Second massive column to be installed at the Tobolsk-Polymer site, Sibur

(Sibur) -- At the Tobolsk-Polymer Project site a distillation deethanizer column of length 61 metres, diameter 6.26 metres and weight of around 800 tonnes was delivered and set up on its foundation.

After erection, the column was centered, aligned and fixed on its foundation with anchor bolts.

A depropanizer column was the first to be installed in early October.

The production capacity of the Tobolsk-Polymer project is 500 thousand tonnes of polypropylene per annum. The total cost of the project is about 60 billion rubles.

The completion of construction works is expected for the third quarter of 2012.

MRC

(PRNewswire-Asia) -- China Ruitai International Holdings Co., Ltd., a manufacturer and distributor of cellulose ether additives for use in the production of pharmaceuticals, construction materials, PVC products, foods and beverages and cosmetics, announced its financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2010.

Q III highlighted the following: revenue grew 9.8% to $11.2 million; gross profit up 8.2% to $3.6 million and net income was $1.9 million, EPS of $0.07.

China Ruitai is one of the largest manufactures of non-ionic cellulose ether products in China with 8,500 tons of annual capacity. The Company's organic products are used as a thickener, stabilizer and binding agent for a wide variety of products used every day in a number of industries.

MRC

(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