DowDuPont to expand Zytel and Hytrel capacity in China

MOSCOW (MRC) -- DowDuPont has announced that it will increase production capacity at its site in Shenzhen, China, to meet the strong demand for engineered polymers used in the automotive, consumer and electronics markets, as per GV.

The company plans to invest approximately USD 42 million to install three new production lines by the second quarter of 2019 and have them fully operational by the end of 2019. According to DowDuPont, this investment will support the growing demand for speciality resins including: Zytel polyamide (PA), Zytel HTN (High Temperature Nylon), Zytel speciality nylon and Hytrel thermoplastic polyester elastomer. The in-house compounding capacity of Hytrel is the first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, the company said.

"We opened the Shenzhen facility in June 2016 and since then have seen extraordinary growth in demand for engineered polymers from our customers," said Randy Stone, president, DowDuPont Transportation & Advanced Polymers. "Investing in this capacity expansion demonstrates our commitment to respond to the rapidly growing demand by delivering innovative materials and solutions to meet the needs of our customers and the markets they serve."

As MRC reported earlier, in late September 2017, DowDuPont Materials Science, the business division of newly formed DowDupont, commissioned ethylene and polyethylene (PE) units in Freeport, Tex., as part of Dow Chemical Co.'s previously announced USD6-billion US Gulf Coast (USGC) investment program in Texas and Louisiana on projects to utilize low-cost and advantaged US shale gas feedstock. The 1.5 million-tonne/year ethylene plant and 400,000-tpy PE plant - which is based on Dow’s proprietary Solution process technology for production of the company’s ELITE brand enhanced PE resins - were both in operation as of Sept. 21.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — India's Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) has ramped up the operating rate of its Kochi oil refinery after completing an expansion at the plant in southern India, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday, said Reuters.

The refinery is currently running at about 13 MMtpy, or about 260,000 bpd, up from its original capacity of 9.5 MMtpy, one of the sources said, asking to remain unidentified as he was not authorized to speak with the media.

BPCL plans to gradually ramp up Kochi to its new capacity of 15.5 MMtpy, he added, without giving a timeline.

BPCL added a new crude distillation unit and a delayed coking unit as part of the expansion, according to the company website.

The expansion was expected to be completed by last year, but was later delayed. BPCL's spokesperson could not be reached for comment.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Invista announced that it is expanding capacity at its polyols manufacturing facilities. According to the company, it will install a new reactor at its Terate aromatic polyester polyols manufacturing facility in Vlissingen, the Netherlands, as per GV.

This investment is in addition to recently achieved capacity increases at its facility in Wilmington, NC, USA, the company said. No details on the production capacities were disclosed.

"This is a very exciting time to join the Invista Polyols team," said Ariel Felice, who was recently appointed as Vice President of Invista Specialty Intermediates. "This investment will not only provide additional capacity in North America and Europe, but will also better align our production capability with the increasing demand from our customers. Our continuing growth is driven by our product developments and collaborative innovation with our customers. By experimenting with our Terate HT technology alongside our customers, we are discovering performance improvements in key foam attributes such as long-term thermal resistance and R-value stability at low temperatures."

According to Invista, Terate aromatic polyester polyols allow formulation flexibility in achieving the range of physical and flammability properties required of polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foams. Terate HT polyols are said to offer further advances in burn performance, ease of processing and efficiency in rigid foam manufacture. This product line can be used in a variety of applications including flex-faced boardstock, metal-faced sandwich panels, spray foam, and bunstock foam.

As MRC informed previously, in April 2015, Invista brought production of its TERRIN polyols to Europe via its facility in Vlissingen, The Netherlands. The site produced its first commercial TERRIN polyols in late 2014 and completed the requirements for REACH registration in Europe.

TERRIN aliphatic polyester polyols contain a minimum of 50% recycled content - with some containing renewable content, as well. Formulators can use TERRIN polyols in lieu of or in combination with conventional polyether or polyester polyols to formulate a variety of polyurethane products.

Invista is one of the world's largest integrated producers of polymers and fibers, primarily for nylon, spandex and polyester applications. With a business presence in over 20 countries, Invista's global businesses deliver exceptional value for their customers through technology innovations, market insights and a powerful portfolio of global trademarks.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) — Japan's Idemitsu Kosan said on Wednesday it restarted the 414,000 tpy Chiba naphtha cracker after works to increase its capacity to process propane were completed, as per Reuters.

A company spokeswoman said the cracker was restarted early this week without identifying the specific date. The cracker, which had been shut since Sept. 22, was slated to resume operations in about a month.

The company last year announced the upgrade would boost the cracker's capacity to process propane as feedstock by three or four times.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, has declared a quarterly dividend of USD0.46 per share on its Series A common stock, payable on November 9, 2017, said the producer in its press release.

The dividend is payable to stockholders of record as of October 30, 2017.

As MRC reported before, Celanese Corporation has recently announced plans to expand the capacity of its global compounding assets and certain product-specific manufacturing production sites to support the significant growth in its engineered materials business.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,300 employees worldwide and had 2016 net sales of USD5.4 billion.
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