SK Energy completes construction of the world's first naphtha cracker

(plastemart) -- South Korea's SK Energy has completed construction of the world's first naphtha cracking facility that uses advanced catalytic olefin technology (ACO) at Ulsan. This new facility using ACO will reduce carbon dioxide emissions and energy costs by 20% as compared with conventional method at the facility that can produce up to 40,000 tons of both ethylene and propylene. The ACO process can help lower the required temperature to under 700 degrees, from the conventional requirement of over 850 degrees Celsius (1,562 degrees Fahrenheit) for naphtha cracking process. This process allows for scalable production of propylene than ethylene if needed.

MRC

(plastemart) -- CPC Corp. plans to start its No. 4 naphtha cracker in Kaohsiung after the unit has been shut for over a month. The No. 4 plant was closed on November 3 for scheduled repairs. An earlier attempt to restart the cracker a day ago was aborted when dark smoke was detected at the unit.

MRC

(prw) -- Russian billionaire Leonid Mikhelson has purchased 50 percent of Sibur LLC, a major Russian manufacturer of petrochemicals, plastics and rubber.

Moscow-based Sibur said that half the shares were acquired in the name of a company known as Miracle, which is controlled by Mikhelson, and the other half were purchased by a subsidiary, and will be re-registered in Miracle's name once Russia's anti-monopoly agency has approved the purchase.

Mikhelson is the head of Novatek, Russia's largest independent producer of natural gas. He ranked No. 189 on Forbes magazine's recent listing of the world's billionaires, with an estimated net worth of $4.4bn.

At K 2010 in Dusseldorf, Germany, Sibur president Dimitry Konov told journalists that the company was looking to international markets, particularly in China and Europe. The company had annual sales of more than $7bn, he said.

In 2009, Sibur produced 597,000 tonnes of polymers and 339,000 tonnes of rubber, he said.

MRC

(adsalecprj) -- Dow Europe GmbH has announced to increase the prices for its polyethylene (PE) resins across the European, Middle Eastern and African regions.

Effective January 1, 2011, or as contract terms allow, Dow Europe will increase prices for all grades of its low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) resins by 120 euros per metric ton.

MRC

(MarketWatch) -- Taiwanese synthetic rubber maker TSRC Corp. said it would pay US$168 million to acquire Dexco Polymers Operating Company LLC and Dexco Polymers LP in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Friday.

In a second statement, also released Friday, TSRC said the acquisition would help it to upgrade its technology, provide its customers a wider array of products, and diversify its customer base across Asia, Europe and the Americas. It also said the agreement still needs to be approved by U.S. and Taiwan regulators and estimated that could happen by the second quarter of 2011.

TSRC makes commodity synthetic rubber for car tires and specialty thermoplastic elastomer products which are used in adhesives, industrial compounds, and shoes.

MRC