Phenol plant to be started by CEPSA Chemical

MOSCOW (MRC) -- CEPSA Chemical (Shanghai) is in plans to commence commercial production at a new phenol plant, said Apic-online.

A source in China informed that the plant is planned to be started in April 2015.

Located in Shanghai, China, the plant has a phenol production capacity of 250,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed before, CEPSA and Sumitomo have entered into an agreement for the Japanese company to acquire 25% of CEPSA Quimica China, until now 100% owned by CEPSA. The move is expected to give a boost to a petrochemical factory construction project in Shanghai, in which CEPSA has been involved since 2011.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Magna International Inc has started construction of a USD135 million automotive exteriors manufacturing facility in Queretaro, in central Mexico, said Plasticsnews.

It held a groundbreaking ceremony at the site, about 130 miles northwest of Mexico City, March 18. The plant will produce molded and painted exterior parts, including fascias and rocker panels, for global auto makers. The 285,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to begin operations in the first quarter of 2016.

Magna Exteriors President Grahame Burrow told Plastics News in a telephone interview that the company has already secured two manufacturing programs for the new plant in 2016, for Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.

All of the plant’s production will be for the Mexican market, he said, adding that initially the plant will have seven injection molding presses with clamping forces of 4,000 metric tons and two with 2,000 metric tons. KraussMaffei Group will supply all nine machines.

Magna, of Aurora, Ontario, expects the plant to employ about 600 in the first year. The plant’s managing director is John Schultz.

In the same news release, Burrow said Queretaro is in "a growing region for the automotive manufacturing industry" and has a skilled workforce and professional business environment. "Our growth in Mexico offers opportunities for Magna to continue to align ourselves with the ongoing needs of our global customers," he said.

The new manufacturing facility will be Magna’s 30th in Mexico. The first opened in Puebla in 1991. Magna also runs an engineering and product development center in the country, where it employs 24,000. Of the six Magna Exteriors plants in Mexico — including the new Queretaro facility — four do injection molding, Burrow said.

As MRC wrote before, Magna International Inc. is aiming to set up a new production facility in Malacky, in Slovakia’s western part. The factory will make various plastic interior car components, the country’s state-run Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) said in a statement.

Magna International is headquartered in Aurora, Ont.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Albemarle has entered into discussions with its Middle Eastern partner Ali & Sons Oilfield Supplies & Services Co. (ASOS) to construct a manufacturing facility for FCC catalysts and additives in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Abu Dhabi represents the ideal site for the proposed facility because it would allow Albemarle to meet rapidly growing regional demand for refinery catalyst solutions and would provide an unmatched security of supply for existing customers in the Middle East, according to company officials.

The facility would manufacture Albemarle's value-added AFX catalysts, which promote increased propylene yield from resid feedstocks.

This announcement follows Albemarle's successful delivery of catalysts for the startup of the FCC unit in Takreer's newly-expanded Ruwais refinery.

As MRC informed before, Albemarle Corp. and Rockwood Holdings announced that shareholders from both companies approved the proposals relating to Albemarle's acquisition of Rockwood.

Albemarle Corporation is a chemical company with corporate headquarters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is a specialty chemical manufacturing enterprise. The company employs approximately 6,900 people and serves customers in approximately 100 countries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF has made progress in its plans to build a world-scale methane-to-propylene complex on the US Gulf Coast, the company said on its site.

The company has selected Freeport, Texas, as the potential site, where it will use Air Liquide's proprietary Lurgi MegaMethanol and methanol-to-propylene (MTP) technologies.

BASF has contracted Air Liquide to provide basic engineering services for this gas-to-propylene complex.

The plant is planned to have a production capacity of approximately 475,000 tpy of propylene. This project would be BASF's largest single-plant investment to date and is subject to final approval in 2016 by the BASF executive board.

The Freeport site was founded in 1958 as the first BASF manufacturing facility outside of Europe. With more than 800 full-time employees, the Freeport site is one of two BASF Verbund sites in North America and uses propylene in its manufacturing processes.

BASF says the on-purpose production of propylene to supply the company's North American operations would allow it to take advantage of low gas prices resulting from US shale gas production.

The investment would further strengthen BASF's backward integration into propylene and grow its propylene-based downstream activities, leading to a stronger market position in North America, according to company officials.

As MRC informed before, BASF and Seashell Technology, a leading nanotechnology company based in San Diego, have announced that BASF has acquired Seashell's technology, patents and know-how for silver nanowires. The acquisition extends BASF's portfolio of solutions offered to the display industry through the company's growing electronic materials unit.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global specialty chemicals company Clariant has acquired a chemical storage and packaging facility in Broussard, Louisiana, the company said on its site.

The transaction includes key personnel, laboratory, production, and storage facilities for supplying the offshore shelf, deep water, and Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coast land-based markets.

"Combined with our existing blending facility in Reserve, Louisiana, Clariant's new Broussard facility significantly expands our capacity to serve the customers in the region," says Doug Hayes, global head of Clariant Oil Services.

"The facility specializes in deep water product filtration and repackaging," he added. "The facility's fully equipped Analytical and QC laboratories add to Clariant's already extensive local, regional, and global laboratory service capabilities."

The Broussard facility includes a 2,000-square-foot analytical laboratory, an 1,800-square-foot quality control laboratory, and 400,000 gallons of total chemical storage.

"This latest acquisition is just one more example of our growing commitment to serving customers in the Louisiana and Texas markets," said Hayes.

As MRC informed before, Clariant's Masterbatches, a devision of the world leader in specialty chemicals Clariant, has presented two innovative products - REMAFIN-EP white masterbatches and Hydrocerol nucleating agents, which cater to the needs of India’s pharmaceutical and infrastructure industries, respectively.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints. Clariant India has local masterbatch production activities at Rania, Kalol and Nandesari (Gujarat) and Vashere (Maharashtra) sites in India.
MRC