Solvay wins two rare earth mixed oxides patent court cases against HySci in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Solvay has announces that it has won two rare earth mixed oxides patent cases against China-based HySci (Tianjin) Specialty Materials Co., Ltd., as per Reuters.

Solvay was awarded 5.6 million RMB (EUR0.67 million) in damages and HySci was ordered to immediately stop the production and the sale of certain rare earth mixed oxides used in automotive catalysts.

The court of first instance, the Tianjin High Court, ruled on December 11th, 2013 that HySci's production and sale of certain rare earths mixed oxides infringed Solvay's patents, starting in 2004.The Court ordered HySci to immediately discontinue the production and sale of 7 mixed oxides grades that were found to be infringing Solvay patents. In addition, the Court awarded Solvay 5.6 million RMB in damages. That amount is based on the profits that HySci made from the 189 tonnes of mixed oxides it unlawfully sold from 2004 onwards. The Court also ordered HySci to cover most of Solvay's legal expenses.

Separately and in a final decision, the Beijing High Court ruled in favor of Solvay by confirming the validity of its patent number ZL96196505.3. The case had been brought by HySci which claimed that the patent was invalid. The Court's ruling confirms the earlier decision by China's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) to reject HySci's patent invalidation request.

As MRC reported earlier, in 2012, Solvay Specialty Polymers and Rhodia Engineering Plastics launched a new EUR 21 million compounding plant in Changshu, Jiangsu province. It will serve the Chinese markets for electrical and electronics, wire and cable, automotive, consumer, and industrial applications.

In addition, Solvay is building a new EUR 120 million production plant for fluorinated polymers at its industrial site in Changshu, to meet growing demand in Asia in end-use markets such as automotive, photovoltaic, Li ion batteries, membranes for water purification, and oil and gas applications. The new plant is scheduled to be operational early 2014.

Solvay is an international chemicals and plastics company. In 2011, Solvay acquired Rhodia for approximately EUR 3.4 billion. Rhodia is one of the three sectors of activities of Solvay. Rhodia is a world leader in the development and production of specialty chemicals, and partner of major players in the automotive, electronics, flavors and fragrances, health, personal and home care markets, consumer goods and industrial markets.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shanghai BASF Polyurethane Co (SBFC) is in plans to expand the production capacity of its toluene di-isocyanate (TDI) plant, said Apic-Online.

A source in China informed that the production capacity of the plant is planned to be expanded to 220,000 mt/year. The company has not worked out a definite schedule for the expansion. Located in Shanghai, China, the plant has a production capacity of 160,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, BASF announced plans to build a Polyurethane Systems House in Geismar, Louisiana, in which polyurethane raw materials will be blended to deliver customized products to customers in the transportation, furniture, and construction industries. The USD42 million facility will create 22 new jobs and more than 160 construction jobs.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - British engineering firm Amec said on Monday it had provisionally agreed to buy Foster Wheeler in a cash and share deal that values the Swiss-based engineer at 1.9 billion pounds (USD3.13 billion), said Reuters.

Amec said the deal would improve its geographical footprint by more than doubling its revenues in faster-growing regions, and would add mid and downstream capabilities to its existing upstream focus.

Under the offer terms, Amec said Foster Wheeler shareholders would receive approximately 0.9 Amec shares and USD16 in cash, representing USD32 for each Foster Wheeler share. Shares in Foster Wheeler closed at USD31.46 on Friday.

Should the deal complete, Foster Wheeler will hold shares in Amec representing 23% of the enlarged company, and Amec would seek a U.S. listing in connection with the transaction, the companies said.

Foster Wheeler said it had agreed with Amec not to solicit alternative proposals up to Feb. 22, and would pay out a one-time dividend of USD0.40 per share prior to closing should the companies close the deal. Amec said the cash component of the offer, USD1.595 billion, will be financed by its existing cash resources and new debt financing.

Amec, which has a market capitalisation of 3.21 billion pounds and provides services and equipment for the oil, gas and mining sectors, has been on the hunt for acquisitions, and media reports last year suggested that it was interested in Foster Wheeler.

As MRC wrote before, Foster Wheeler has been selected by Rosneft and ExxonMobil to undertake the initial phase of the front-end engineering design (FEED) for a proposed Russian Far East liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. Foster Wheeler is one of two companies to be awarded separate contracts for the initial FEED work prior to selection of a single contractor for the second FEED phase.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Valero Energy’s Memphis refinery is operating at normal rates after a system shutdown on January 6 because of low temperatures, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The plant ran some equipment at lower rates after instruments froze, water lines on process units burst and units tripped off because of the weather, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

A filing dated January 6 with the National Response Center said low temperatures caused a system shutdown. The company said in a voicemail January 6 that the refinery’s flare gas recovery compressors were tripping off, Bob Rogers, manager of pollution control for the Shelby County health department, said in a phone interview on January 7.

Bill Day, a Valero spokesman in San Antonio, said in a telephone interview that he has no comment on the refinery’s status. The Memphis plant, which can process 195,000 bpd of crude and other feedstocks, uses primarily light and sweet crude oil delivered by the Capline pipeline, according to Valero’s website. Capline runs from St. James, Louisiana, to Patoka, Illinois.

As MRC wrote before, Foster Wheeler signed an evergreen agreement with Valero Energy for the provision of home office engineering and project support services to Valero’s Pembroke refinery and other facilities in the UK. Foster Wheeler will provide home office front-end engineering design and detailed engineering design services to support new development and modification projects at the Pembroke refinery and other facilities.

Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 international manufacturer and a marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products, and power. It is based in San Antonio, Texas, United States. The company owns and operates 16 refineries throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and the Caribbean with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3 million barrels (480,000 m3) per day, 10 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.2 billion US gallons (4,500,000 m3) per year,
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chinese state-owned oil giant Sinopec will pay compensation over a November pipeline explosion at its facility in the city of Qingdao that killed dozens of people and caused losses of more than USD100 million,said Channelnewsasia.

Sinopec is listed in Hong Kong and in a filing to the stock exchange there, said that an official Chinese government investigation determined that "direct economic loss" from the accident totalled 751.72 million yuan (USD124.3 million).

The company said it "will pay its share of the compensation", although it did not say how much that would be, or what proportion of it would go directly to victims of the disaster, which killed 62 people and injured 136.

Sinopec said in the statement on Sunday that its pledged compensation would come mostly from company insurance policies, adding that its "production, operation and financial position are currently stable". Citing the probe by China's State Administration of Work Safety, it said the direct cause of the explosion was vapours from oil leaking from an underground pipeline, which were ignited by sparks from a hydraulic hammer.

The investigation also found that Sinopec and its subsidiaries' failure to ensure safe operations contributed to the accident, as did local authorities' failure to properly conduct safety inspections and identify risks, Sinopec's statement said.

The huge blast ripped roads apart, turned cars over and sent thick black smoke billowing over the city. The explosion happened seven hours after an oil leak was first spotted, and questions remain as to why local residents were not ordered to evacuate in the intervening period.

According to state media, 15 people, including unspecified numbers of Sinopec employees and Qingdao city staff, have been detained in connection with the explosion.

Sinopec issued an apology for the incident but denied that it was slow to respond.

MRC