Vinnolit expands the world largest plant for the production of paste PVC

(vinnolit) -- PVC manufacturer Vinnolit officially launched the expansion of its E-PVC plant Burghausen in the "Chemical Triangle" in South-East Bavaria.

Thereby, the production capacity of the world's largest plant for the production of paste PVC increases to 100,000 tons per year. This further strengthens the company's leading market position in specialty PVC.

Vinnolit is the global market leader in the manufacture of specialty PVC,. The dynamic markets, in particular, Eastern Europe, Turkey, China, India and Brazil offer excellent growth opportunities, which Vinnolit is going to use by investing in greater production capacities and innovative products. "The precondition for success is our highly qualified staff, decades of experience, modern facilities and an outstanding product and service quality," said Dr Ralph Ottlinger, Managing Director of Vinnolit, at the commissioning of the expanded facility on 9 October.

At the Burghausen site, the E-PVC plant has been expanded gradually over the last two years and the production capacity has now been increased from 91,000 tons to 100,000 tons E-PVC per year. Thus, the world's largest plant for the production of paste PVC has extended its lead further. Already in 2010, the capacity for lacquer resins in the Burghausen Copo-plant was extended. For these upgrades a total of about 9 million euros have been invested.

Vinnolit company is a key player in the Russian market of emulsion. Last year the company's market share was 26%, second after Khimprom (Volgograd), the only domestic manufacturer of emulsion in Russia.
Over the nine months of this year sales of PVC-E by Vinnolit exceeded 39,000 tonnes, accounting for 48% of the import resin. The main Vinlit's grades of PVC-E are Vinnolit E 80 TT, Vinnolit Е69ST, Vinnolit E68FO.

MRC

(upstreamonline) -- Rosneft is ballooning in size after agreeing a USD28 billion deal to acquire 50% of TNK-BP from Russian billionaire-led consortium Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR).

The state player is splashing out a total of USD45.1 billion in cash as well as a sizeable chunk of its share base for full control of the BP-AAR joint venture.

BP and Rosneft revealed earlier on Monday that the UK supermajor has agreed to sell its half of TNK-BP to the Russian for USD17.1 billion in cash plus almost 13% of its shares.

Rosneft swiftly followed this up with confirmation that it has reached an agreement with AAR to take the other half of TNK-BP in an all-cash deal worth USD28 billion.
MRC

(omanobserver) -- Salalah Free Zone (SFZ) is rapidly acquiring the trappings of a major petrochemicals hub with construction due to commence early next year on yet another world-scale project. The caustic soda and ethylene dichloride venture, promoted by Saltic LLC FZC, is being developed with an investment estimated between USD500 – 600 million.

When operational in 2015, the project will add to a growing cluster of large-scale petrochemical schemes at the free zone, currently comprising a methanol plant run by Salalah Methanol Company, and a giant PET complex owned by OCTAL Petrochemicals.

Additionally, the latest venture will not boost liquid cargoes handled by the adjoining Port of Salalah, but also open up opportunities for investment in an array of downstream value-added investments.

Plans drawn up by Saltic envisage a state-of-the-art complex with a capacity to produce 1,000 tons per day of caustic soda and 1,231 tons per day of ethylene dichloride. The project will be built on a roughly 35 hectare plot acquired from Salalah Free Zone on a 25-year lease (extendable). Caustic soda, one of two principal products of the Saltic plant, has extensive application in a number of industrial processes involving the manufacture of textiles, detergents, pulp and paper, and drain cleaner products, besides potable water production.

Ethylene dichloride (EDC), on the other hand, is used for manufacturing vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), which is the key raw material for producing polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Moreover, sodium hydroxide, a byproduct of the Saltic project, can be utilized in the refining of bauxite to produce alumina. According to officials, the ethylene feedstock for the project will be sourced from markets in the Middle East, as well as via a major Japanese trading firm with which a supply contract has already been signed.

MRC

(europeanplasticsnews) -- The Ukrainian government may impose anti-dumping duties on the imports of PVC from the US and the EU, due to pressure from to Karpatneftekhim, Ukraine’s only local manufacturer of PVC. Karpatneftekhim is owned by Russian oil giant Lukoil.

According to the Ukrainian media reports, several days ago Karpatneftekhim sent a petition to the Ukrainian State Inter-Ministerial Commission of International Trade, demanding an anti-dumping investigation into imports of PVC from the US.

Karpatneftekhim says PVC imported from the US is sold on the local market at a significantly lower price than in the US market. As a result, during the period from Q3 2011 to Q2 2012 imports of these products from grew by 93.1% and share of US producers on the Ukrainian market has increased by 2.3 times.

Karpatneftehim’s sales decreased 38.4% and its share in the market declined 26.4% during the same period.

The annual capacity of Karpatneftekhim is estimated to be about 300,000 tonnes per year, which is significantly higher than the volume of domestic consumption, which is in the range of of in tyhe on of han the volume of s 100,000-150,000 tonnes.

Karpatneftehim wants imports of PVC from the US to be taxed at a rate of 6.5% to make local production competitive.

The State Commission on International Trade has announced that it received an application from Karpatneftekhim and has already start an anti-dumping investigation. Some Ukrainian analysts have already criticized Karpatneftekhim’s stance.

According to a spokesperson in Eurotrubplast, one of the largest manufacturers of PVC pipes in the former Soviet space, the imposition of a duty will result in a significant increase of prices for final products and may lead to a decline of demand.

MRC

(apic-online) -- IRPC, the petrochemical subsidiary of Thailand's PTT, is studying the feasibility of building a 1-million-t/y aromatics project in the second phase of its Phoenix investment plan, as per Atikom Terbsiri, president of IRPC.

The first phase of the Phoenix plan, scheduled to be completed in 2016, will raise refining capacity to 250,000 b/d from 180,000 b/d, and includes the production of raw materials for aromatics.

Investment required for the aromatics project, as well as location, will be determined in the study.

The first phase will also include the production of super absorbent polymers (SAP), compounds and nylon. "We are in talks with strategic partners to form a joint venture for the SAP project," Atikom said. “The agreement is expected to be signed within this quarter."

IRPC is a producer of integrated petrochemical products. Its complex consists of an upstream, an oil refinery unit and a downstream petrochemical production (polymers, HDPE, PP, ABS/SAN, PS, EPS). The company's oil refinery unit has the total capacity of 215,000 barrels per day, accounting for 21% of the country's total refining capacity.

MRC