Calhoun County prepares for change at Eastman plant

(The T and D.com) -- Calhoun County Council prepared for the purchase of Eastman Chemical Company's polyethylene terephthalate business Monday by agreeing to the transfer of some property. County Administrator Lee Prickett said the move allows Eastman to sell its polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, business to DAK Americas LLC, based in Charlotte, N.C.


Eastman manufactures chemicals, fibers and plastics materials for every day use. Compnay's sales revenue for third quarter 2010 was $1.7 billion, a 29 percent increase compared with third quarter 2009 primarily due to higher sales volume and higher selling prices. The higher sales volume was attributed primarily to improved end-use demand in packaging, durable goods, and other markets and the positive impact of growth initiatives.


MRC


SABIC IP to expand Geloy PC/ASA portfolio

(China Plastic and Rubber Journal) -- Global engineering plastics supplier SABIC Innovative Plastics (SABIC IP) is expanding the portfolio of Geloy polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate (PC/ASA) resin blends that open new opportunities for key market sectors.


The blends allow customers to achieve key system cost improvements and sustainability goals via thin-wall molding, replacement of secondary painting with molded-in color, replacement of halogenated materials such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and extended product life.


Building on outstanding weatherability performance vs resins such as PC, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and PC/ABS blends - including up to five times better color stability after two years of ultraviolet (UV) exposure as well as significant mechanical property retention - Geloy blends add other targeted properties and advantages.


MRC


Qapco polyethylene output to hit 700,000 tonnes by end-'11

(Gulf Times) -- Qatar Petrochemical Company's polyethylene production will scale up to 700,000 tonnes per year (tpy) by 2011-end, Qapco general manager Dr Mohamed Yousef al-Mulla has said. ⌠The production boost is achieved through the LDPE 3 plant, which is being set up at Mesaieed, al-Mulla told Gulf Times yesterday. Qapco's two existing low-density polyethylene (LDPE) production lines account for about 400,000 tpy.


Al-Mulla said Qapco's ethylene production capacity would also scale up to 1.4mn tpy following the expansion. Currently, Qapco produces 800,000 tpy of ethylene.


Qapco is one of the leading ethylene and polyethylene producers in the Middle East, and was established in 1974 as a joint multinational venture to utilise the associated and non-associated ethane gas from Qatar's petroleum production.


MRC


Bayegan boosts local presence in the Middle East

(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- Turkish distributor of petrochemicals and refined products Bayegan Group has set up a new branch in Dubai to boost its presence in the region, according to a senior executive of the company. The company which is based in Istanbul has established various offices worldwide, in the past it has made an agreement with Egyptian company, Oriental Petrochemicals to distribute its products in Turkey, Russia and the CIS countries.


Bayegan has been performing in the petroleum and petrochemical industry since 1940. It gives support to manufacturing companies in their raw material purchases. Bayegan has a wide range of products, among them - PVC, polypropylene, copolymers, polyethylene, etc.


MRC


Maruzen plans to skip scheduled maintenance at naphtha cracker in 2011

(Plastemart) -- Maruzen Petrochemical Co Ltd plans to skip scheduled maintenance on its sole naphtha cracker in 2011, with capacity to produce 480,000 tpa of ethylene, as per Reuters.


The company's Keiyo Ethylene unit also plans to skip maintenance at its cracker with capacity to produce 690,000 tpa of ethylene. Keiyo Ethylene Co is 55% owned by Maruzen Petrochemical and 22.5% owned by each Mitsui Chemicals Inc and Sumitomo Chemical Co.


MRC