Borealis led the Nordic Film and Extrusion Conference

(Borealis) -- Borealis, a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions that create value for society, led the Nordic Film and Extrusion Conference 2011 held from 19-20 May in Gothenburg, Sweden.

This special conference used the theme "Creating New Horizons for the film and extrusion coating industry" and included keynote presentations by leading Borealis personnel as well as a visit to the Borealis Stenungsund site, where the company recently completed an investment of over EUR 400 million in a new 350 KTa high pressure low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant, enhancing its capability to provide advanced materials for the Nordic LDPE film market.

Highlights of the presentations included an introduction to BorShape, a new generation of film materials with unparalleled performance, and BorLite linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE).

BorShape offers the polyolefins (PO) film market new opportunities for developing innovative packaging films with less material, greater efficiency and improved environmental and lifecycle performance.

BorLite sets new standards in the performance of Machine Direction Orientation (MDO) films.

MRC

It is expected that in the coming months tendency of increased EPS supplies to Russia will remain.

MRC

(Daily News Egypt) -- A joint Indian-Egyptian venture will see the construction of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Ain Sokhna at a cost of USD160 million, officials said. The factory's production capacity will reach 1,200 metric tons per day producing about 420 KT of PET plastic chips per year. These plastic products will include bottles, food containers, bottled water, bottled drinks, shampoos and cosmetics.

The Egyptian-Indian Polyester Company (SAE), a joint venture with Dhunseri Petrochem and Tea LTD, will own 70 percent of the shares, while the Egyptian Holding Company for Chemicals, will own 23 percent, and Egyptian-owned petroleum and chemicals company, Enppi, will own 7 percent of shares.

Representatives of the Indian business community were quick to lay the foundation of the planned plant, which will be located in the private free zone area of Ain Sokhna, just northwest of Egypt's Suez Gulf.

MRC

(Solvay) -- Solvay announced today it has launched a project to build a specialty polymers production plant for SOLEF Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF), TECNOFLON Fluoroelastomers (FKM) and their essential monomer VF2 in China to satisfy the growing demand for these high value-added specialty polymers in Asia.

The plant will be built at Solvay's industrial site in Changshu in the province of Jiangsu and is scheduled to become operational at the beginning of 2014. It requires the investment of EUR 120 million and will significantly boost Solvay's global production capacity for these specialty polymers.

The TECNOFLON FKM product family is used for demanding sealing applications in aggressive chemical and high heat environments where high purity and long service life are essential such as those found in the automotive, aerospace, oil & gas and energy markets.

SOLEF PVDF can withstand heat and pressure, aggressive chemicals, mechanical stress and abrasive particles in varied applications and is widely used in Lithium-ion batteries, the chemical industry, membranes for water purification and oil & gas extraction.

The new plant in Changshu will be built next to the compounding plant under construction for Amodel polyphthalamide (PPA), Ixef polyarylamide (PARA) and Kalix (modified PARA) which is scheduled to become operational in the last quarter of 2012.


MRC

(CityBizList) -- Sterling Chemicals has entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Eastman Chemical Company will acquire all of the outstanding equity of Sterling Chemicals for USD 100 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments as provided in the merger agreement. Under the terms of the transaction, the holders of Sterling Chemicals' common stock, par value USD 0.01 per share, will receive USD 2.50 per share in cash, representing a 63% premium over the most recently reported market price of USD 1.53 and a 94% premium over the 90 day volume-weighted average trading price.

John V. Genova, Sterling's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated that, "We believe that we are an excellent strategic fit for Eastman, especially given our existing plasticizer manufacturing assets. The many other quality attributes of our Texas City site has the potential of adding further future value. We look forward to working with Eastman to ensure a smooth and effective transition."

MRC