BASF established partnership with MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics

(BASF) -- BASF announced it is establishing a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Transportation & Logistics (CTL). The company has become a Strategic Partner in the Center's Supply Chain Exchange. The Supply Chain Exchange is an active community of companies that share a common goal to leverage cutting-edge research and knowledge to achieve supply chain-centric competitive advantages.

⌠The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics is one of the foremost sources of supply chain innovation, said Dr. Robert Blackburn, Senior Vice President Supply Chain & Process Innovation at BASF. ⌠Joining the Supply Chain Exchange provides a great opportunity for BASF to continue our demonstrated track record of developing sustainable innovations throughout our supply chain as well as better aligning our global supply chain with our corporate business strategy to the benefit of all our stakeholders.

The Supply Chain Exchange provides networking and educational opportunities within MIT and CTL's corporate partner community, which includes representatives of some of the leading manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and transportation and logistics service providers. Additionally, BASF will directly benefit from interaction with MIT researchers on current industry issues and privileged access to CTL's symposia series, student recruiting and communications programs.

MRC

(Reuters) -- Japan's Mitsubishi Chemical Corp said on Friday that it aims to restart the No.2 naphtha cracker at its Kashima plant, with capacity to produce 453 Kta of ethylene, around May 20, marking the reopening of the plant after it was shut by a massive quake on March 11. The company, a wholly owned unit of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings , also said it was set to restart the other 375 Kta No.1 cracker at the plant on June 27, after planned maintenance is completed.

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(Plastemart) -- South Korea's Daelim Industrial Co Ltd said in a regulatory filing that it had signed a USD 317 mln deal to build a petrochemical plant in Limay, Bataan, under a deal with Petron, the Philippines' largest oil refining firm. Daelim plans to complete the plant by November
Philippines is one of the few among ASEAN countries without an integrated petrochemical industry. Currently, the Philippines' petrochemicals industry is dependent on ethylene imports, thus is vulnerable to external factors, particularly exchange rate fluctuations.

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(BusinessWire) -- The Dow Chemical Company introduced Dow soft touch polypropylene (PP) Resin, a family of breakthrough single-pellet resin solutions for the efficient production of mono-component spunbond nonwoven fabrics that exhibit remarkable softness and drape while retaining the physical properties of polypropylene nonwoven fabrics.

The health and hygiene industry's drive to identify softer nonwoven fabrics has triggered the development of a range of raw materials solutions in recent years, from resin additives, mechanical alteration, and blends to bi-component fibers. Each solution offers some degree of softness, but often at only marginal perceptibility, higher cost or increased operational complexity.

Nonwoven fabrics made with Dow soft touch resin overcome these challenges through a single pellet solution that can be used in existing mono-spunbond lines. The new resin solutions offer noticeably improved comfort for end-users of nonwoven products in the form of tactile softness, improved drape (ductile softness) and a reduction in noise intensity.

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In April situation with import supplies is hardly to be changed. An insignificant growth of pipe HDPE imports is expected, in particular, from Asia, as well as that of polyethylene for extrusion coating of steel pipes of large diameter.

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