Formosa to take off SM plant for a maintenance

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corp (FCFC) is slated to take its No.2 styrene monomer (SM) plant for a maintenance turnaround, said Apic-online.

Located in Mailiao, Taiwan, the plant has a production capacity of 350,000 mt/year.

A source in Taiwan informed that the plant will be shut in August 2013. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month.

As MRC wrote earlier, Formosa Plastics Group, resumed its large-scope investment in construction of manufacturing base of ethylene in Ningbo, eastern China following the decision of the Chinese government to ease restrictions on foreign investment in naphtha cracking in the mainland.

Formosa Petrochemical is involved primarily in the business of refining crude oil, selling refined petroleum products and producing and selling olefins (including ethylene, propylene, butadiene and BTX) from its naphtha cracking operations. Formosa Petrochemical is also the largest olefins producer in Taiwan and its olefins products are mostly sold to companies within the Formosa Group. Among the company"s chemical products are paraxylene (PX), phenyl ethylene, acetone and pure terephthalic acid (PTA). The company"s plastic products include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resins, polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP) and panlite (PC).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Maoming Petrochemical Company Ltd., (China) has shut its low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant for maintenance, said Apic-online.

A source in China informed that the plant was shut on May 12, 2013. It is likely to remain off-stream for around one month. Located in Guangdong province, China, the plant has a production capacity of 250,000 mt/year. The shutdown is expected to have no significant impact in the Chinese market because of its short duration.

As MRC wrote earlier, Maoming Petrochemical reduced linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) supply by 40% due to reduced production of the grade.

Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical Corporation provides petroleum refinery services. The company is based in Maoming, China. Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical Corporation operates as a subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Lubrizol Corporation, an innovative specialty chemical company, and Trexel have announced a new partnership for Lubrizol to be the preferred thermoplastic polyurethane supplier for Trexel’s MuCell microcellular foaming technology, reported GV.

Together with MuCell physical foaming technology, Lubrizol’s Estane TPU can provide cost-effective, highly elastic microcellular parts for energy absorption and cushioning applications. Beside superior compression properties and a fast moulding cycle, Estane microcellular foams can provide a high-quality, thin skin layer that adds aesthetic values, as well as the typical advantages of TPU such as outstanding abrasion and cut resistance.

According to the partners, by working together Lubrizol Engineered Polymers' sports and recreation segment and Trexel will be able to bring an encompassing value to processors from setting up a new MuCell moulding line, modifying an existing line or suggestions of which TPU grades to utilise for quality foam parts.

Gert-Jan Nijhuis, sports and recreation global business director for Lubrizol Engineered Polymers noted: "Our cooperation with Trexel is a direct result of Lubrizol’s strategy to be a solution provider to the sports and recreation industry. It allows us to combine our innovative TPU technologies, with the latest manufacturing technologies. This enables us to bring an encompassing value not only to processors, but also to Global OEMs and ultimately the consumer."

As MRC wrote previously, in March, Lubrizol unveiled its four-year plan (worth USD400 million) of global expansion of its chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) resin and compounding manufacturing sites. With continued strong global demand for the company's CPVC compounds, Lubrizol's expansion efforts will be divided into two phases.

The Lubrizol Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is an innovative specialty chemical company that apart from its production develops and supplies technologies to customers in the global transportation, industrial and consumer markets. Lubrizol's advanced polymer technology delivers exceptional performance for the plumbing, fire sprinkler, industrial and other building and construction related applications. Lubrizol is providing innovative solutions for its customers' high-performance application needs and remains committed to ongoing investment in its CPVC capabilities that support future growth.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay SA (SOLB), the chemical company created 150 years ago to produce soda ash, signaled that a lack of recovery in Europe will hurt earnings this year amid reduced demand for soda ash and plastics and lower sales of carbon credits, said Bloomberg.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortization and one-time items will surpass last year’s EUR1.88 billion (USD2.44 billion) which excludes a EUR190 million windfall from inflated guar prices and larger quantities of emission credits, the Brussels-based company said today in a statement. That compares with analyst projections of EUR2.01 billion, the average of 22 estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Solvay said it’s not seeing any significant improvement in European demand for the glass-making ingredient soda ash, for polyamide fibers or rare earths used in light bulbs after first-quarter Ebitda fell 12% to EUR454 million. Chief Executive Officer Jean-Pierre Clamadieu is making Solvay less cyclical and less reliant on Europe with an agreement to sell the company’s European vinyls and chlor chemicals businesses to Ineos Group Holdings within four to six years after the establishment of a joint venture planned later this year.

"Solvay is likely to have suffered from its exposure to European automotive and construction," Filip De Pauw, an analyst at ING Groep NV in Brussels, wrote in an investor note last week as he cut his projection for 2013 Ebitda by about 8% to EUR1.94 billion.

Net debt rose to EUR1.31 billion as of March 31, a 188 million-euro increase from the end of last year as inventories swelled because Solvay’s plants produced more vinyls in anticipation of scheduled maintenance at large sites later this year.

MRC