Polystyrene plant planned to be shut by TPSC Asia for maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- TPSC Asia is likely to shut a polystyrene (PS) plant for maintenance turnaround, said Apic-online.

A source in Singapore informed that the plant is likely to be shut in April 2015. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month.

Located in Singapore, the plant has a production capacity of 100,000 mt/year.

The other PS producer in Singapore is Denka Chemical.

As MRC wrote before, DuPont has agreed to sell its DuPont Neoprene polychloroprene businesses to Denka Performance Elastomer. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2015. Denka Performance Elastomer is a new joint venture between Japan-based firms Denka (70%) and Mitsui & Co (30%).

MRC

Borouge launches 3 plastics solutions

MOSCOW (MRC) -- UAE-based Borouge, a manufacturer of polyoleofins, has introduced three new solutions for advanced packaging, baby care and toy market at Arabplast 2015, according to Trade Arabia.

"Our focus on innovative and sustainable solutions will drive our growth and that of our customers," Youssef Taha, vice president of Borouge’s Moulding Marketing Centre, was quoted as saying in a report released by WAM, the Emirates’ News Agency.

"We strive to create solutions with higher efficiency in every way, in material selection, energy consumption and carbon emission."

BD265MO is a high impact block copolymer developed specifically for heavy-duty applications. Apart from offering high impact resistance and noo break properties at room temperature, it is also FDA-approved for food and child contact applications, the report said.

RJ766MO is the latest addition to the Borouge high-flow random polypropylene family, purposed-designed to combine transparency and very high flow with excellent organoleptic performance, making it ideal for transparent packaging and house ware applications, WAM said.

BB2588 is a multimodal HDPE material that offers converters more versatile processability over its predecessor BB2581, allowing them to reap the full benefits of multimodal resin performance without cumbersome machine adjustments and modifications. Based on the unique Borstar multimodal technology, BB2588 delivers up to 10% higher stiffness and up to 10 times better ESCR compared to unimodal HDPE resins, according to the report.

As MRC reported earlier, in March 2014, Borealis and Borouge announced the development of new products such as Borealis PP4874 for data cables and Borealis LE0563 for submarine power cable jackets.

Borouge is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil company and Borealis.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. Borealis is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and operates in over 120 countries with around 5,300 employees worldwide, generating EUR7.5 billion in sales revenue in 2012.
MRC

BASF to expand 1,4-butanediol capacity by 10% from Louisiana plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF will increase its production capacity for the chemical intermediate 1,4-butanediol (BDO) by 10% at its site in Geismar, Louisiana, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to the company's announcement.

The expansion is expected to be complete in 2016.

The company will then have a global capacity of BDO of 670,000 tpy. Additionally, BASF says it is looking into further measures to strengthen and to expand its BDO value chain at the Geismar site.

Besides its Geismar site, BASF is also producing BDO at its sites in Ludwigshafen, Germany, Kuantan, Malaysia, Caojing, China and Chiba, Japan.

In addition, a new BDO site of a joint venture of BASF and the Chinese company Xinjiang Markor is expected to commence operations of 100,000 tpy by 2015.

"Being the leading producer of BDO globally, we continue to expand our production capacity step wise to support the growth of our customers as a reliable partner", said Stefan Blank, president of BASF's intermediates division.

BDO is used for producing plastics, solvents, electronic chemicals and elastic fibers. Depending on the production technology, the starting materials for the production of conventional BDO are natural gas, coal, butane, butadiene and propylene.

As MRC wrote before, in October 2014, BASF and Archroma agreed on the sale of BASF’s global textile chemicals business to Archroma, a supplier of specialty chemicals to the textile, paper and emulsions industries.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC

Lanxess introduces new Baynox stabilizers for biodiesel

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Specialty chemicals company Lanxess Corporation has added two new highly concentrated antioxidants to its existing range of biodiesel stabilizers, reported company in its press release.

The new products - Baynox Ultra and Baynox Cargo - were introduced to the US market at the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo January 19-22 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Baynox Ultra, a highly active liquid oxidation stabilizer, is an easy-to-use additive that effectively prolongs the shelf life of biodiesel, especially for soybean and sunflower methyl esters. It contains a balanced blend of highly active antioxidants and a chelating agent dissolved in a "green" solvent. With an active content of more than 40%, Baynox Ultra is typically added in a concentration of 200 to 500 ppm to the biodiesel. Since the stabilizer does not crystallize, it can be used reliably at temperatures as low as 20 degrees Fahrenheit (F).

Baynox Cargo is a ready-to-use solution of the established Baynox antioxidant in an organic solvent, which has been developed as an oxidation stabilizer for the treatment of biodiesel cargos. It has an active content of more than 35%. The solution has a low viscosity and a flash point above 140 F for easy handling. It remains liquid even at 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Tony Mazzarella, NAFTA Business Manager, explains: "The highly concentrated antioxidants Baynox Ultra and Baynox Cargo ensure that the biofuel obtained from natural raw material remains stable and can be used for longer. Otherwise, the fuel's unsaturated fatty acid structures can easily oxidize in contact with atmospheric oxygen. Heat, light and pressure make the oil rancid within a short time."

The consequences of such oxidation are a degradation of the biodiesel into short-chained fatty acids and the formation of insoluble polymers (gums), which can cause damage to the engine and the injection system. Lanxess' Baynox range is continually being adapted to the rapid developments in the automotive industry and includes increasingly high-performance products. The pressures in diesel engines are continually rising, as are the injector temperatures. On the other hand, tolerances for manufacturers of biodiesel are getting smaller and smaller and the specifications ever narrower. "With Baynox Ultra, our customers will be ideally equipped to meet the demands of modern fuels made by the automotive industry," says Mazzarella.

As MRC wrote previously, in July 2013, Lanxess celebrated the opening of its first production facility in Russia. In the new plant at the Lipetsk site, Lanxess subsidiary Rhein Chemie manufactures polymer-bound rubber additives for the markets in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), primarily for the automotive and tire industries. A production facility for the bladders used in tire production is to be added in 2016. The overall investment volume in euros amounts to a seven-digit figure and 40 new jobs will be created at the new plant in the medium term.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.3 billion in 2013 and roughly 17,000 employees in 31 countries. The company is currently represented at 52 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.
MRC

Iran petrochemical production stance in the world: now and future

MOSCOW (MRC) -- It’s been more than 50 years that Iran started producing petrochemical products and Iran National Petrochemical Company (NPC) is celebrating its anniversary this year, said Sirjangostar Global Group (SGG) in its press release sent to MRC.

Iran, as one of the main energy hubs in the world, with huge oil and gas reserves, is one of the leading producers of petrochemical products in the world.

In 2006, the total consumption of different polymer products was 202 million metric tons and it is estimated this figure reach to 316 million metric ton by 2016. This means only countries with huge feeding materials can be successful on raising production level, and gladly Iran is among one of those countries.

Currently number of active Iranian Petrochemical complexes are 53, with total production capacity of 59 million metric ton, producing range of polymers, chemicals, aromatics & liquid gas, located mainly at Iranian south region, next to Persian Gulf, called Assaluyeh and Mahshahr Special Economic Zones.

At the moment, there are 67 developments projects in the country which are under construction, adding 61 million metric ton on total production and estimated to fully run till 2018.

Iran advantage on having easy and fully access to raw materials for producing main olefins would enable this country to have competitive edge among other producers which will result on increasing export capacities in coming years.
In this regard, all Iranian Petrochemical Companies opt to expand their market.

As MRC reported earlier, NPC plans to increase its investments in the country’s petrochemical projects in order to accelerate their progress, wrote in October 2014 Fars News Agency, quoting NPC Deputy Head Mohammad Hassan Peyvandi. The company is legally permitted to have a 20% share in petrochemical investments, but this can increase to 49% in under developed regions.

NPC is prioritizing funding for projects that are at least 60% complete, he said. These include the Takht-Jamshid SBR & PBR unit, the second phases of the Kavian and Karoun petrochemical plants, the West Ethylene Pipeline and petrochemical projects in the provinces of Lorestan, Kurdistan, Illam, Mahabad and Hamedan.
MRC