Uflex to invest in new domestic facilities as well as in its first plant in the USA

(plastemart) -- India's largest flexible packaging company Uflex plans an investment outlay of USD250 mln on capex over two years, as well as to double turnover to around Rs 9,500 crore in three years, as per Economic Times.

This will involve investments in new manufacturing facilities and capacity expansion at existing locations. USD80 mln will be invested in a 30,000 ton polyester film plant in Kentucky (USA) planned to be operational by December. This is the first greenfield investment by an Indian company in Kentucky, and also Uflex's first manufacturing facility in the USA.

Being a multi faceted organization, Ulfex has integrated its operations from manufacture of polyester chips, films (BOPET, BOPP and CPP - both in plain and metalized form), coated Film, laminates, pouches, holographic films gravure cylinders, inks and adhesives to all types of packaging and printing machines, offering total flexible packaging solution.
MRC

(Krahn) -- Krahn Chemie recently started their cooperation with Lamberti S.p.A, Italy, for the distribution of PVC thermo stabilizers in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The products are marketed under the trade names LASTAB and SYNPACK.

The focus of the new cooperation between Lamberti and Krahn Chemie is on custom-made solutions. Lamberti's laboratories are well equipped to give the highest level of technical service support and to check carefully the quality of products as well.

Krahn Chemie is part of the Otto Krahn group of companies, based in Hamburg, Germany. The holding company Otto Krahn group encompasses two operational subsidiaries: Krahn Chemie and Albis Plastic. The core business of Krahn Chemie is the distribution of special chemicals.
MRC

(BASF) -- BASF and Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA (TPRI) have announced the companies had signed agreements relating to the merger of two joint ventures and the change of the name of the merged venture to BASF TOTAL Petrochemicals LLC for the companies’ Port Arthur, Texas, joint operations. This consolidates the joint ventures that were formerly known as BASF FINA Petrochemicals Limited Partnership and Sabina Petrochemicals LLC.

BASF retains 60 percent ownership in the joint venture and TPRI retains 40 percent.

The original joint venture was created in September 1997, when BASF and Fina Oil and Chemical Company (now TPRI) formed a limited partnership to build the naphtha steam cracker in Port Arthur.

BASF TOTAL Petrochemicals LLC is a joint venture between BASF Corporation and Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc. The Port Arthur facility operates one of the largest steam crackers in the world, turning naphtha and light hydrocarbons into ethylene, propylene and other chemical raw materials.

Total S.A. is one of the largest integrated international oil and gas companies with operations in more than 130 countries worldwide. TPRI is a major producer of base chemicals, styrene, polystyrene, polypropylene and polyethylene in the United States.
MRC

(Lanxess) -- Lanxess is building the world’s largest plant for EPDM synthetic rubber in China. The German specialty chemicals company is investing EUR235 million in the unit in Changzhou (Jiangsu Province). This is the largest investment the company has made in China to date.

The plant will have a capacity of 160,000 metric tonnes per year and is expected to start up in 2015.

Lanxess is the world's leading supplier of EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) following the successful acquisition and integration of DSM Elastomers in 2011. It markets its products under the brand name Keltan.

Global demand for EPDM is expected to increase by more than four percent per annum in the coming years, while demand in China is expected to grow by around eight percent, driven above all by automotive and construction industries. China will also continue to be the largest net importer of EPDM in the coming years.

Lanxess will start up a world-scale butyl rubber plant on Singapore’s Jurong Island in the first quarter of 2013 and will break ground for a neighboring neodymium-based performance butadiene rubber plant on September 11 this year.
MRC

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- China Petrochemical Corp, or Sinopec Group, has set up an engineering and construction company specialized in building refining and petrochemical facilities, paving the way for further expansion of its businesses overseas, report company sources on Monday.

The new company, Sinopec Engineering, was set up in Beijing with capital of 3.1 billion yuan (USD488 million) through the restructuring of Sinopec Group's eight engineering and construction firms.

Sinopec Group, the parent of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, said the unit has the capacity to handle over 20 large-scale engineering, procurement and construction projects simultaneously.

Sinopec Group is one of the major petroleum companies in China, headquartered in Chaoyang District, Beijing. Sinopec's business includes oil and gas exploration, refining, and marketing; production and sales of petrochemicals, chemical fibers, chemical fertilizers, and other chemical products.
MRC