Iranian petrochemical projects gets USD3.6bn in development aid

MOSCOW (MRC) -- A senior Iranian energy official says Iran’s National Development Fund (NDF) has allocated 3.6 billion dollars to the development of the country’s petrochemical industry, said Presstv.

Managing Director of the National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NIPC) Abdolhossein Bayat said on Monday that USD3.6 billion will be spent to construct 11 petrochemical projects.

Bayat stated that out of the 70 petrochemical projects in Iran’s Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2010-2015), "So far, 17 petrochemical projects, worth 6 billion dollars in foreign investment, have been introduced to the NDF."

He said the NDF has provided the currency credit needed for 11 petrochemical plans so far.

Iran has expanded the range and volume of its petrochemical production significantly over the past few years, and the NIPC has become the second largest producer and exporter of petrochemicals in the Middle East.

As MRC wrote earlier, Kavian Petrochemical Complex, one of the world's biggest petrochemical complex in Asalouyeh, commenced production of ethylene in late December.

The Islamic Republic exported a total of 18.2 million tons of petrochemical and polymer products, worth about 14.2 billion dollars, to more than 60 countries in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 19, 2012).

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Dow Chemical Company announced that the Company's St. Charles Olefins 2 Plant near Hahnville, La. began producing on-spec ethylene on December 25, 2012, meeting previously announced targets to re-start the plant by year-end 2012, said Dow in its press release.

"The start-up of our St. Charles ethylene plant represents the first major milestone within our U.S. Gulf Coast investment strategy," said Brian Ames, president, Dow Olefins, Aromatics and Alternatives. "This action further reduces the company's purchased ethylene, lowering costs and strengthening the competitiveness of our high-margin, high-growth derivatives businesses."

This milestone is part of Dow's comprehensive investment plan to further connect its U.S. operations with cost-advantaged feedstocks from increasing supplies of U.S. shale gas and deliver long-term competitive advantage for Dow's downstream businesses. Plans to increase ethylene and propylene supply and ethane cracking capabilities at existing U.S. Gulf Coast facilities strengthen the competitiveness of Dow's Performance Plastics, Performance Products and Advanced Materials businesses and enable profitable growth in the Americas.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and synthetic rubber.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Formosa Petrochemical Corp’s pretax profit in 2012 slashed 90% on the back of high crude-oil costs and weak global petrochemical demand, according to FoxBusiness.

The company recorded a pretax profit of 2.44 billion New Taiwan dollars (USD84 million) in 2012, down sharply from NT USD24.67 billion in the previous year. For the three months ended Dec. 31, Formosa Petrochemical recorded a pretax profit of NT USD1.98 billion. It didn't give a comparison figure year-on-year.

As MRC reported earlier, since demand for petrochemicals is slow at present, FPCC has no plans yet to increase operating rates to the full nominal capacity, though the incident was resolved and Nan Ya Plastics' MEG plant resumed operations on October 22.

The company ranks second in oil refining in Taiwan after Chinese Petroleum Corporation. Formosa Petrochemical owns two refineries with capacity of 540 thousand barrels per day.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Indonesian state energy company PT Pertamina anticipates to boost sales of its petroleum-derived chemical products in 2013 after establishing a new joint venture focusing on the petrochemical business in the first half of this year, as per Plastemart.

Pertamina would start focusing on marketing activities both in the domestic and regional markets following the formation of the joint venture, which will construct a USD5 bln petrochemical facility. In December, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi Corp. for the constructtion of the said petrochemical unit in Indonesia, as MRC informed earlier.

Pertamina is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation based in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of Pertamin (established 1961) and Permina (established 1957). Pertamina is the world's largest producer and exporter of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PAS will seek a judicial review at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Wednesday to temporarily halt the Petronas Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (Rapid) project at Pengerang, said Thestar.

PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub said the project should be put on hold so that the Government could review the project as it had affected the locals.

The relocation of remains at certain Muslim graves was not done according to the Islamic procedures, adding that they were put away under a tree as well as in a van, he claimed during a press conference at the party's headquarters here on Monday.

Gabungan NGO Pengerang chairman Anis Afida Mohd Azli said the Johor Islamic Religious Council had released a licence to the contractor, which she claimed to be Johor Islamic Corporation, for the relocation of graves but procedures were not followed.

He stressed that PAS was not against any development as long as it did not displace villagers from their villages, did not touch burial grounds and adhered to environmental regulations.

The Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (Malay: Parti Islam Se-Malaysia) commonly known as PAS or Pas, is an Islamist political party in Malaysia.

Petronas is a Global Fortune 500 company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia. It is principally involved in all spectrum of integrated oil, gas and petrochemical industries with operations and strategic presence in more than 60 countries worldwide.

New facilities are to produce plasticizers, which are used in a variety of industries including construction and automotive. Superabsorbent polymers are the key ingredients in disposable diapers and adult hygiene products.


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