Westlake Chemical Corporation announced recently it will construct a new chlor alkali plant to be located at its vinyls manufacturing complex in Geismar, Louisiana. The new chlor alkali unit is estimated to produce 250,000 electro chemical units (ECU......

ExxonMobil Chemical will improve the supply of its specialty compounds in Asia Pacific following the establishment of a compounding agreement with Resin and Pigment Technologies Pte. Ltd. (RandP), a subsidiary of EnGro Corporation Limited. Under the agre......

Bayer MaterialScience will begin marketing the plastics recyclate Levblend through the Internet platform. Levblend is a PC+ABS-R (polycarbonate+acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene-copolymer-recyclate). The new recyclate is based on Makrolon post-produc......

As a leading supplier of materials to the photovoltaic solar industry, DuPont has announced plans to expand production capacity for its high-performance DuPont Tedlar films. Scope and site selection work is underway, targeting start-up in late 2009, ......

Dow Epoxy, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, has received approval of environmental impact assessments (EIA) by China's Ministry of Environmental Protection to build a 100,000 tpa liquid epoxy resin (LER) plant and a 150,000 tpa glycerine-......

German researchers from Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research developed an interesting new polymer that changes its hydrophilicity with the change in temperature: at 37?C it is hydrophobic, and at a room temperature it is hydrophilic. A......

Royal DSM NV, the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company headquartered in the Netherlands, has inaugurated polyamide 6 (PA6) plant in Jiangyin (Jiangsu province, China). This first Akulon? PA6 polymerization plant for DSM in China signif......

Research staff working with Dr. Thomas Keller and Prof. Klaus D. Jandt at the Institute of Materials Science and Technology (IMT) at Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena have produced a new copolymer only about 100 nanometres thick. The orientation......

The startup of Bayer MaterialScience's 350,000 tpa MDI production facility in Shanghai later this year, and the new BaySystems system house in Guangzhou, will strengthen the company's position in China's polyurethane industry as well as in the Asia P......

CRUDE OIL During the week of September 1, 2008, crude oil prices rose after a surprising fall in US crude inventories by 100,000 barrels. Oil prices ended the week by plunging below US$111 a barrel as Hur......

The strong demand from the makers of propylene derivatives like acrylic acid, propylene oxide and others led to the Asian propylene market remaining firm on Monday and edged up US$5-10/mt relative to the Friday price. As opposed to a tame polypropyle......

Effective September 1, or as existing contracts permit, BASF will increase prices for polyetheramines in Asia, Europe and South America by US$220/mt or EUR150/mt respectively for the entire portfolio. BASF has previously announced a similar price inc......

A graduate from UK's Royal College of Art, has unveiled the concept of reusing packaging made of polypropylene, which can be easily rolled up and returned. Will's particular method of forming the boxes in such a way that they can be collapsed and rol......

Demand for biodegradable plastic in the US is forecast to expand nearly 16% pa to 720 million pounds in 2012, valued at US$845 million, as per a report by Freedonia. Average prices will continue to decline as a result of higher capacity and greater p......

Oil prices plunged below US$111 a barrel as Hurricane Gustav weakened as it neared Louisiana, after rising by almost three dollars to US$118 a barrel earlier in the session. The stronger dollar, the continuing decline in consumer demand and the marke......

Though it has lost its steam, Hurricane Gustav has triggered several chemical plant and refinery shutdowns in Louisiana. Gustav, which hit the coast of Louisiana, Monday morning, weakened on Monday afternoon to a category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpso......

Soaring naphtha prices and fierce market competition have resulted in expected loss for Sinopec Corp in its August chemical production, after reporting huge refining losses. Prices of naphtha, a key feedstock in ethylene production, more than doubled......

High crude oil prices and government caps on refined oil product prices have taken their toll on performance of Chinese oil and petrochem majors. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. Ltd. has booked a net loss of US$54.56 mln in H1 under Chinese accoun......

All time high oil and feedstock prices recorded this summer led several chemical companies to announce price hikes. Dow Chemical also raised its products prices twice this year by 20% and 25%. Despite a sizeable plunge in oil prices since this summer......

CNOOC Ltd.'s new 12 mln tpa Huizhou refinery is expected to come on stream next month. China National Offshore Oil Corp, the parent of CNOOC plans to invest 45 bln yuan to expand its new Huizhou refinery, augmenting refinery capacity to 22 mln tpa. C......

EQUATE Petrochemical has launched commercial operations of The Kuwait Olefins Company (TKOC) new Ethylene Glycol (EG-2) production plant. With a production capacity of 600,000 tpa, this new plant is the largest single EG plant of its kind to utilize ......

On Friday, Westlake Chemical Corp. announced that it will invest US$250-300 mln for the construction of the a new chlor alkali plant in Louisiana slated to have a production capacity of 250,000 electro chemicals units/year totaling the firm's capacit......

U.S. National Hurricane Center's reports of storm Gustav hitting Jamaica with heavy rains and winds of 65 miles per hour on Friday kept the oil and energy companies having refineries and chemical plants along the Gulf of Mexico on their toes. Gustav ......

Borealis, a leading provider of innovative, value creating plastics solutions, has announced that Herbert Willerth will assume the newly created role of Deputy Chief Executive, effective from September 1, 2008. In this position, Willerth will have a ......

Phase-1 of the integrated PET complex of Oman-based Octal Petrochemicals has been commenced at the Salalah Free Zone following an inauguration by a senior government official. The facility commenced at the complex currently manufactures PET sheet for......

Nippon Oil Corporation (NOC), which sources benzene to Asahi Kasei, BASF and Mitsui Chemicals through Asian Contract Price (ACP) saw a drop in September benzene ACP relative to its August benzene ACP. As compared to NOC's August benzene ACP which st......

Taiwan-based world's largest processor of plastics for pipes and imitation leather, Nan Ya Plastics Corp exhibited a significant 10% decline YOY in the Q2 net profit due to inability of the firm's product prices to keep up with the rising feedstock c......

Europe saw the first bridge completely made of plastic and installed in Germany which is expected to last up to 50 years without any repairs. Weighing 80 tons, the bridge's carriageway slab is made of fiberglass-reinforced polymer (FRP), and then glu......

Pirates from Somalia hijacked Bunga Melati 5, a chemical tanker owned by Malaysian national carrier MISC on August 29 in the Gulf of Aden (off the cost of Yemen). Bunga Melati 5 is a second vessel of the Malaysian national carrier MISC seized by the ......

Japanese firm, Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (MCI) has decided to begin construction of a test facility which will be used to continue the company's efforts to develop a methanol synthesis process from CO2. Set to begin construction by October 2008, MCI's pi......

Minnesota-based RTP Company, a global leader in specialty thermoplastic compounding has supplied its RTP 2700 Series styrenic-based TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer) to Sioux Chief Manufacturing for developing a series of universal pipe clamps with noise......

Uflex, India's packaging producer has selected Mexico for installation of its US$108 mln polyester film project. The company said that the 125,000 tpa flexible plastics film plant will be erected in Altamira, located in northeastern Mexico's Tamaulip......

Huntsman Corporation announced that it received notice of an independent shareholder initiative to invest at least US$500 mln in Hexion on the closing of the merger between Hexion and Huntsman Corporation. The Huntsman family has indicated its expec......

Following the reduction in operating rates by several Japanese petrochemical firms, South Korean energy firm, SK Energy has decided to curtail the operating rates by 20-25% at its No.1 naphtha cracker having a total capacity of 185,000 tpa. However, ......

The change in legislation of Egypt's energy sector strategy has perplexed the major international oil companies. Among other sector companies, petrochemical companies will be subject to a 20% tax on profits as per the change in legislation in Egypt. ......

Since August 2008, which is when the European Union's GMP (Good manufacturing Practice) regulations for materials that come into contact with food products have gone into effect, BASF will be offering several new grades in its range of Engineering Pl......

Propylene Fractionation Column (PFC), the tallest column in the Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex (SEPC) project's entire infrastructure was safely and successfully lifted into place at the end of July, according to Shell Chemicals' media release.......

China's third largest oil producer, CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corp) has decided to outlay CNY 45 bln (roughly US$6.6 bln) for expansion of its new Guangdong-based Huizhou oil refinery project set to start operations this October. CNOOC's pla......

KraussMaffei is unveiling a new, electric, energy-efficient injection moulding machine range - the AX - and setting new standards for sustainable production systems. The new machine range of KraussMaffei, the world's largest selling supplier of machi......

Polypropylene sentiments continued to be gloomy in markets of China in several provinces. A section of domestic sellers who have run out of stocks prefer to be in the sidelines, while another section that views market outlook as pessimistic has reduc......

Following its Japanese counterparts -Sumitomo Chemical Co, Mitsui Chemicals Inc and Asahi Kasei Corp, Mitsubishi Chemical Corp plans to lower production at its naphtha crackers. Sumitomo Chemical and Asahi Kasei have cut ethylene output by about 5% s......

Several SM plants across Asia had cutback operating rates last week- The recently restarted Styrindo Mono Indonesia's 100,000 tpa SM plant is operating at 80-90% capacity. S.Korea's Lotte-Daesan's 500,000 tpa plant is running at 95% capacity, planned......

Despite firmer prices of feedstock Styrene Monomer, Polystyrene offers in Asia have dipped to lows of US$1650/MT CFR China, as many sellers face increasing pressures to sell. Even at these reduced rates, the buyers seem unwilling to accept seller's o......

Ethylene suppliers in Asia dropped prices by over fifty dollars last week in response to continuous lackluster buying that increased pressures to sell. Prices this week have maintained at US$1300/MT CFR SE Asia as markets in this region stabilized as......

Titan Chemicals Corp. Bhd. Has posted RM 3.7 billion in revenue and RM 206.7 million in profit after tax (PAT) for Q2 of this year as a result of the contribution of Butadiene, a new product, and increase in selling prices and sales volume of existin......

PVC prices ebbed to 9 week lows of US$1250/MT FCR China last week, mainly on bearish demand from China. As demand from China continues to be unenthusiastic and bearishness persists in the market outlook, PVC prices in Asia have sunk further by about ......

Iran, the second largest producer of petrochemicals in the Middle East is expected to outlay close to US$30 bln in the South Pars petrochem projects, according to a senior executive in National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NIPC). Phase-1 and Phase-......

Cincinnati Extrusion and the Battenfeld Extrusion group, both part of the privateequity investor Triton's portfolio since the beginning of 2007, will be united under a single leadership in future. Effective September 01, 2008 Wolfgang Studener, Manag......

Iran Petrochemical Commercial Co (IPCC) has called for new proposals from potential bidders for the 4500 ton ethylene (C2) tender cargo owing to the delay in loading rates. The loading dates for IPCC's 4,500 ton ethylene (C2) tender cargo which was s......

Soliant, LLC which won an environmental award for its Fluorex? bright film (chrome alternative) at the March 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers-Global Plastics Environmental Conference (SPE GPEC) will see world's first car having 100% paintfilm therm......