Explosion at DuPont plant in New York

(Reuters) -- A contract worker at a DuPont plant in upstate New York was killed on Tuesday after a chemical storage tank exploded during a welding operation.

Workers were cleaning and repairing an empty tank at the DuPont Yerkes plant in Tonawanda, New York, just outside Buffalo, when "an explosion took place which resulted in the injuries," DuPont, one of the world's largest chemical makers, said in a statement. Another contract worker was injured and taken to a nearby hospital.

The blast may have been caused by fumes or residue from whatever chemical the 10,000-gallon tank once held. DuPont said it has shut down the equipment involved in the explosion, and that no hazardous material was released into the environment.

The company did not evacuate the plant, and all 700 workers are accounted for.

MRC

(PRNewswire) -- LyondellBasell announced that Bhavesh V. (Bob) Patel has been named senior vice president, Olefins & Polyolefins - Europe, Asia and International (EAI), with additional responsibilities for licensing and catalyst sales, effective immediately. Patel will succeed Anton de Vries who has departed from the company.

Prior to LyondellBasell, Patel was with Chevron Phillips Chemical Company and Chevron Chemical Company, where he held a number of manufacturing, marketing, strategic planning, business management and general management positions beginning in 1990.

LyondellBasell is one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies. The company manufactures products at 59 sites in 18 countries. LyondellBasell products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Consumption of PVC for plasticized products manufactured in Russia over the nine months of 2010 increased 27%, or nearly 20 KT, MRC analysts say.

PVC-S К=70consumption over the nine months of 2010 went up to more than 92 KT. Need in resin in the sector of plasticized items production has been increasing during the year. Q3 appeared to be the most complicated for the market - consumption increased less than 3 KT.

This fact can be explained by two factors which restrained consumption in the plasticized PVC sector during this period.

First, it is DOP deficit in the Russian market that was caused by plasticizer and DEG production suspension in Russia.

Secondly, because of the ⌠ethylene conflict PVC production at Kaustik (Sterlitamak) was suspended for a long time. As a result, resin output with К=70 reduced almost twice.

Also, suspension of PVC production for maintenance in September at Sayanskhimplast should be taken into account.

PVC-S Russian market continues demonstrating tendency to recovery, particularly in the sector of plasticized items production.

MRC

(Plastics News) -- South Korean-owned film manufacturer SKC Inc. plans to expand its complex in Covington, investing $100 million to make film for solar panels and other applications.

The new 200,000-square-foot manufacturing facility will be located on SKC's existing Covington campus, which also houses SKC's U.S. corporate headquarters, polyester film production facilities and a chemical systems house that opened in May.

MRC

(LANXESS) -- Specialty chemicals company LANXESS is to expand annual production capacity at its Dormagen site for its ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVM) line sold under the product brands Levapren and Levamelt by 30 percent to 15,000 metric tons. The new capacities are due to be available from the second half of 2012.

⌠With this investment we are responding to rising demand in the wire and cable industry, which manufactures flame-retardant halogen-free sheathing out of Levapren, says Jurgen Gunther, head of the Specialties business line in the Technical Rubber Products (TRP) business unit.

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 5.06 billion in 2009 and currently around 14,400 employees in 23 countries. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.

MRC