Toyo awarded synthetic resin project in the United States

MOSCOW (MRC) --Toyo Engineering Corporation (TOYO, President and CEO Katsumoto Ishibashi) has been awarded a contract to construct a synthetic resin (Ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer, EVOH) production plant with a capacity of 15,000 tons per year in La Porte, Houston, Texas, USA, planned by the Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co., Ltd, said Toyo in its statement.

Construction of the new plant is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2013 and to be completed at the end of 2014.
The project will add the third production line to the two existing lines (23,000 t/y in total) to respond to increasing worldwide demand for EVOH for food packaging applications.

Toyo's experience in collaborating with Japanese firms moving into foreign markets including the United States is highly valued and resulted in the award of this contract. Toyo will continue to strive to win more projects in the United States where investment in shale-gas-related projects is increasing.

As MRC wrote earlier, Toyo Engineering was awarded a contract from Russia's TAIF-NK to provide services for detailed engineering and procurement on the oil refinery modernization project in Nizhnekamsk. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2016. The upgraded complex will convert the following oil refinery heavy residues: 2,700,000 tpy of vacuum residue and 1 million tpy of vacuum gas oil, with a high ratio of conversion to valuable oil products.

Toyo Engineering Corporation is an engineering, procurement and construction company serving mainly the hydrocarbons (oil and natural gas) and petrochemical sectors worldwide.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The managing director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) says the Islamic Republic of Iran’s neighboring countries have demanded an increase in the export of the country’s petrochemical products, said Presstv.

"Despite all challenges in the way of petrochemical products exports in 1391 (the current Iranian calendar year, started March 20, 2012), neighboring countries have demanded an increase in the export capacity of our country thanks to high quality and variety of the goods produced in petrochemical complexes of Iran," Abdolhossein Bayat stated.

He added that petrochemical products have had a 38-% share in the non-oil exports of the country in the current (Iranian calendar) year.

He also expressed hope that petrochemical products’ exports can develop further in the following (Iranian calendar) year.

As MRC wrote earlier, Abdolhossein Bayat pointed out that a huge development will occur in the country at the end of current administration tenure in summer via completion and startup of Mehr Mandegar (Lasting Kindness) projects, which not only will meet domestic needs but also will enable the country to export various petrochemical products.

Iran has significantly expanded the range and volume of its petrochemical products over the past few years, and the National Iranian Petrochemical Company has become the second-largest producer and exporter of petrochemicals in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia.

The Islamic Republic exported a total of 18.2 million tons of petrochemical and polymer products, worth about USD 14.2 billion, to more than 60 countries in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 19, 2012).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow Chemical has signed a long-term ethylene off-take agreement with a new Japanese joint venture that will allow the chemical producer to enhance its performance plastics franchise, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The joint venture is being formed between Japanese companies Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui & Co. to construct and operate a Linear Alpha Olefins unit on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Dow - the world's second-largest chemical producer by revenue - is a large consumer of linear alpha olefins and utilizes them within its performance plastics franchise for the production of high-performance materials. The company said it expects the agreement with the joint venture will enable a long-term supply and purchase relationship for linear alpha olefins, which will enhance its performance plastics franchise.

Dow billed the agreement as marking the next milestone in its strategy to integrate cost-advantaged feedstocks to support the profitable growth of its performance plastics franchise. It said the joint venture will utilize an integrated supply of ethylene from Dow's production grid on the U.S. Gulf Coast to produce linear alpha olefins used as comonomers throughout Dow's performance plastics franchise, and will contribute "significant capital" for these rights.

Financial terms of the agreement weren't however disclosed. The company noted that location options for the linear alpha olefins unit are currently being explored. Construction and start-up of the new unit is targeted for 2016.

Dow's latest announcement comes after its said last week that it is accelerating its divestiture of noncore businesses and is targeting nearly USD1.5 billion of proceeds over the next 18 months.

The chemical producer had already unveiled plans to shut 20 facilities and eliminate 2,400 jobs in Europe, the U.S. and Japan. It also is trimming capital expenditure as part of efforts to boost cost savings to USD2.5 billion from a target that had already been doubled to USD1.5 billion over the past year.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and synthetic rubber. In 2012, Dow had annual sales of approximately USD57 billion. The Company"s more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 36 countries across the globe.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ube Industries Ltd., Lotte Chemical Corp., Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Sdn Bhd and Mitsubishi Corp. have established Malaysian Synthetic Rubber Sdn Bhd as a new joint venture to produce and market polybutadiene rubber (BR) in Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia, said Apic-online.

Malaysia Synthetic Rubber will build a plant to pro-duce 50,000 t/y of BR using Ube's technology. The venture plans an expansion to 72,000 t/y, as demand dictates. Lotte Chemical Titan will supply butadiene feedstock for the new plant, which is scheduled to begin production in 2014.

As MRC wrote earlier, Lotte Group currently has a presence in Indonesia via its subsidiary, Honam Petrochemicals, which acquired Malaysia’s polyolefin major Titan Chemicals in July 2010. Included in the acquisition was Titan’s Indonesian subsidiary - PT Titan Petrokimia Nusantara (TPN), which has a polyethylene (PE) production capacity of 450,000 tonnes/year.

Ube and Lotte Chemical Corp. each hold a 40% interest in Malaysia Synthetic Rubber, while Lotte Chemical Titan and Mitsubishi each hold a 10% stake. The new venture is headed by Ki Young Hwang as president.

Ube, noting that it is seeking to further strengthen its presence in the growing Asian market, said this joint venture will enable the company to "fully leverage" the capacities of its four global BR production bases. Ube has a 110,000-t/y plant in Chiba, Japan; a 72,000-t/y facility in China, and a 72,000-t/y plant in Thailand. The Chiba BR plant will be expanded to 126,000 t/y later this year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema, a France-based chemical manufacturer, has selected SpecialChem’s Commercial Acceleration Solutions to support the global growth of its water-based fluoropolymer Kynar Aquatec latex in the exterior building and construction markets, according to Arkema's press release.

Arkema has recently entered into a partnership with SpecialChem for commercial acceleration support. Arkema’s Kynar Aquatec fluoropolymer latex platform greatly improves the weatherability and durability for exterior water-based coatings.

"Using SpecialChem's assets will benefit Arkema in expanding our global promotion of water-based Kynar Aquatec coatings for metal and non-metal substrates," said James Feorino, Global Market Manager for Arkema's Kynar coatings. "This will enable Arkema to grow its sales beyond traditional solvent-based metal coatings," he noted.

Kynar and Kynar Aquatec are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc.

As MRC informed recently, Arkema had developed technology to manufacture Kynar PVDF foam structures for wire and cable jacketing and insulation applications. The technology is based on the patent-pending foam concentrate Kynar Flex 2620 FC masterbatch resin.

Arkema is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc. As MRC reported recently, Moody"s Investors Service had upgraded Arkema S.A."s senior unsecured rating to Baa2 from Baa3. The outlook on the rating was changed to stable from positive.
MRC