Formosa mulls US olefins expansion

(ICIS) -- Formosa Plastics is considering expanding its US olefins capacity as a result of cost advantages for feedstock natural gas, but the company on Tuesday said a final decision had yet to be made.

The company has two crackers in Point Comfort, Texas, with a combined ethylene capacity of 1.5m tonnes/year.

Despite the cost advantage derived from natural gas, Formosa expressed concerns about increased regulation in the US, citing the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rules scheduled to take effect in January 2011.

"The decision to move forward [with the expansion] may depend, in part, on the granting of a 2-year postponement of the US EPA's uncertain greenhouse gas permitting, Rice said in an e-mail.

Formosa is one of several business groups in the US calling for a delay by the EPA.

MRC

(Plastics Today) -- The chemicals and plastics supplier intends to invest ┬110 million in projects designed to help increase its presence in the China's plastics industry.

The investment, slated for completion by 2012, will see Bayer Material Science build five new facilities which comprise three polyurethanes (PUR) systems houses, a new polycarbonate (PC) sheet facility and a polycarbonate color compounding and design center.

China has become Bayer Material Science's second largest market worldwide. More than 40% of the supplier's PUR sales in China are from supplying PUR systems to the construction, appliance and automotive sectors.

MRC

(European Plastics News) -- The Chinese government has issued long-awaited rules detailing how companies can import whole PET scrap bottles. The rules have been closely watched globally, as China is the world's largest importer of scrap plastics.

China had previously allowed only imports of recycled PET that had already been ground or processed in some way, because government officials said they were concerned about the country in effect importing materials that were not clean and polluted the country.

But with China's huge demands for new sources of raw materials, particularly in its polyester fiber manufacturing industry, officials had said last year they planned to relax the rules.

The new rules require that importers have existing facilities and a current license to import recycled plastic, that they be located in a district designated for recycling and have imported at least 10,000 tonnes of material in each of the last three years.

For companies outside those existing recycling districts, they must have imported at least 30,000 tonnes of materials in each of the last three years. Licenses will be given by China's Ministry of Environmental Protection.

MRC

(LUKOIL) -- LUKOIL conducted an anti-terror exercise aimed at the disposal of an explosive device and response to a terrorist attack at the petroleum tank farm facility in Sofrino (the Moscow region).

All technological operations at the facility were suspended, the employees and transportation vehicles were evacuated to a safe distance, and the area of the hypothetical explosion was closed off by the security services of the tank farm.

The results of the maneuvers testified to the fact that LUKOIL, as well as all respective law enforcement, rescue and emergency organizations and services, possessed sufficient forces and means to prevent and respond to the consequences of terrorist attacks at petroleum product supplying facilities.

MRC

(Plastics News) -- Plastic packaging manufacturer Silgan Holdings Inc. announced Nov. 16 that it acquired Ipec Global Inc., a plastic closure molder that specializes in the North American dairy and juice markets. Terms were not disclosed. Ipec, based in New Castle, Pa., had sales of about $35 million for the last twelve months, according to Silgan.

Ipec, founded in 1994, has plants in New Castle and Brewton, Ala., and it operates KraussMaffei, Husky and Sandretto presses. From 2002-05 Ipec was publicly traded, until its owners took the company private once more. Now, as part of Silgan, the company will once again be part of a publicly traded company.

The Stamford-based Silgan makes blow molded bottles and injection molded closures, and it also makes metal food containers. Company had 2009 sales of about $3.1 billion, including $541.5 million in North American blow molding sales and an estimated $138 million in injection molding, from the Silgan White Cap Americas unit.

MRC