Clean up begins at Huntsman Uerdingen site after authorities say no asbestos found in air

MOSCOW (MRC) -- German authorities has finished testing the debris from an incident at Huntsman’s Uerdingen, Germany site, and found all dust and air samples taken from the affected and non-affected areas to be free of asbestos, enabling clean-up to begin, said Huntsman on its site.

Dust samples taken from the work clothes of firefighters also did not contain asbestos. Asbestos was present only in some damaged sections of building sheeting.

As MRC reported earlier, On Wednesday, Aug. 5, at approximately 2 p.m. CET, a nitrogen tank exploded at Huntsman’s white pigment factory in Uerdingen, Germany, injuring 19 people. There were no fatalities.

The buildings on site have been certified as safe and no structural damage was found.

Investigations into the cause of the incident continue with Huntsman cooperating with German authorities and the company conducting its own review. Preliminary results are expected in the coming weeks.

The Uerdingen site, located 30 kilometers north of Dusseldorf, employs approximately 600 Huntsman associates and contractors. The site produces TiO2, copperas, iron oxide, and products used in the manufacturing of plastics, coatings, paper, laminate, catalysts and ceramics.

Huntsman acquired the Uerdingen site on Oct. 1, 2014, as part of its acquisition of the Performance Additives and Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) businesses of Rockwood Holdi ngs, Inc.

Huntsman Corporation is a publicly traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals with 2014 revenues of about USD13 billion, including the acquisition of RockwoodпїЅs performance additives and titanium dioxide businesses. Huntsman is a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. The company"s operating companies manufacture products for a variety of global industries, including chemicals, plastics, automotive, aviation, textiles, footwear, paints and coatings, construction, technology, agriculture, health care, detergent, personal care, furniture, appliances and packaging.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Global car sales advanced a slower-than-expected 2% in the first half of 2015, but remain on target to climb to the sixth consecutive annual record, according to new data from Scotiabank, said Canplastics.

Purchases are being supported by strengthening job creation in developed markets, improving household balance sheets, low interest rates, and rising consumer confidence across much of the globe, Scotiabank said in its new Global Auto report. "Despite periodic bouts of financial market volatility, most economic and financial risk indicators still remain supportive of the ongoing economic expansion," said report author Carlos Gomes.

Sales gain were greatest in Western Europe, the report said, with car sales in that region accelerating to an 8% year-over-year increase in the first half of 2015, and approaching a full-year total of 13 million units for the first time in five years. "Western Europe has become the auto industry’s growth leader in 2015, with volumes advancing in fifteen of the eighteen countries in the region," Gomes said. "The improvement reflects strengthening labour markets and household balance sheets. Wages and salaries across the euro zone are advancing at the fastest pace since 2008. Income gains are much stronger in the United Kingdom, leading to a record 1.4 million cars sold in the first half of 2015, exceeding the 2004 peak."

Purchases are also strengthening among the new EU members in Central and Eastern Europe, Gomes noted, with eight of the twelve countries posting double-digit gains this year.

The report also noted record volumes in North America, with passenger vehicle sales in North America advancing by 5% year-over-year through July, and full-year volumes expected to surpass 20 million units for the first time on record. The report identified strengthening labour markets as driving the gains across the NAFTA region.

Strengthening economic activity, improving household balance sheets and significant replacement demand have led Scotiabank to increase its 2015 auto sales forecast for the United States to 17.2 million units, from 17 million previously.

Turning to Asia, the report noted that sales and economic growth are only moderate in that region, with the result that car sales in China have softened from the double-digit pace of the past decade, dampening overall gains across Asia and prompting concern about the outlook.

Auto sales in India have advanced by 6% this year, the report said, and will be supported going forward by an easing bias for monetary policy, strengthening economic growth and declining fuel prices.

As MRC informed earlier, China’s car makers started off the year on the right foot, but now things have gotten wobbly. Sales have been in decline month over month in the world’s leading auto market. Chinese auto makers have been combating the slowdown by cutting production and lowering prices.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Processing equipment maker Milacron LLC reported substantially increased sales for the second quarter of 2015 compared to Q2 2014, said Canplastics.

The Cincinnati, Ohio-based company reported sales of USD301.3 million, a 1.8% increase from sales of USD295.9 million in the second quarter a year ago. Excluding USD18.8 million of unfavorable effects of currency movements, the company said, sales for the second quarter actually increased 8.2% over the prior year period.

The sales figures represent the manufacturers’ first financial report since the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in June.

By segment, sales for Milacron’s Advanced Plastic Processing Technologies business – which includes its machinery and aftermarket business – generated USD169.9 million in the second quarter, an increase of 7.3% from sales of USD158.3 million a year ago.

The company’s Melt Delivery and Control Systems segment reported sales for the second quarter 2015 of USD101.8 million, a decrease of 3.2% from sales of USD105.2 million a year ago.

Fluid Technologies reported second quarter 2015 sales of USD29.6 million, a decrease of 8.6% from sales of USD32.4 million a year ago.

As MRC informed earlier, US injection moulding machine manufacturer Milacron (Cincinnati, Ohio) has completed its acquisition of Mold-Masters (Georgetown, Ontario / Canada) for previous coverage. The USD 950m deal creates a new mega plastics processing solutions provider comprised of five businesses: Milacron Plastics Machinery (injection, extrusion and blow moulding), Mold-Masters (hot runners), DME Company (mold technologies), Aftermarket (parts and service) as well as Cimcool Fluid Technology (metalworking fluids and services). Milacron said each of the businesses would continue to focus on its area of specialty, while simultaneously leveraging the synergies among them.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Porner Group delivers the comprehensive planning of a Biturox plant for the SOHAR Refinery at the Sohar Port to ORPIC, the refining and petrochemical flagship of the Sultanate of Oman, said the company in its press release.

The bitumen plant, designed with two reactors, will be able to achieve an annual capacity of 300,000 t. In addition to providing the license and basic engineering, the Porner Group is responsible for pilot tests at the Porner Research Center, detail engineering, commissioning assistance, documentation and the training of personnel.

The Sultanate will be, for the first time, able to produce its own bitumen and be in a position to cover the national bitumen demand. Previously bitumen was imported exclusively from Iran and the United Arab Emirates, a high burden on the investment and expansion of the area’s infrastructure.

The Porner Group is the world leader in this technology that allows refineries to produce high-quality road bitumen from a wide range of crude oils and refinery feedstock. Since 1978 Porner has already awarded 46 licenses for Biturox plants around the world. Currently there are more than 40 bitumen production plants working worldwide based on the Porner Biturox technology.

The Sohar refinery is located in the industrial area of the Port of Sohar and produces diesel, gasoline, kerosene, LPG, naphtha and propylene. At a cost of USD1.8 billion, the refinery is being modernized and expanded. The completion of the newly built complex features five processing plants: vacuum distillation plant, a hydro-cracker, a delayed coker, an isomerisation plant and the Biturox bitumen production plant and is scheduled for 2016. With the 82,000 barrels from these new facilities, the refinery increases its processing capacity by more than 70 % to 198,000 barrels per day. This expansion allows ORPIC to cover the growing domestic demand for gasoline now and in the near future.

As MRC reported earlier, in May 2014, ORPIC said it had awarded two contracts for construction of a USD3.6 billion plastics production complex, the Liwa Plastics Project. The plant will be built in Oman's northern industrial city of Sohar, next to ORPIC's oil refinery and petrochemical plants. The Liwa Plastics Project is due to be completed in 2018, doubling ORPIC's profitability by allowing it to extract more value from Omani crude oil and natural gas, the company said.

ORPIC (Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company) is one of the leading companies in Oman and has two refineries in that country, in Sohar and Muscat. ORPIC is owned by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman and Oman Oil Company SAOC, the trading company created by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman for managing investments in the energy sector.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company is in plans to shut its monoethylene glycol plant for maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Saudi Arabia informed that the plant is planned to be shut in end-March 2016. It is likely to remain off-stream for two months.

Located in Jubai, Saudi Arabia, the plant has a production capacity of 566,000 mt/year.

We remind that, as MRC reported earlier, in February 2015, Saudi Arabia’s Oil Ministry allocated an additional 10m cbf/d (2.8m cbm) of ethane to Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co (Al Jubail / Saudi Arabia) to enable an expansion of capacity at its Al Jubail complex. The company plans to widen its ethylene production by at least 93,000 t/y and its ethylene oxide capacity by 61,000 t/y from the second quarter of 2017.

Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company is a manufacturing affiliate of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic).
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