Grangemouth bosses launch survival plan for Ineos site

MOSCOW (MRC) --Chemicals giant Ineos has asked the Scottish and UK governments for grants and loan guarantees of GBP150m to build a new gas terminal, said BBC.

The firm said its petrochemical site in Grangemouth is "unsustainable" and will close by 2017 without new investment. It has put forward a "survival plan", saying it was willing to invest GBP350m to help build a new gas terminal to bring ethane from the United States.

Unite members at the site have voted for strike action. They are currently in a stand-off with Ineos over the treatment of union official and Ineos employee Stephen Deans.

However, following Friday's vote for industrial action, Ineos has said it is asking workers to "play their part" in the survival plan for the site at Grangemouth. Ineos wants staff to accept changes to pay and pensions, including the scrapping of the existing final salary pension scheme and the introduction of a money purchase scheme.

The company said it also intended to close a number of plants and reduce its head count.

The company is looking for GBP9m in grants from the Scottish government, and more than GBP125m in loan guarantees from the UK government.

There are 700 people currently work at the petro-chemical plant, and while a cut in numbers is part of the plan, a spokesman would not say how big the reduction would be.

Pat Rafferty, Scottish secretary of Unite the union, said it is willing to talk about the challenges facing the Ineos plant, but only after resolving the current dispute over the treatment of its official.

As MRC wrote before, Ineos is considering closing its Grangemouth facility in what has been described by union representatives as a "shocking" attempt to browbeat the work. Company chairman Jim Ratcliffe described the plant as "expensive", citing "old-fashioned pensions" as a being a prime cause for concern. He was quoted as saying: "To have a future, it needs cheap feedstocks and a sensible cost structure. If we can’t resolve those issues it would need to shut down."

MRC

McDonald's to use paper cups rather than polystyrene foam cups

MOSCOW (MRC) -- McDonald's has agreed to use paper cups rather than polystyrene foam cups to hold hot drinks at all its 14,000 US outlets following a concerted campaign by green groups.


The move comes after sustainable shareholder advocacy group As You Sow filed a shareholder proposal in 2011 asking the company to stop using the foam, which had already been phased out from its hamburger boxes in the 1990s.


After the resolution gained 30 per cent of shareowners' vote McDonald's last year trialled double-walled paper hot cups at around 2,000 restaurants mainly on the West Coast. Having dubbed the pilot successful, the company last week announced the paper cup will now become the standard hot beverages cup at all its US outlets.


Polystyrene is not widely recycled in the US and is increasingly finding its way into the oceans through storm drains, where tides and currents pummel it into small, indigestible pellets that can be fatal to marine wildlife. A number of cities in California have outlawed or restricted the use of the material, while New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed a city-wide ban. Meanwhile, what was hailed as the world's first coffee cup recycling plant opened earlier this year in the UK.


Conrad MacKerron, senior vice president of As You Sow, congratulated McDonald's on ditching polystyrene but urged to company to consider taking further action to keep up with its rivals.

While McDonald's uses recycled fibres for its food containers, bags, and napkins, Starbucks uses 10 per cent recycled paper fibre in its paper hot beverage cups and has committed to recycle all post-consumer paper and plastic cups discarded in company-owned stores by 2015. The company also offers a discount for customers who bring reusable beverage containers into stores.

MRC

LyondellBasell opens chemical research center in Houston

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell announced the opening of the 70,000-square-foot Houston Technology Center to develop process technologies and chemical catalysts for its Intermediates and Derivatives business.


Research and development activities at the facility will focus on improving catalyst and process technologies to reduce manufacturing costs, improve yields, and lower capital costs of new construction for LyondellBasell's global chemicals business. Proprietary technologies supported at the site include propylene oxide, butanediol and derivatives, glycols and glycol ethers, acetyls, olefins and solvents.


Manufacturing plants supported by the center include three Houston-area facilities in Channelview, Bayport and La Porte, Texas, as well as Botlek and Maasvlakte, Netherlands, Fos-sur-Mer, France, and a joint venture in Ningbo, China.


The center will employ approximately 80 people, 22 of whom relocated from the company's former facility near Philadelphia, with the balance hired locally. The new facility is adjacent to the company's largest U.S. manufacturing complex in Channelview, east of Houston.


LyondellBasell is among the industry leaders in chemicals and polymers technology. The company has more than 5,000 patents and patent applications worldwide covering manufacturing processes, products and catalysts. This year the company is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry awarded to Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta in cooperation with LyondellBasell predecessor companies. Their discoveries led to the production of polyethylene and polypropylene and modern plastics that are lighter, stronger and more durable.

MRC

In August EPS production in Russia reduced by twice

MOSCOW (МRC) -- In August production of expanded polystyrene (EPS) in Russia reduced nearly by twice compared to July. It is connected with maintenance works at Russian plants, as MRC ScanPlast informs.

In August in Russia only 5,300 tonnes were produced while in July Russian plants produced about 10,240 tonnes of EPS. In August EPS wasn't produced at Angarsk polymers plant. Also during 17 August-4 September capacities of Sibur-Khimrom were suspended for maintenance.


A buying activity remained high. The decrease of production in August had an effect on the lack of the product in September. A seasonal demand will be kept in October as well.


This year the Russian market demonstrates substitution of the Asian EPS due to grown production at domestic capacities. Over January-August Russian plants produced about 76,600 tonnes of EPS that exceeds the figures of 2012 by 49%. Over the same period a year earlier Russian enterprises produced about 51,000 tonnes of EPS.


MRC

Stavrolen suspended polymers production


MOSCOW (МRC) -- Yesterday Stavrolen (Lukoil) suspended production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). Suspension is unscheduled and will last for about 6 days, ICIS-MRC Price report informs.


On 1 October Stavrolen (Lukoil) stopped ethylene output because of technological problems. As a result, production of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and PP was suspended. As unofficials inform, the restart is expected on 5-6 October.


The annual capacity of HDPE and PP makes 300,000 and 120,000 tonnes correspondingly. Over the eight months, the plant produced about 205,000 tonnes of HDPE and 85,000 tonnes of PP.

MRC