GAIL to double capacity at its Pata petrochemical plant

(plastemart) -- GAIL India's plan to set up a mega gas-based petrochemical overseas plant in joint venture with Reliance Industries (RIL) has taken a back seat as the state-run gas major has decided to double capacity at its Pata petrochemical plant to 900,000 tpa with an investment outlay of Rs 8,200 crore. The expansion is scheduled to take 42 months for completion, but GAIL will venture to commission the unit in just 3 years.

Though GAIL and RIL had short-listed a few countries, they have deferred their mega JV project in view of the global situation. Qatar, Iran, Algeria, Nigeria and Russia were shortlisted for exploring the possibility of setting up a 1.9 mln tons plant.

MRC

(prw) -- PolyOne has announced that its second-quarter sales and profit were up sharply, driven by higher prices for its plastics that pumped up its margins and new markets that helped it sustain and grow sales.

In spite of a headwind caused by a weaker euro that the company said slightly affected its sales, Avon Lake-based PolyOne reported sales were up 40%, from $496.5m in the second quarter of 2009 to $629.9m for the same quarter in 2010. Volume was up 27%, and higher prices made up the rest of the sales increase, the company reported.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In 2008, the linear polyethylene market crossed the psychological checkpoint of 100 kt, and in 2009, despite the general slump, its consumption went up almost by 16% (to 116,2 kt), according to MRC "Polyethylene in Russia - 2010" Annual report.

A trend of ousting of LDPE with HDPE grades (over 50% share in the market) and LLDPE (9% share in the market) remains in the structure of polyethylene demand. Launch of Nizhnekamskneftechim HDPE/LLDPE facilities with 230.000 tpa capacity (swing technology) changed the structure of HDPE and LLDPE supply in the domestic market. At the same time, Sabic's agressive strategy slightly changed the alignment of forces in the film-grade polyethylene market (the company increased supplies to the Russian market 14 times). South Korean companies (Hyundai Petrochemical, Hanwha Corporation, LG) contrariwise cut down sales.

The LLDPE market will most likely continue to grow 20% annually. Use of linear polyethylene generally corresponds with the modern global trend of resource saving. In some cases LLDPE usage lets decrease the thickness by 20-40% while saving the same physical-mechanical properties.

MRC

More detailed analysis of processing capacities and polyethylene consumption by sectors, markets, types of finished goods and converters is available in MRC "Polyethylene in Russia - 2010" Annual report

(prw) -- The complete merger of China's Wanhua Industrial group with the Hungarian PVC and chemicals company BorsodChem is rapidly becoming a reality as minority shareholder Wanhua prepares to buy out BorsodChem's current owners.

The move, agreed by both firms, will give the Chinese industrial group a 100% stake in Kazincbarcika-based BorsodChem and create what will be the globe's third biggest isocyanate manufacturer.

Details of the Wanhua takeover were given to the BorsodChem workforce in a joint letter from the heads of both companies, reported the Hungarian news agency MTI. Employees were told Wanhua would give BorsodChem responsibility for the operations of the new group in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Before the deal (see mrcplast.com from July 1) the negotiations were about just a 38% stake of the Hungarian company.

MRCMRC Reference

BorsodChem. The share in the Russian market in 2008:
PVC - 2.5%;
PVC-S - 2.6%.

Annual growth of sales in Russia over the 5 years:
PVC - 201%.

Supply by processing technologies:
profile extrusion;
compounding.

(Bloomberg) -- Arkema SA, the French chemical maker spun off from Total SA, raised its annual earnings forecast for the second time in 2010 as growth in China and the purchase of an acrylics unit helped second-quarter profit recover.

Second-quarter net income was 119 million euros compared with a loss of 114 million euros a year earlier. EBIDTA surged to 241 million euros, or 15 percent of sales, from 70 million euros. Revenue rose 38 percent to 1.61 billion euros. Excluding the effects of acquisitions or disposals, sales increased 27 percent.

MRCMRC Reference

Arkema.

The share in the Russian market in 2008:

PVC - 0.2%;

EVA - 1.1%.

Annual sales growth in Russia, during the recent 5 years:

PVC - 69%;

PE - 121%.

Imports by polymers processing technologies:

coating;

cable extrusion.