Styrolutions NAS sheds new light on innovation for Polyoptics

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An emerging leader in optical technology, Polyoptics, partnered with Styrolution, the global leader in styrenics, for the development of a completely new light guide technology, reported Styrolution on its site.

Funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Industry in Germany, Polyoptics sought to construct a light guide tool with a laser machined surface. Utilizing, Styrolution's innovative transparent styrene acrylic copolymer, NAS, Polyoptics was able to develop the desired light guide, which ensured homogenous lighting without the necessity of polishing or laser treating to achieve the desired optical appearance. The developed light guide serves as a proof of concept for technology that will be incorporated into future applications, such as automotive interiors.

The successful development of the proof of concept for the light guide highlights the potential that NAS, as well as Styrolution's overall transparent specialties portfolio, offers to the electronics industry. As consumer purchasing habits and technological innovations push the industry towards sleeker, lighter and more brilliant applications, transparent specialty materials will continue to be enablers of design and developmental progress in the electronics industry.

Walerij Schulz, Production Manager, Polyoptics: "As we embarked on developing a completely new, breakthrough technology, we sought a partner that not only offered the material properties we desired but also technical expertise to help us maximize the potential of the material and innovate towards a new solution. The product and support provided by Styrolution not only helped us achieve our goals, but also exceed our customers' expectations."

As MRC wrote before, last October, Styrolution and Braskem, the largest producer of thermoplastic resins in America and a global leader in biopolymers, announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to investigate the formation of a joint venture in Brazil. The proposed 100,000 tonne plant would supply specialty styrenics, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and styrene acrylonitrile (SAN) copolymers, to customers in Brazil and throughout South America.

The Styrolution Group GmbH is a global provider of styrenics , headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. The company is a joint venture between BASF (50%) and INEOS (50%), were merged into the main styrene operations of the two partners. Its main focus is on the production of monomer, polystyrene, styrenic specialties, and ABS. The company offers styrene plastics for a variety of everyday products from different industries , such as automotive, electronics, construction, household, leisure, packaging, medicine and health.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The board of directors of Westlake Chemical Corporation has authorized the company to repurchase up to USD250 million in shares of its common stock under a new share repurchase program, as per the company's press release.

This program is effective immediately. Repurchases under this program will be made through the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. These repurchases may be begun or suspended from time to time without prior notice.

The board also declared a dividend of 16.5 cents per share, payable on December 19, 2014, to stockholders of record on December 5,2014.

This is the 41st successive quarterly dividend that Westlake has declared since completing its initial public offering in August 2004.

As MRC informed previously, in August 2014, Westlake Chemical Corporation announced it had closed the previously announced acquisition of German-based Vinnolit Holdings GmbH and its subsidiary companies from Advent International, a private equity firm.

The Vinnolit acquisition includes six production facilities located in Burghausen, Gendorf, Cologne, Knapsack and Schkopau in Germany and Hillhouse in the United Kingdom. These operations have a combined annual capacity of 780 thousand metric tons of PVC, including specialty paste, thermoplastic specialties and suspension grades, 665 thousand metric tons of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and 475 thousand metric tons of membrane grade caustic soda.

Westlake Chemical Corporation is a manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, caustic, VCM, PVC resin and PVC building products including pipe and specialty components, windows and fence.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- A pump serving ethylene unit No. 22 at Chevron Phillips Chemical's Sweeny, Texas plant has shut unexpectedly, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, as reported by Plastemart.

The outage caused pressure build up in an ethylene surge drum that subsequently vented to the atmosphere, releasing ethylene and propylene, among other materials. The pump was returned to service.

The ethylene unit has an production capacity of 300,000 m tpa. Chevron Phillips operates three steam crackers at the Sweeny site, with estimated ethylene production of 1.9 mln mtpa.

As MRC reported earlier, in July 2014, Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) received approval from its board of directors and obtained an environmental permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to expand normal alpha olefins (NAO) production capacity at its Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas. This investment will provide an additional 100,000 tpy of capacity. Construction completion is anticipated in July, 2015.

Chevron Phillips Chemica, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston), US,l is one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, piping, and proprietary plastics. Chevron and Phillips 66 each own 50% of Chevron Phillips Chemical.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries, the operator of India’s largest oil refinery, started trading crude and refined products in Singapore this month as it seeks to expand supplies to markets including Indonesia and Australia, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The Mumbai-based company currently trades products including naphtha and fuel oil from the Indian city, according to Mike Omar, the head of Reliance Global Energy Services.

The Singapore unit has joined the trade ministry’s global traders program, which offers lower tax rates to businesses that set up trading operations in the country, he said.

"Singapore will have its own trading book," Omar said. "We’re looking to grow the manpower size over time. The increase will be dependent on the growth of the portfolio."

Reliance will lease storage facilities in Singapore to blend gasoil, or diesel, and gasoline to supply the Southeast Asian and Australian markets, according to Omar. Singapore is Asia’s biggest oil-trading center.

Reliance, which operates the Jamnagar refining complex in western Gujarat state, with a total capacity of 1.24 million bpd, also exports gasoline to the US. The company will continue to trade crude and fuels from Mumbai, Omar said.

India has shipped 183,000 bbl of the fuel to the US this year, data from the Energy Information Administration in Washington show. That’s down from 518,000 bbl for all of last year and 2.7 million bbl in 2010.

Singapore supports international traders who set up physical trading and corporate functions in the city-state, said International Enterprise, a unit of the Trade and Industry Ministry. It declined to provide details of tax rates offered to Reliance.

As MRC wrote before, Reliance Industries is implementing a new project to source 1.5 million tpy of ethane feedstock from the US to feed its crackers in India.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. The company's polymer production in 2010-11 (polypropylene, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride) made 4,094 kilo tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Samsung Heavy Industries has cancelled previously announced plans to merge with Samsung Heavy Industries, reported Bloomberg.

The two companies disclosed plans this past September to merge in order to create a "world-class total solution provider for shipbuilding and onshore and offshore services".

The merger was called off after investors asked the two companies to buy back the shares they held. Samsung Heavy Industries bought back 923.5 billion won of stock from shareholders opposed to the merger. Investors in Samsung Engineering returned 706.3 billion won in stock.

According to South Korean regulations, a company can call off a merger if the buyback requests reach a level that could increase its financial burden, the report said.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, Samsung Total Petrochemicals Co Ltd announced in late May that a small quantity of a petrochemical product leaked into the sea from a newly-built paraxylene plant in South Korea. The company has cleaned it up. About 2.4 kilolitres of para di ethyl benzene leaked while flowing to test pipelines of the new plant at the company's Daesan petrochemical complex. The leak occurred during testing of the new paraxylene plant, and the clean-up has already been completed.
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