DuPont plant releases over 20,000 pounds of ethylene

(Bloomberg) -- DuPont Co.'s Sabine River Works chemical plant in Orange, Texas, released more than 20,000 pounds of ethylene when a fire protection circuit tripped, according to a filing to the National Response Center.


The release was in a downstream derivatives unit of the ethylene cracker and the failure did not affect cracker operations, Nathan Pepper, a spokesman for the Wilmington, Delaware-based company, said in a telephone interview.


U.S. refineries must notify the National Response Center if they release hazardous substances in excess of reportable quantities, according to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, commonly known as Superfund.


The Sabine complex is 110 miles (175 kilometers) east of Houston.


MRC

Saudi Rabigh polyethylene units to start operations

(Arabian Business) -- Rabigh Refining & Petrochemical Co will start operations at two polyethylene units next week after completing maintenance and cleaning, the company said in a statement on the Saudi bourse website on Sunday.


The company resumed operations at all units with the exception of the two polyethylene units and three ovens in the ethane crackers after an October power outage curbed production at plant, the company said.


It has met 90 percent of its obligations to customers since the power outage.


MRC

Teijin to launch bio-derived PET fiber in 2012

(JCN Network) -- Teijin Fibers Ltd will begin full-fledged production and marketing of new plant-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fiber - said to be the world's first commercially produced bio-derived PET fiber - in April 2012.


Also available as a textile, the ECO CIRCLE PlantFiber will become Teijin Fibers' core biomaterial for applications ranging from apparel, car seats and interiors to personal hygiene products. Teijin Fibers expects to sell 30,000 tons of ECO CIRCLE PlantFiber products in the initial fiscal year ending in March 2013, and 70,000 tons by the third year of business.


Teijin Fibers' ECO CIRCLE PlantFiber is made roughly 30 percent from biofuels derived from biomass such as sugarcane.


MRC

Toray Plastics to begin construction on solar photovoltaic (PV) field

(Plastemart) -- USA's only manufacturer of precision-performance polypropylene, polyester and bio-based films for packaging and industrial applications, Toray Plastics plans to begin construction in Q2-2011 on a US$2 mln 446 kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic (PV) field on its campus in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.


The new solar field will occupy approximately three acres, consist of 1,650 PV panels with utility-scale single-access trackers, and be the largest solar-powered system in the state. Toray estimates that the efficient clean-energy system, which is designed to produce a higher-energy output when compared with conventional fixed-mounted PV panels, will generate 625 megawatt hours (MW h) a year, help curb escalating energy costs, and reduce CO2 emissions by 340 tpa. Construction is expected to be completed by Q3-2011.


MRC

LDPE exports from Russia increased by 4%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In November LDPE export supplies to Russia grew by 4% compared to October and made about 16 KT. Good external market conditions may bring along further exports growth, according to MRC analysts.


In November - December 2009 low demand in the domestic market and good conditions in the external markets allowed the Russian producers to increase the exports to 25-30 KT.


In January 2010 insufficient offer of PE in the Russian market caused a sharp price rise. By June 2010 LDPE exports from Russia had fallen by record 6 KT. But in July there started a gradual growth of supplies to the external markets.


Herewith more than 67% of total exports fell at supplies to the Asian countries. Last week in Asia quotations for PE renewed the growth after two week break and were fixed within the range of USD 1.600 - 1.650/mt, CFR.


Favourable external market conditions may bring along further growth of exports from the Russian LDPE producers.


For more detailed information about PE exports see in MRC DataScope.


MRC