BASF to invest EUR150mln to set-up new chemical production site at Dahej

(oilandgasrecruiting) -- BASF India Limited will invest EUR150 million to set up a new chemical production site at the Dahej Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR), located on the west coast of India in Gujarat.

The new site will be an integrated hub for polyurethane manufacturing and will also house production facilities for care chemicals and polymer dispersions for coatings and paper.

With this new production site, BASF aims to ensure local supply for growing markets and industries such as appliances, footwear, automotive, construction, adhesives, architectural coatings, paper and personal care. The start of production is planned for 2014. The project will be financed by BASF India Limited through internal accruals and loans.

The integrated polyurethane facility will produce Elastollan TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane), Cellasto NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) parts and Polyurethane Systems, which is supported by new production facilities for important precursors, comprising Polyetherols and Polyesterols plants as well as an MDI splitter.


MRC

(infineum) -- Infineum, a global provider of petroleum additives, has broken ground for its first salicylate plant outside Europe.

To be located in Singapore's energy and chemical hub Jurong Island, the plant will manufacture salicylate detergents, when fully operational in the fourth quarter of 2013. This USD150 million plant is Infineum's largest investment to date. Infineum is a joint venture between Shell and ExxonMobil.

Salicylates are used as additives in motor oils for passenger cars and trucks, and also has applications in marine and gas engine oils. The Singapore plant will serve the Asia-Pacific region and complement its sister plant located in Berre, France.

Infineum Singapore global business manager, specialities Lim Siang Yong said: "We invest only to meet the market growth. "Our customers have told us that this market, especially in Asia Pacific, is going to grow significantly beyond the global average. And this is the reason why we invested in Singapore for the first salicylate plant."

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(Reuters) - Lyondell Basell's 280,390 barrel per day (bpd) Houston refinery restarted a coking unit on Saturday following a power failure, according to a notice the refinery filed with Texas pollution regulators.

The coker was out of production for about an hour and a half on Saturday night following the power outage, according to the notice filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Only the coker was hit by a power failure, the notice said.

A coking unit increases the amount of refinable material in a barrel of oil and makes petroleum coke, a coal substitute, from residual crude.

mrclast.com

(bilcare) -- Bilcare Solutions, the films business of the Bilcare Research Group, specialised in the manufacturing of highly developed and refined rigid plastic films, increases films prices with immediate effect.

"The continuous pricing dynamics for raw materials are connected with significant cost increases in the films production. Also in the actual month raw materials suppliers keep on increasing prices drastically surpassing all time historical records. Due to this reason we are forced to increase our films prices with immediate effect. Unfortunately, a reversal of this trend is not in sight", explained Thorsten Kuhn, CEO Bilcare Research AG, Switzerland.
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(styron) -- Styron Europe GmbH and its affiliate companies in Europe yesterday announced price increases for all CALIBRE and EMERGE polycarbonate compound & blends products.
Effective May 1, or as existing contract terms allow, the price for these products will rise by 150 Euro per metric ton.

Styron is a leading global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, dedicated to collaborating with customers to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions. Styron's technology solutions are used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, commercial transportation, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires.

Styron had approximately USD 6 billion in revenue in 2011, with 20 manufacturing sites around the world, and 2100 employees.

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