PVC production in Russia increased by 2% in January - October 2014

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's unmixed polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production increased by 2% in the first ten months of 2014.
Bashkir Soda Company and Khimprom Volgograd showed a significant increase in PVC production, according to MRC ScanPlast.

October production of unmixed PVC in Russia decreased to 48,100 tonnes, compared with 61,600 tonnes in September on the back of scheduled maintenance works at two largest Russian producers - Bashkir Soda Company and Kaustik Volgograd. Total PVC production in the country grew to 519,200 tonnes in January - October of this year, compared with 507,400 tonnes year on year. The increase in production resulted from higher production rates at Bashkir Soda Company and Khimprom Volgograd, which worked without turnarounds, as well as the launch of RusVinyl, based in Nizhny Novgorod.

Structure of PVC production over the reported period looked as follows. SayanskKhimPlast produced 26,500 tonnes in October, compared with 26,300 tonnes in September. Total PVC production at SayanskKhimPlast in the first ten months of the year remained practically steady at 233,500 tonnes, compared with the same time a year earlier (234,300 tonnes).

Bashkir Soda Company (BSC), which this year has expanded its PVC capacities to 230,000 tonnes/year, produced 8,900 tonnes of PVC in October on the back of two weeks turnaround. Total PVC production at the company increased to 181,100 tonnes in the first ten months of this year, compared with 174,900 tonnes year on year. The producer plans to increase its PVC capacities to 240,000 tonnes/year.

Kaustik Volgograd also shut its PVC capacities in October for scheduled maintenance work for almost three weeks, as a consequence - the output of the resin decreased to 3,300 tonnes. Total PVC production at the plant was 75,100 tonnes in the first ten months of the year, compared with 74,200 tonnes year on year.

Khimprom Volgograd had to suspend its operation for several days in October because of problems with gas and electricity.
Khimprom's emulsion PVC production was 1,400 tonnes in October, remaining practically at the September level. Total EPVC production at the plant was 15,200 tonnes in the first ten months of the year, up 11% year on year on the back of reduced time of the turnaround. According to unofficial information, in the end of last week, the company stopped its carbide furnaces, it is possible that November will be the last month of the enterprise's work.

As it was already written, RusVinil (JV of SIBUR and SolVin) launched SPVC production in August in the test mode. Total SPVC production at the plant was 14,500 tonnes in September-October of this year. The plant's annual production capacity is 330,000 tonnes.


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Canada bitumen processors to cut water use 50%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Oil-sands producers pledged to lower by half the amount of fresh water used in bitumen processing as the industry counters criticism that it pollutes too much, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Members of Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance, or COSIA, including Suncor Energy and Royal Dutch Shell, aim to lower the amount of fresh water used to process bitumen to 0.2 bbl per barrel of bitumen by 2022 from 0.4 now, the group said today.

Oil-sands operators have come under attack for environmental impact including emissions of greenhouse gas and fresh-water use, helping to stall pipeline construction such as TransCanada’s Keystone XL. Production of bitumen, forecast to more than double by 2030, is the Canada’s fastest-growing source of carbon emissions.

"There is no silver bullet" to minimize the industry’s effects on the environment, said Suncor Energy CEO Steve Williams today at a presentation in Calgary. "This is a complex, multibillion-dollar business of global significance."

Oil-sands producers aim to match the greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions of conventional crude operators -- or even go lower, Williams said. The group also plans targets for land and tailings from mining."

"Cosia remains a black box," Amin Asadollahi, oil sands director at Pembina Institute, an environmental advocacy and consultancy group, said in an interview. “They need to be more transparent about technology and performance."

The water-reduction target is the first numerical environmental performance goal for COSIA, which was founded by oil-sands producers to share technology.

This year, the group has overseen 68 projects with a cost of more than CD200 million (USD178 million), COSIA said.

As MRC wrote before, ConocoPhillips has struck a USD720 million deal to sell off its 100% stake in the Clyden oil sands lease in Canada to ExxonMobil and Imperial Oil.

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A. Schulman names vice presidents for United States, Canada and Latin America regions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A. Schulman Inc., leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds, powders and resins, has named Brent Middleton as vice president and general manager, United States and Canada, reported Cleveland Business.

Middleton "will be responsible for driving further growth in the company's United States and Canadian business" and will become a member of the senior leadership team, according to a release from the Akron-based supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins.

A. Schulman also announced that Gustavo Perez will become vice president and general manager, Latin America, to specifically focus on growing and developing the Latin America region.

"We have demonstrated strong recent success in the US as we have grown our business in key markets through acquisitions as well as organically," said Bernard Rzepka, chief operating officer of A. Schulman, in the release. He said Middleton "is a strategic thinker and is highly qualified to oversee our continued effort to take advantage of additional opportunities to expand our business in the US and Canada."

Perez has worked in management at A. Schulman since 1995, most recently serving as the company's vice president and general manager, Americas, since August 2010.

As MRC informed previously, in October 2014, A. Schulman signed an agreement and a strategic partnership with the South Korean polymer producer INITZ for the compounding and marketing of INITZ Co. Ltd.'s ECOTRAN Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) compounds.

A. Schulman is a global plastics supplier, headquartered in Akron, Ohio, and a leading international supplier of high-performance plastic compounds and resins, which are used as raw materials in a variety of markets. A. Schulman has 33 manufacturing facilities globally. A. Schulman's fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 69% amid continued sluggishness in European markets and higher-than-expected costs in Latin America, where the company has been consolidating its Brazilian operations.
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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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Westlake Chemical announces new share repurchase program and declares quarterly dividend

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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