US petrochemicals welcomed a federal decision to postpone deadline for reporting of GHG emissions

(ICIS) -- US petrochemical, chemical and refining interests on Tuesday welcomed a federal government decision to postpone the 31 March deadline for industrial reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said earlier on Tuesday that it would put back the original 31 March reporting deadline to an unspecified date in mid-2011.

Under the agency's May 2010 reporting mandate, large emitters of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) - basically industrial sites, manufacturers such as chemical plants and refiners - were to begin reporting the volume of their GHG emissions beginning the end of this month.

EPA said it was putting the deadline back so that it could further test the online reporting system that would be used by industry. The agency said that it would announce a new deadline later this year.

American Chemistry Council (ACC) President Cal Dooley welcomed the delay. ⌠Reporting done right requires a thorough understanding of the new rules, ample time for feedback and sufficient testing to ensure a high-quality database, he said.

The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) also hailed the delay, saying it was ⌠a sensible step.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Crude futures are close to a two-and-a-half year high on Wednesday on supply worries triggered by the ongoing turmoil in Libya and an unexpected fall in US crude inventories. At 05:58 GMT, April Brent on London's ICE futures was trading at $115.89/bbl, up 47 cents/bbl from the previous close after earlier hitting a session high of $116.36/bbl. The Tuesday North Sea benchmark settled at $115.42/bbl, the highest level since 27 August 2008.

Crude prices stayed high amid mounting concerns that continued instability in Libya, which has drastically reduced output from the OPEC member, could spread to other nations in the Middle East and North Africa and threaten the global supply of crude oil.

Other countries in the region also recently experienced unrest including Oman, Bahrain and Iran in recent weeks since the overthrow of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak.

MRC

(ICIS) -- French specialty chemicals firm Arkema said on Wednesday it plans to start up its two new plants in Changsu, China, and is eyeing new projects to expand its presence in Asia. "Two new plants will be brought on stream in China, the first in March for fluoropolymers and the second in mid-year for specialty acrylic polymers," Arkema said in a statement. The capacity of the plants were not disclosed.

Meanwhile, the company said that among its priorities this year would be building an emulsions plant and expanding its capacity in polyamides and fluoropolymers in Asia.

Arkema said it would also prepare longer-term projects in the thiochemicals and acrylic monomers sectors in Asia.

Arkema reported a record net profit of ┬347m ($475m) last year, with sales jumping 32.9% to ┬5.91bn. In the fourth quarter of 2010, it swung to a net profit of ┬58m on the back of a 32.4% year-on-year surge in sales to ┬1.43bn.

MRC

(Dow) -- Howard Ungerleider, vice president for Investor Relations, has been named senior vice president for Dow, and President for the newly formed Performance Plastics Division.

The Performance Plastics Division will be comprised of all Dow plastics including Solution Polyethylene, Wire & Cable, Elastomers, Films and Packaging Resins and will include the Packaging and Converting Unit that is currently part of the Advanced Materials Division.

Its focus will be on high value market driven solutions in applications such as Packaging, Hygiene, Food and Telecommunications. The Division's formation reflects Dow's active portfolio management over the last two years that has resulted in the de-emphasis of its commodity plastics products, especially following the divestment of Styron.
MRC

(Tetra Pak) -- Tetra Pak, the world leader in food processing and packaging solutions, unveils three new closures designed to meet the diverse needs of the global beverage market: DreamCap, an ergonomically designed closure specially for on-the-go consumption; LightCap, designed to keep plastic use and cost to a minimum and HeliCap, which combines one-step easy opening with distinctive tamper evidence.


Benefits are possible because of Tetra Pak's industry-first combination of Pre-Laminated Hole (PLH) and Direct Injection Moulding Concept (DIMC) technologies. DIMC technology ≈ already used by Tetra Pak customers for milk ≈ allows the base of the cap neck to be moulded as flat as possible to the underside of the packaging material, providing the maximum pouring area.

DreamCap, LightCap and HeliCap are cost effective solutions, which can be integrated with existing packages and Tetra Pak lines.

MRC