Dow to appeal against a decision made by the US District Court in Kansas City

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow Chemical Co. has filed court documents giving companies contesting its appeal over participation in a polyol price-fixing ring until Sept. 23 to formally say they will fight Dow's appeal or walk away.

As per Plastics News, Dow, which has seen its level of damages fall by USD139 million is appealing against a decision made by the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan.

On Sept. 11, Dow filed a document with the 10th Circuit Appeals court in Denver giving the plaintiffs from the case in Kansas until Sept. 23 to formally tell the Court in Denver that they intend to contest the appeal.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance offers price protection to ease customer apprehensions, informs Plastemart.

In view of the volatility in the Exchange rates and to remove customers' apprehensions and convince them to continue with their purchases for complying with the Performance Schemes, Reliance will offer price protection on their purchases with effect from Sept 16, 2013 till Sept 30, 2013 or the next price change, whichever is earlier.

This is applicable on all grades (prime, non-prime, utilities and wastes/sweepings) of all PE (LLDPE, HDPE, LDPE, EVA, UHM). Protection in price will be to the extent of change in basic price only. This will not be applicable on deemed exports sales.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Toyo Engineering Corp. won a contract from PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical to expand its naphtha-cracking plant in Indonesia’s western Java. According to Bloomberg, the project will increase ethylene-production capacity to 860,000 metric tons a year from its current 600,000, Toyo said today in a statement. The construction is scheduled to start in third quarter and be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015, Chandra Asri said Sept. 13 in a separate statement.

The project will also boost annual production capacity of propylene by 150,000 tons to 470,000, pyrolysis gasoline by 120,000 tons to 400,000, and mixed C4 by 95,000 tons to 315,000, Chandra Asri said in the statement. Expansion will cost an estimated $380 million, financed by loans and equity, it said.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- After seven years of research, BASF unveiled its new high-performance insulating material at its Lemforde location to selected guests from the media and trade press. According to BASF press-release, the product premiere of SLENTITETM also coincided with the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a pilot plant on the works site which will supply sample quantities of the new insulating material as of mid-2014. BASF is thus investing in its location in Lower Saxony where the company employs a roughly 1380-strong workforce.


After the welcome address by Dr Rene Lochtman, Managing Director of BASF Polyurethanes GmbH, the guests had the opportunity to experience the new insulating material at first hand. Under the supervision of Dr Marc Fricke, leader of the team that has developed SLENTITETM, the insulation panels were affixed to a wall. The special features of the product immediately became obvious: the panel is extremely thin and space-saving and easy to process. This has been made possible by BASF’s first-time feat of developing an aerogel with its excellent insulation values in the form of a mechanically strong panel.


In the further course of the product premiere, Dr Christian Fischer, President of Advanced Materials & Systems Research, BASF SE, explained the special importance of research and innovation for the company. Dr Rudolf Plagge of the Institute of Building Climatology at TU Dresden illuminated the future requirements of insulating materials such as good moisture regulation, while architect Alexander Kahnt also looked ahead to the coming years: in his view, growing urbanisation, dramatic population growth and the shortage of natural resources will call for new architectural solutions. And BASF will make its contribution with SLENTITETM.



In a seven-year research process, BASF has developed a new high-performance insulating material for the construction and refrigeration sectors. This is the first time that an aerogel has become available as a solid panel. SLENTITETM has excellent insulation values, saves space in its application and is also designed for simple and neat processing. The company now intends to realise pilot projects with selected partners in architecture and industry.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia's Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co., or Petro Rabigh, said a sudden cut in power and steam supplies Wednesday halted operations at its refinery. The interruption from the provider Rabigh Arabian Water and Electricity Co., or RAWEC, did not cause any human causalties or damage, it said in a statement posted on the Saudi bourse website Thursday.

Rabigh said it is currently working with RAWEC on the reconnection of power and steam supplies in order to restart production at its refinery, but did not say when operations might resume.

The company, which earlier this year shut its refinery for 20 days for maintenance after it suffered a power cut, is also assessing the operational and financial impact of the interruption, it added.

Rabigh utilizes 400,000 bpd of crude oil and 1.2 million tpy of ethane as primary feedstock to produce several refined petroleum products and petrochemical products. The refinery has mainly been producing 8 million tons of heavy oil, 5.3 million tons of light oil, 3 million tons of naphtha and 2.6 million tons of kerosene each year.

MRC