Praxair to expand New York liquid hydrogen plant

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Praxair is building a new steam methane reformer to increase the supply of hydrogen for its liquid hydrogen plant in Niagara Falls, New York, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

This investment will not only retain 78 jobs, but also serve growing customer needs for hydrogen in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the US and southeastern Canada.

Empire State Development, the state’s economic development agency, will provide a USD1 million capital grant to assist the company with its facility and equipment investment.

"Praxair is making this investment in response to growing customer requirements and the development of new applications,” said Jeff Barnhard, vice president of Praxair’s industrial gases business in the US East region. "Additionally, this investment further diversifies our sources of hydrogen and results in distribution savings."

"Praxair helps companies improve their environmental performance by developing and embracing the technologies needed to make plants operate more cleanly and efficiently," added Empire State Development CEO Kenneth Adams. "We are proud to support Praxair as it expands its business and creates and retains jobs in New York State."

Liquid hydrogen is delivered by customized trucks to customers in a wide range of industries, including the manufacturing of metals, lubricants, glass, liquid fuels, solar technology, chemicals and food products.

When complete in 2015, Praxair’s Niagara Falls liquid hydrogen production capacity will increase by 50%.

We remind that Praxair bought Volga Azot industrial gas producer from Russia's largest petrochemical group SIBUR. The purchase of Volga Azot based in the Volgograd region in country's south is the fourth largest investment of Praxair in Russia. In the late 2012 Praxair announced the startup of its first large-scale air separation plant in Kaustik (Volgograd), an industrial region in southern Russia.

Praxair, Inc. (Praxair) is an industrial gases supplier. The company's products are oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide, helium, electronic gases and a range of specialty gases. Praxair Surface Technologies supplies coatings, which protect metal parts from wear, corrosion and heat. Praxair serves approximately 25 industries, including healthcare and petroleum refining; computer-chip manufacturing and beverage carbonation; fiber-optics and steel making, and aerospace, chemicals and water treatment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Bashkir plant Polief (part of SIBUR), the only Russian producer of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and one of the largest Russian producers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), increased losses in 2013 by 18% year on year, as per the company's report.

Thus, the company had a loss of Rb1.3 billion last year, while in 2012 this figure was Rb1.1 billion.

Polief's revenue decreased in 2013 by 9.3% year on year and totalled Rb10.9 billion, while the net cost fell by 12% to Rb9.9 billion.

The plant's sales profit amounted to Rb275 million last year, while in 2012 it was a loss of Rb17 million.

According to the report, Polief intends to complete the PET expansion project this year that will allow to additionally sell products for Rb386 million. At present, the project to increase PET production capacity at Polief from 140,000 tonnes to 210,000 tonnes is almost completed, the company is considering the dates of its commissioning.

In addition, the company plans to increase the plant's efficiency by reducing production costs in order to get additional Rb139 million, mainly due to the optimization of delivery schemes and an increase in revenues.

JSC "Polief" (Blagoveshchensk, Republic of Bashkortostan) is a polyester production complex, the only Russian manufacturer of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), one of Russia's largest producer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The Polief's controlling shareholder is SIBUR, the largest integrated gas processing and petrochemical company in Russia.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SIBUR-PETF (part of SIBUR) increased sales in 2013 by 2.7 times year on year, according to the company's report.

Thus, the plant's sales rose last year to Rb3.3 billion from Rb1.2 billion in 2012.

The company's gross profit fell to Rb84.6 million from Rb104.4 million a year earlier, while SIBUR-PETF's net profit grew to Rb118.1 million from a loss of Rb9.8 million in 2012.

According to MRC ScanPlast, SIBUR-PETF operated steadily over the first two months of 2014, and the plant's output totalled 12,700 tonnes.

JSC "SIBUR-PETF" is a subsidiary of SIBUR. The company operates a modern technological units for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with the capacity of up to 70,000 tonnes per year and a production line of recycled PET with the capacity of 1,300 tonnes per year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styron, the global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, and its affiliate companies in Europe has announced price increases for all polystyrene (PS) and copolymer grades, as per the company's press release.

Effective immediately, or as existing contract terms allow, the April contract and spot prices for the products listed below will increase, as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS), STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR35/tonne;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR35/tonne;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR35/tonne.

As MRC reported earlier, Styron Europe GmbH and its affiliate companies in Europe last raised its prices for all PS and copolymer grades in February, as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS), STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) - by EUR40/tonne;
- MAGNUM ABS resins - by EUR50/tonne;
- TYRIL SAN resins - by EUR40/tonne.

PS is a key strategic business for Styron and an industry it will continue to focus innovation efforts on to help their diversified customer-base remain competitive in the different markets they serve such as packaging, appliances, building and construction.

Styron is a leading global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, dedicated to collaborating with customers to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions. StyronпїЅs technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Styron had approximately USD5.3 billion in revenue in 2013, with 19 manufacturing sites around the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SOCAR's Azerkimya production association has commissioned new storage facilities for the nitrogen- oxygen complex at the ethylene- polyethylene plant, as per the company's statement.

The new facilities consist of 16 storage tanks. In case of ceasing the nitrogen-oxygen unit's activity, it will provide ethylene production by high and low pressure nitrogen within 20-28 hours, SOCAR reported.

Commissioning of new storage facilities will ensure rational, stable and reliable operation of EP- 300 and Polimir- 120 facilities.

As MRC wrote previously, in September 2013, SOCAR announced production of polypropylene and polyethylene of high density in Sumgait will launch in 2016. The construction of two new plants for the production of polypropylene and polyethylene of high density will complete in 2015.

SOCAR includes Azneft (production association of enterprises producing oil and gas onshore and offshore) and Azerkimya (production association of chemical industry enterprises) and Azerigaz (production association dealing with gas distribution). The company also includes a number of processing enterprises, service enterprises and institutions dealing with geophysical and drilling operations. SOCAR also has assets in Europe and Turkey (Petkim). Petkim is the leading petrochemical company of Turkey. Specializing in petrochemical manufacturing, the company produces ethylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene and other chemical building blocks for use in the manufacture of plastics, textiles, and other consumer and industrial products.
MRC