LANXESS Q3 net profit surges to ┬118m on strong demand

(ICIS) -- LANXESS reported a third-quarter net profit of ┬118m, a sharp increase from ┬23m in the same period last year, due to strong demand for its synthetic rubber and high-tech plastics, Axel Heitmann, chairman of the board of management, said on Wednesday.

The German specialty chemicals producer's sales in the July-September period rose 35% year on year to ┬1.85bn, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) pre-exceptionals rose 71% to ┬244m.

Group sales were boosted by higher volumes in key customer industries, positive currency effects and price increases, which fully-offset higher raw material costs, Heitmann said.

MRC

(Plastics Today) -- Tapping into another potentially huge market, MicroGREEN Polymers Inc. (Seattle, WA) is now promoting its patented technology, which maximizes the use of recycled plastics through the addition of tiny air pockets, into the packaging sector with its new sheet offering dubbed InCycle.

InCycle sheet is based on recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET). MicroGREEN said the product represents a cost-effective, sustainable alternative for print, packaging, and container applications. InCycle recycled PET sheets are expanded via the Ad-Air technology, which reduces the total amount of plastic required for an application.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Total and the Chinese energy group China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) have inked a memorandum of understanding to build a coal-based petrochemical plant in China.


Both companies will launch a feasibility study on a project of 1 mln tpa polyolefins production site, based on methanol produced from the gasification of coal. The investment for the plant, which is due to start production after 2015, is estimated at ┬2-3 billion.

The Methanol to Olefins (MTO) technology allows the production of propylene and ethylene from methanol, which can be obtained from various feedstocks such as natural gas, coal or biomass. In combination with the OCP process, it allows a very high yield of polyolefin production. "

CPI is one of the five biggest energy producers in China with a particularly strong position in coal mining and transformation of coal into energy.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Brazilian chemicals major Braskem said on Tuesday it has selected INEOS technology for two of three polyethylene (PE) plants at its ⌠Ethylene XXI petrochemicals project in Mexico.

The two plants would be based on INEOS's Innovene S slurry technology and would have a combined capacity of 750,000 tonnes/year of high density polyethylene (HDPE), said Braskem vice president Roberto Ramos.

The third plant would have the capacity to produce 300,000 tonnes/year of low density polyethylene (LDPE), he added.

There would be no linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) ⌠because the Mexican market demands more HDPE'', Ramos noted.

The Ethylene XXI project is a joint venture between Braskem and Mexico's Idesa, and would comprise an ethane-based cracker plus downstream PE. Located in Coatzacoalcos, the project is scheduled to start up in early 2015.

MRC

(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