Reifenhauser Kiefel Extrusion is now Reifenhauser Blown Film

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Effective January 1st, 2015, Reifenhauser Kiefel Extrusion, the leading manufacturer of blown film extrusion lines has changed its name to Reifenhauser Blown Film, sid the company in its press release.

Since 2009, the company belongs to the Troisdorf/North Rhine-Westphalia-based Reifenhauser Group that underlines again the full integration of the company acquired in 2009 in the Group by changing its name. At the same time, the change in name marks the strategic expansion of the Business Unit Blown Film that clearly enhances the Worms site, safeguards jobs and supports further growth.

Reifenhauser is investing over 2 million euro in the Worms site to further expand the in-house manufacture of know-how components. New machining centers and a new 3D measuring machine were bought and installed in new buildings. "These investments enable us to further optimize the material flow, expand capacities, and sustainably ensure the quality for demands in the future", says Bernd Reifenhauser, CEO of the Reifenhauser Group. "The changes not only mean a further step forward for the Worms site, but for the complete Reifenhauser Group: We are advancing the strengths of the Group in a purposeful way, and are networking even more closely to position our products and services on the global marketplaces in the most targeted manner."

CEO of Reifenhauser Blown Film is Dr. Fritz Dorner. Already on 01.10.2014, he had assumed this position from Bernd Reifenhauser who will now concentrate again on his role as CEO of Reifenhauser Group. Graduated plastics engineer Dorner (51) holds a diploma in business administration and a doctorate at the faculty for mechanical enginering of RWTH Aachen university. In the past, he held various leading positions in the field of international machine construction. With his comprehensive experience he will consistently continue to pursue the course of growth of Reifenhauser Blown Film. He can start this task with a full order book.

As MRC wrote before, Germany-based plastics processing equipment maker the Reifenhauser Group has purchased injection molding and extrusion screw and barrel manufacturer Westland Corporation.

Reifenhauser Blown Film is one of the globally leading providers of blown film lines. With our technologies, innovative spirit and know-how along the entire value chain, we enable our customers worldwide to produce blown films of high quality. That's what we proved in more than 7,000 projects.
MRC

Qatar to invest USD25 bn in petrochemical to produce 23 m tonnes

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asia remains a key driver of growth for Qatar’s petrochemicals sector, with demand from the region fuelling investment and expansion projects, said Global Arab Network.

However, the long-term outlook is less certain after the cancellation of the USD6 bn Al Sejeel petrochemicals plant, one of the megaprojects targeted to come on line by the end of the decade.

Qatar, the world's largest liquefied natural gas producer, is diversifying its exports away from the oil and gas sector and is already the second largest exporter of chemicals in the Gulf, representing 17% of total Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) chemical exports, according to the Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association.

Plans are afoot to invest USD25 bn in petrochemical capacity to produce 23 m tonnes by 2020 from 16.8 m tonnes in 2012, according to state-owned energy distributor Muntajat, which holds the rights to market, sell and distribute Qatar's chemical and polymer products globally. As well as raising production capacity, investments are aimed at broadening the range of petrochemical products on offer.

However Industries Qatar (IQ), the state-controlled petrochemicals and steel producer, revealed in September that it was putting on hold the Al Sejeel plant, construction of which was due to start by early next year. The venture, between QAPCO and state energy company Qatar Petroleum, was one of two petrochemical plants scheduled to be constructed before the end of the decade.

The petrochemicals industry has embarked on a long-term expansion plan based on the assumption that demand from China and other emerging markets such as India will continue to grow, according to a recent report by corporate consultants Dun & Bradstreet.

The second major expansion process is the USD6.5 bn Al Karaana plant, an 80:20 joint venture between state-owned Qatar Petroleum and Shell due to come on line in 2018. The facility will have a 2m tonne production capacity, which will add 25% to Qatar’s petrochemicals output. Officials have said the bulk of this new production is likely to be directed toward the Asian market.

Offshore production is seen as another route for expansion. Qatar Petroleum International (QPI), a subsidiary of Qatar Petroleum, has struck a series of agreements over the past few years to develop petrochemicals production projects in Vietnam and Singapore, among others. These projects will see Qatar provide feedstock for other offshore developments and help the country expand its profile along the Asian supply chain.

The rise in demand for high-density polyethylene, the most commonly-used plastic in packaging and bottles, has been consistently above global GDP growth for some time, a trend that is expected to continue, Al Subaey told OBG.

As part of the push into Asia, Muntajat announced in mid October the opening of offices in eight Asian hubs, along with an office in Morocco to serve the North African market. Two of the new Asian offices will be in China – located in the industrial centres of Guangzhou and Shanghai – and one in India’s Mumbai. The others will be in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Indonesia, and Pakistan.

As MRC wrote before, Qatar Petroleum and Shell have decided not to proceed with the proposed Al Karaana petrochemicals project, and to stop further work on the project. The decision came after a careful and thorough evaluation of commercial quotations from EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) bidders, which showed high capital costs rendering it commercially unfeasible, particularly in the current economic climate prevailing in the energy industry.
MRC

Equate successfully completes turnaround & first phase of polyethylene debottlenecking

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Equate Petrochemical Company, Kuwait’s first international petrochemical joint-venture, has announced the successful completion of its plants’ turnaround (TA) and the first phase of the polyethylene (PE) plant debottlenecking project, reported Fibre2Fashion.

Equate has realized the first of its kind international achievement by completing all operations within a record-time for petrochemical plants based on global standards. In addition, Equate has affirmed its abidance by all local laws and regulations relevant to implementing the strictest guidelines for environment, health and safety (EH&S).

All units were shutdown from the November 20 to December 20, 2014, and the units resumed their normal operations on the 23rd of December. The TA is a major activity that takes place once every eight years for a 30-day shutdown.

All matters are thoroughly planned for technical experts to conduct comprehensive maintenance of a number of industrial units, which include ethylene, polyethylene, ethylene glycol and utilities, while ensuring absolute abidance by international best practices.

As MRC informed previously, in line with The Dow Chemical Company's prior announcement of its intention to rationalize its investments in certain joint ventures, Dow will reconfigure and reduce its equity base in the MEGlobal and Greater Equate joint ventures, including The Kuwait Olefins Company (TKOC) and The Kuwait Styrene Company (TKSC), through a divestment of a portion of the company’s interests in these ventures.

Established in 1995, EQUATE Petrochemical Company is an international joint venture between Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Boubyan Petrochemical Company (BPC) and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC). Commencing production in 1997, EQUATE is the single operator of a fully integrated world-scale manufacturing facility producing over 5 million tons annually of high-quality petrochemical products which are marketed throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.
MRC

BPCL to invest Rs. 4,800 crore in a propylene derivative plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bharat Petroleum Corporation plans to invest Rs. 4,800 crore in the propylene derivative petrochemical project in Kochi, which was earlier planned as a joint venture, as per Plastemart.

Environmental clearance for the project is expected in about a couple of months, after which BPCL will choose its technology partner. BPCL has identified six technology partners for the project.

The BPCL Board had already given its approval for the investment subject to environmental approval. Cost of the integrated refinery expansion and petrochemical project is Rs. 25,000 crore and is the single largest investment in Kerala.

Propylene for the project will be sourced from the expanded refinery. The capacity of the refinery is being raised from 9.5 mln tpa to 15.5 mln tons.

As MRC wrote before, in October 2014, expansion by BPCL’s Kochi refinery was 60% complete, and scheduled for completion in December 2015.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is an Indian state-controlled oil and gas company headquartered in Mumbai, India. Bharat Petroleum owns refineries at Mumbai, Maharashtra and Kochi, Kerala (Kochi Refineries) with a capacity of 12 and 9.5 million metric tonnes per year.
MRC

Multitude of investments by petrochemical companies in the Port of Antwerp

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Port of Antwerp, in 2014, saw several leading energy companies announce record levels of investment. Both ExxonMobil and TOTAL will be making huge strategic investments in Antwerp, said Portofrotterdam.

US oil giant ExxonMobil announced a USD1 bln investment in its refinery. The company started to build a Delayed Coker Unit in October for converting heavy, high-sulphur oil residues into cleaner oil products and to produce transport fuel such as diesel and fuel oil for the maritime industry. French energy company TOTAL also made the decision to invest 1 bln euro in a modernisation programme for its Antwerp production plant. Antwerp is the company’s largest refining and petrochemical platform in Europe.

One of the investment projects, named OPTARA, is a new refining complex intended primarily for converting heavy fuel oil into desulphurised diesel and domestic heating oil with ultra-low sulphur content, in response to the shift in demand towards more environmentally-friendly products. The new plant is due to begin operations in 2016. BASF Antwerp has also started up a new extraction plant for butadiene. The Antwerp plant, which will have an annual production capacity of 155,000 tonnes, is the second BASF butadiene extraction plant in Europe after its headquarters in Ludwigshaven.

Evonik Industries chose Antwerp to build the first commercial plant in the world to produce AQUAVI® Met-Met, an innovative feedstuff additive specially developed for aquaculture of shrimps and other crustaceans. In addition, the company is building a 100,000 ton 1-butene production plant and expanding its methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) production capacity by up to 150,000 tons.

American industrial gas company Praxair is building its second air separation plant and extending its pipeline system in the Port of Antwerp. Thanks to this investment, Praxair will be able to increase its supply of oxygen and nitrogen to companies in the port.

French industrial gas company Air Liquide is investing some 50 million euro, doubling its carbon monoxide (CO) production capacity in the Port. The CO will be supplied to BASF, which uses the carbon monoxide for its methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) production. MDI is an important precursor for making polyurethane (PU), a plastic that can be supplied in various forms and has many applications, being used in freezers, refrigerators, the car industry and for varnishes, shoes, leisure articles amongst other things.
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