Polymers
Westlake shuts PVC pipe plant amid excess supply
Westlake Chemical said on Thursday that its subsidiary North American Pipe has shut down its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe production facility in Springfield, Ky., in an effort to reduce costs and optimize production operations amid excess capacity in the PVC pipe market.
AkzoNobel plans €140mn expansion, upgrade to German chlorine plant
AkzoNobel will invest €140 million to convert its chlorine plant in Frankfurt, Germany, to state-of-the-art membrane electrolysis technology, the company said on Monday.
IEA sees increasing natgas use, warns of high oil prices curbing demand
Annual growth in oil demand could average 1.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) between now and 2016, while natural gas demand could grow by around 500 billion cubic meters – around 2.5 times Russia’s current gas exports – during the same time, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) medium-term oil and gas market outlook.
SABIC plans new carbon fiber plant in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) announced on Wednesday that it signed a technology agreement with Montefibre S.p.A (Montefibre) granting SABIC and its affiliates an extensive international licence on carbon fiber technology developed by Montefibre. SABIC said it will first use the technology for a new carbon fiber plant to be built in Saudi Arabia.
Tessenderlo to sell Europe PVC, chlor-alkali units to INEOS for €110mn
Tessenderlo will sell its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and chlor-alkali businesses to INEOS subsidiary Kerling for €110mn, the companies said on Tuesday.
BASF raises compounding capacity for engineering plastics in Europe
BASF is increasing its compounding capacities for the engineering plastics Ultramid (polyamide) and Ultradur (PBT: polybutylene terephthalate) at its Schwarzheide site in eastern Germany by 10,000 metric tons/year, the company said on Tuesday.
Dow opens water technology R&D center in Spain
Dow Water & Process Solutions, a business unit of Dow Chemical, celebrated the grand opening of its Global Water Technology Development Center in a ceremony at the Dow facilities in Tarragona, Spain.
Momentive begins expansion of specialty ceramics plant in Ohio
Momentive Performance Materials has begun expanding specialty ceramic powders production at its manufacturing facility in Strongsville, Ohio, the company said on Friday.
BP unveils annual energy review, sees China passing US as top consumer
China became the world’s largest energy consumer in 2010, overtaking the US during a year which saw the global economic recovery drive consumption higher and at a rate not seen since the aftermath of the 1973 oil price shocks, BP said in its annual global energy review.
SKC to build new PET plant in South Korea
German engineering firm Uhde Inventa-Fischer said Monday that it had signed a contract to build a polyethylene terepthalate (PET) plant for SKC Co. at Jincheon in South Korea.
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- Plug Power to supply 275-MW GenEco electrolyzer system for Hy2gen’s Courant decarbonized ammonium nitrate project 4/3
- Vietnam refinery boosting jet fuel production 4/3
- China plans to upgrade some petrochemical plants, phase out others by 2029 4/3
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- Nigeria's Seplat Energy hit by strike amid push for higher output 4/3
