Clariant expands operations at Coatzacoalcos, Mexico plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant International Ltd said that it has completed the project to expand its industrial facility in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, and increased production capacity by around 15 percent, said Worldofchemicals.

This investment in the expansion of the plant was made to strengthen the group's ability to serve industrial and consumer markets - not only in Mexico but around the world, especially in the Americas. The expansion project in Coatzacoalcos took approximately two years to complete, concluding within the planned timeframe and budget and with zero accidents. Included amongst the benefits it is bringing to the local communities is the creation of indirect service jobs in areas such as transportation and maintenance, among others.

Since its inaugural in 2002, the Coatzacoalcos plant has continuously been expanded over the last 15 years. It currently occupies an area of 76,000 square meters, has over 100 employees and manufactures a wide variety of Clariant products.

"To make progress on our way to becoming a leading speciality chemicals company, Clariant focuses on the allocation of investments in areas with excellent growth potential. One of these important strategic markets in the Americas is Mexico, particularly due to its growth potential, its export strength and our highly motivated and qualified workforce," said Hariolf Kottmann, CEO of Clariant.

"We have a strong presence in Mexico, with production plants, laboratories, and sales offices located in Santa Clara (Mexico state), Puebla, and Coatzacoalcos, which provides solutions to multiple industries and we continuously invest in new technologies to better meet the needs of our customers," added Fernando Hernandez, country head of Clariant Mexico.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- KBR Inc (KBR) has been awarded both a license and engineering (LBED) and a proprietary equipment supply contract by Cangzhou Dahua New Materials Co Ltd (CDNM) to build a new polycarbonate plant in Cangzhou City, China, as per Worldofchemicals.

Under the terms of the two contracts, KBR will provide its proprietary PCMAX technology, basic engineering design package and proprietary equipment supply for a 100,000 metric tonnes per annum single train plant in Cangzhou. CDNM intends to expand annual production at a later stage to 200,000 metric tonnes.

The plant will utilize KBR's phosgene-based interfacial polycarbonate PCMAX technology. KBR's unique PCMAX technology offers a wide range of high-quality product grades with minimal capital investment.

KBR globally licenses and designs polycarbonate synthesis and compounding plants as well as complementary phenolic technologies, including phenol/acetone, and bisphenol-A (BPA). KBR's integrated phenolics offering provides advantages in raw materials, utilities, OPEX and maintenance costs.

"KBR has been our most trustworthy partner for decades. The polycarbonate market in China is booming, and we believe that by choosing KBR's advanced technology, we can achieve the best quality of products and place ourselves in the leading position in this new market," said Xie Huasheng, chairman of CDNM.

"We are extremely pleased and honoured to be CDNM's strategic partner. China is one of our most important markets and KBR is excited to be a part of this significant project," said John Derbyshire, president, KBR technology and consulting.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - China's support for Venezuela has benefited ordinary people and been broadly welcomed, the foreign ministry said on Monday after the U.S, as per Reuters.

Treasury accused China of aiding Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government with murky oil-for-loan investments. In a Friday speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the U.S. Treasury's top economic diplomat, David Malpass, said China's focus on commodities and opaque financing deals had hurt, not helped, countries in the region. His attack on China's role in aiding the Venezuelan government came a day after U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, ahead of a five-day tour of Latin America, raised the prospect of a military coup in the oil-rich country.

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said financial cooperation between the two countries was set by companies and financial bodies in both nations on commercial, win-win principles. Loans were totally in accordance with international standards and benefited local people, he added. "What the United States said is baseless and extremely irresponsible," Geng said. Cooperation between China and Venezuela had supported the building of more than 10,000 low-cost houses, electricity generation and the cost of household appliances for three million Venezuelan homes on low incomes, he added. "China-Venezuela cooperation has favourably promoted Venezuela's socio-economic development and has been welcomed and supported by all levels of society," Geng said. "A stable Venezuela accords with the interests of all sides."

China last week said the United States was disrespecting Latin America after Tillerson warned countries in the region against excessive reliance on economic ties with China.

The Trump administration has imposed individual and economic sanctions on Venezuela's government for rights abuses and corruption. Maduro has accused Washington of seeking to oust him to improve access to the OPEC nation's oil wealth.

China and Venezuela have a close diplomatic and business relationship, especially in energy. China has repeatedly brushed off widespread condemnation from the United States, Europe and others about the situation in the country. China has said it is confident in Venezuela's ability to properly handle its debts. Venezuela has borrowed billions of dollars from Russia and China, primarily through oil-for-loan deals that have crimped the country's hard currency revenue by requiring oil shipments to be used to service those loans.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema has announced an investment plan to increase by 25% its capacity of polyamide 12 polymers, commercialized under the trademark Rilsamid, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This new capacity will be added at Arkema’s Changshu platform in China and is expected to come on stream by mid-2020. With this latest investment plan, Arkema continues to reinforce its specialty polyamide business in all three major global regions - Europe, North America and now Asia.

This investment which represents several tens of millions of euros, will support the strong demand in growth applications such as cable protection, lightweighting (metal replacement) in automobiles, improved high performance sports shoes (running, soccer, etc.) and evolving applications in the consumer electronics segment. The mid-term growth rates in these applications are expected to exceed 7% per year in Asia.

With this latest project, the specialty polyamides business will continue to bolster its industrial, commercial and R&D presence in Asia, and confirms its commitment to supply its global customers locally.

"This project announcement is the latest of several major investments in specialty polyamides in Asia to support the momentum of our advanced materials offer in the region" said Julie Zhang, Regional President of Arkema’s Technical Polymers business in Asia. "It’s energizing for our customers to see how quickly we are evolving into a local sourcing supplier, into a world-class manufacturing presence in Asia with R&D and service to match."

This project is complementary to our recent project announcement in the bio-based polyamide 11 chain (monomer and polymer) and is consistent with the Group’s ambitious strategy to significantly step up the development of its advanced materials, which should eventually account for over 25% of sales by 2023, while continuing to further consolidate its presence in Asia.

As MRC reported earlier, in March 2017, Arkema completed the sale to INEOS of its 50% stake in Oxochimie, their oxo alcohols manufacturing joint venture, and of the associated business.

Arkema is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PolyOne Corporation has announced it expects to begin production of thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) this summer at its existing facility in Pune, India, reported PRNewsWire.

PolyOne currently produces color and additive concentrates and engineered polymer solutions at the Pune facility. Adding TPE production enables the company to support customers in the country even more quickly and with a broader portfolio of domestically manufactured materials.

"This investment at our facility in Pune answers customers' desire for a domestic supplier able to offer expertise in color, engineered materials and thermoplastic elastomers," said Craig Nikrant, president, Specialty Engineered Materials, PolyOne. "We are the only global company to offer all of these domestically produced materials in India. Customers benefit from shorter lead times due to domestic production, and also from our global network of polymer science expertise."

PolyOne opened a new facility in Pune in 2014, initially focused on the production of colorant and additive concentrates to serve end markets such as transportation, electronics & electrical, healthcare, wire & cable, and packaging. The company expanded manufacturing capability to include specialty engineered materials last year. With the most recent addition of TPE production, PolyOne enables manufacturers to source all of their specialty polymer requirements from a single domestic source.

"We're very excited to build upon our momentum in India with domestic production of TPEs," said Vikas Vij, managing director, India, at PolyOne. "At the same time, we're also increasing our technology and sales personnel to maximize the innovation, collaboration and service we provide to our valued customers."

As MRC informed before, in February 2016, expanding on its global footprint and expertise in thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) innovation and design, PolyOne Corporation announced it has acquired certain technologies and assets from Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc.

PolyOne Corporation is a USD3.2 billion premier provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions with operations in specialty polymer formulations, color and additive systems, polymer distribution and specialty vinyl resins.
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