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Petrochemicals

Momentive completes sale of N America composites, coatings unit to European group

Momentive Specialty Chemicals said Wednesday that it had completed the previously-announced sale of its North American composites and coating resins business to PCCR USA, a subsidiary of European investment group Investindustrial.

LyondellBasell will seek sale of France refinery, turns site focus to petrochemicals

LyondellBasell is attempting to sell its 105,000 bpd refinery at Berre, France, as part of a plan to focus on petrochemical assets at that location.

BASF, INEOS ink deal for global styrenics JV

BASF and INEOS have signed a joint venture (JV) contract to combine businesses in styrene monomers (SM), polystyrene (PS), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), styrene-butadiene block copolymers (SBC) and other styrene-based copolymers (SAN, AMSAN, ASA, MABS) and copolymer blends into the Styrolution venture.

Dow applauds House Republicans for jobs agenda

Executives with US major Dow Chemical voiced support for recent progress they said had been made on the jobs agenda by Republican leaders in the US House of Representatives.

Dow praises Obama for regulatory reform progress

Officials with US producer Dow Chemical on Friday applauded recent progress made by the Obama administration on issues of regulatory reform. Dow said it was pleased to see the administration following through on its commitment to review existing regulations and make changes, if appropriate, noting that it was particularly pleased to see the public given an opportunity to recommend rules for review.

Chem Safety Board to investigate third accident at metal powder plant in Tennessee

A four-person investigation team from the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) was deployed on Friday to the site of a third serious accident at the Hoeganaes Corp. plant in Gallatin, Tennessee. An explosion was reported earlier on Friday at the plant, injuring five, including three who were in critical condition at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center burn unit in Nashville.

BASF to build 300,000 tonne/yr TDI plant in Europe

BASF announced Thursday that it will build the world’s largest single-train TDI (toluene diisocyanate) plant in Europe, with 300,000 tonnes/yr (tpy) of capacity and fully integrated with precursor production.

Huntsman licenses PO/MTBE technology to China’s Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes

US chemicals producer Huntsman said Wednesday that it signed a license agreement with Chinese chemicals manufacturer Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes for the production of propylene oxide (PO) and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) - a co-product of PO.

Honeywell to begin work on new transportation fuels refinery in Iraq

UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, said Wednesday that its technology has been selected for a new transportation fuel refinery to be built in Iraq, with design to begin in the second quarter of 2011.

Dow generates energy from recycled plastic in US

Dow Chemical said on Monday that it had successfully used recycled plastic to generate energy. The successful pilot test measured how plastic that has been reused and recycled to the full extent possible can be used as fuel for an end-of-life option instead of going to a landfill for disposal.