ExxonMobil LDPE plant in Texas has production problems

(ICIS) -- US-based ExxonMobil is having production problems at its 235,000 tonne/year low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plant in Beaumont, Texas, sources said on Friday.

A buyer said it received confirmation of the production problems from the company, which said the problems were isolated to an LDPE line that produces primarily fractional melt material.
The buyer said the company indicated it expects to be on allocation through March.
Other sources heard similar reports about the facility, with one source saying it heard the facility was operating at two-thirds capacity.


A spokesperson for ExxonMobil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company shut down a reactor at the Beaumont LDPE plant on 25 December after some high-pressure tubing ruptured, according to a filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
By the first week of January, the company said the reactor was operating normally.


MRC

(ICIS) -- LyondellBasell's low density polyethylene (LDPE) output at its polyolefins production site in Wesseling nearCologne, Germany, remains partly shut following an explosion over the weekend, the Netherland's-headquartered producer said on Monday.

The blast, which occurred at one of two LDPE plants at the siteon Saturday morning, injured seven workers who were working in the area.
LyondellBasell said that the second LDPE plant and all other units at the site were unaffected and are running normally.

The company were unable to disclose how much of its LPDE capacity has been affected by the explosion. LyondellBasell has a total LDPE production capacity of 430,000 tonne/year at the Wesseling site.


⌠The incident was quickly brought under control by operations and site emergency response and the affected unit was safely shut down, said Andreas Anker, a spokesperson for LyondellBasell.
⌠All other units at the Wesseling plant are not affected by this incident and are running normal, he added.

Anker said the cause of the incident is still unknown and will be fully investigated in collaboration with the local authorities.
The seven workers suffered light injuries and were hospitalised for observation before being released on Saturday, he added.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Specially for the trade fair Interplastica 2012 which will be held on 24-27 January in the Expocenter, MRC created a big smartphone with MRC Mobile - service for the polymers market.

"We would like to provide the audience with the original possibility to get acquainted with MRC Mobile service that looks like an iPhone and has impressive dimensions: height - 2 meters, width -1.2 meters. - said Olga Sinelnikova, the head of Development department, MRC. "A big Smartphone" has a touch screen 32", it can be used for online access to any mobile contents, in particular, MRC Mobile service for the polymers market."

We are inviting all the visitors of Interplastica to get acquainted with the innovation at our booth FB 03, Forum and at the presentation of MRC Mobile on 25 January 2012, 11.00 - 13.00 in the Press-hall of the Congress-center of the trade.

Reference: MRC prepares professional reports on polymers and petrochemical markets of CIS countries. In the European market the company is working under the brand of MRC. MRC has a joint business with ICIS - world leading analytical company in the chemical market. MRC partners are the world chemical companies whose total revenue is twice as much as GDP of Russia.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- MRC Mobile contains price analytics on polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, PVC and PET; statistics on imports/exports, production of polymers; news; urgent information on sharp fluctuations in the market (posts).

In the nearest future MRC Mobile will provide an access to data on imports/exports and production of polymers by grades and producers; price forecasts in CIS, Europe and Asia; data on growth of capacities of polymers processing as well as information about the most significant converters' investments.

MRC Mobile is available in the AppStore for iPhone and in the Android Market for smartphones on the Android basis. Free downloading of MRC Mobile to the mobile phone is available in these hyperlinks: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mrc-mobile/id483218418
https://market.android.com/details?id=es.mrc

Development of the mobile service corresponds to our strategy of data transfer, - said Sergey Yaremenko, MRC CEO. - MRC Mobile service will allow out subscribers to stay in touch with the polymers market.

Presentation of MRC Mobile will be held on 25 January 2012, 11.00 - 13.00 in the Press-hall of the

Congress-center at the trade fair Interplastica 2012, as well as at MRC booth - Forum, FB 03 at the trade fair Interplastica 2012 which will be held on 24-27 January.

Reference: MRC prepares professional reports on polymers and petrochemical markets of CIS countries. In the European market the company is working under the brand of MRC. MRC has a joint business with ICIS - world leading analytical company in the chemical market. MRC partners are world chemical companies whose total revenue is twice as much as GDP of Russia.

MRC

(PlasticsToday) -- In a move to help eliminate all uses of PVC in its packaging, Procter & Gamble's Oral-B manual toothbrush is now made with Octal Petrochemicals' proprietary DPET (direct PET) sheet, a P&G spokesperson told PlasticsToday.

Prior to this, P&G had used PVC for its toothbrush packaging. The company began to avoid the use of PVC in its packaging in the early '90s, and PVC currently represents less than 1.5% of P&G's total use of its plastic packaging materials, according to the company.

P&G made the switch to PET because it is easier to recycle. In addition, PVC has also been the source of recurring controversy regarding its disposal to household solid waste incinerators, and its compatibility with plastics recycling, the company stated.

Octal COO Joe Barenberg said companies, such as P&G, are finding DPET an attractive solution due to its process for production of PET sheet, which provides a substantially lower carbon footprint than traditional PET.
Compared to traditional plants, Octal's DPET sheet uses 67% less electricity; a fact the company said has been verified by independent, third party sources.

Octal's DPET sheet can run on thermoforming equipment already being used for PVC, HIPS, and OPS with only minor modifications of hardware and processing parameters, according to Octal.

Part of P&G's long-term environmental sustainability vision includes using 100% renewable or recycled materials for all products and packaging, and having zero consumer and manufacturing waste go to landfills.

MRC