petrochemicals for use in the manufacture of such items as synthetic rubber and pigments. Mitsui Chemicals' other chemical products include fiber intermediates used in polyester, industrial chemicals used in paper, polymers used in pipes and films, and specialty resins used in adhesives. The company also makes polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and agrochemicals.
MRC