Cosmo Films to set up new production line for speciality polyester BOPET films

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Cosmo Films Limited has announced plans to install a new production line at Waluj for Speciality Polyester (Biaxially-Oriented Polyethylene Terephthalate) films by Q3 of 2018-19, as per Business Standard.

The new unit is expected to be ready by the third quarter of 2018-19.

The new line will be commissioned at Waluj plant site in Aurangabad, Maharashtra with a capacity of 36,000 mtpa. The project for the new line will entail an investment of Rs. 250 crores and shall be funded through a mix of internal accruals and debt.

This plant already houses BOPP lines, extrusion coating lines, chemical coating lines, metallizers and a CPP line. The new production line will complement the existing BOPP capacity of 200,000 mtpa and allow Cosmo Films to offer a more comprehensive speciality product basket to flexible packaging, labeling, lamination and industrial applications.

Mr. Pankaj Poddar, CEO, Cosmo Films Ltd said, "Speciality BOPET is one of the fastest growing substrates and we anticipate a strong demand for these films. This will enable us to do import substitution as well as take global market share."

As MRC reported earlier, in March 2017, Cosmo Films commenced a new line of production of biaxially-oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films. The new line has a capacity of 60,000 tpa, which will enhance the company’s overall capacity by 4%. Cosmo Films’ overall BOPP manufacturing capacity will move up from the current 1.36 lakh tpa to 1.96 lakh tpa. The new line was of the highest capacity in the world at the time of commissioning and is the first 10.4 metre wide line in India.

Cosmo Films Limited Established in 1981, Cosmo Films Limited is one of the global leaders and manufacturers of BOPP Films. It is the largest exporters of BOPP films from India and largest manufacturer of thermal lamination films in the world. The films make their way into flexible packaging, labels and lamination industry.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- First oil tanker carrying 140,000 t of crude oil started discharging on Monday for delivery into a 480 mi Myanmar oil pipeline, reported Reuters with reference to China's state news agency Xinhua.

China and Myanmar have reached an agreement on an oil pipeline between the neighboring countries after almost a decade of talks, with the project due to start "very quickly," Chinese vice foreign minister Liu Zhenmin said on Monday.

As MRC informed before, in mid-March 2017, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) started operating a major crude oil pipeline that connects eastern Jiangsu province with refineries in south China. The pipeline, which spans 560 kilometers, runs at an annual capacity of 20 MMt, Sinopec said.

Besides, it became known that Sinopec group, parent of Sinopec Corp, will invest USD29.05 billion to upgrade four refining bases between 2016 and 2020 to produce higher-quality fuels.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kuwait’s Equate is constructing a petrochemical plant in the US Gulf Coast at an investment outlay of USD1.7 bln (Dh6.2 bln), the chief executive officer told Gulf News at a conference organised by Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association, reported Plastemart.

The production capacity of the plant, which is expected to be ready in H2-2019, is planned to be 750,000 tons.

As MRC wrote previously, Kuwait-based Equate Petrochemical Company continued its global growth through its wholly owned subsidiary MEGlobal with the launch of work on a new world-scale ethylene glycol (EG) manufacturing facility in Freeport, Texas, US, in August 2016. The new facility, to be completed during 2019, will increase Equate’s monoethylene glycol (MEG) capacity by 750,000 metric tonnes annually and will enhance the company’s global presence to meet customer needs.

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

MOSCOW (MRC) – Fluor Corporation announced that it was selected by a division of Marathon Petroleum Corporation to execute the engineering and procurement scope for a major reconfiguration at Marathon’s Galveston Bay and Texas City, Texas refineries, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Fluor will book the undisclosed contract value into backlog in the first quarter of 2017. "Fluor continues to provide sustaining capital services at five Marathon sites across the United States, and has supported the Texas City and Galveston Bay operations since 2013," said Mark Fields, president of Fluor’s Energy & Chemicals business in the Americas. "Having previously executed the initial studies and early engineering for these projects, we are proud to progress them through the engineering and procurement phase."

The reconfiguration will create a more efficient operation, allowing the two refineries to achieve updated US Environmental Protection Agency Tier 3 gasoline sulfur standards. The scope includes a new unit, modernization of several existing units and modifications to the utilities and offsites to support the scheduled process changes and refinery connections. Fluor is also performing the front-end engineering and design work for Marathon’s South Texas Asset Repositioning (STAR) program.

As MRC informed earlier, Marathon Petroleum Corporation completed expansion corporate headquarters in in Ohio December 2016.

Marathon Oil Corporation is a United States-based oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Principal exploration activities are in the United States, Norway, Equatorial Guinea, Poland, Angola and Iraqi Kurdistan.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A minor explosion has been reported at Reliance Industries' (RIL) petrochemicals plant in Patalganga (India), as per Business Standard with reference to the police.

A pipeline carrying chemicals inside the plant got choked up, leading to the gasket opening up and then causing the explosion. One employee suffered minor injuries and was taken to an in-house medical facility.

When contacted, a RIL spokesperson confirmed the incident and said there was a minor injury to one of the workers who was taken to an in-house medical facility.

The operations at the plant have not been affected, the spokesperson said.

As MRC informed previously, RIL has delayed the start-up of its new monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant until Q2 2017. The company scheduled to commence operations at the plant in Q2 2017. As per the earlier plans, the plant was to be started in December 2016. Located at Jamnagar, Gujarat in India, the plant has a production capacity of 750,000 mt/year.

Reliance Industries is one of the world's largest producers of polymers. The company is engaged in a wide range of activities, ranging from oil and gas production to production of polyester and polymer goods, including the production of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and textiles.
MRC