ACN plant restarted by Sinopec Shanghai

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical has restarted its acrylonitrile (ACN) plant, said Apic-online.

A source in China informed that the plant resumed operations on December 25, 2013. It was shut on November 20, 2013 for maintenance turnaround.

Located in Shanghai, China , the plant has a production capacity of 130,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, Top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp won initial approval last month from China's top economic planner for a plan to build a USD10-billion refinery and petrochemical complex in Shanghai.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest scale integrated energy and chemical companies with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its refining and ethylene capacity ranks No.2 and No.4 globally. The Company has 30,000 sales and distribution networks of oil products and chemical products, its service stations are now ranked third largest in the world.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- French company Total has announced Qatar Petroleum International has taken a 15% interest in its subsidiary, Total Exploration & Production Congo, said Upstreamonline.

The original agreement was signed in May this year, which will see Total transfer a stake in the company to QPI.

The USD1.6 billion increase in Total E&P Congo’s capital will consolidate its financial capacity as the company progresses the Moho Nord deep offshore project.

Total chief executive Christophe de Margerie said this was an important milestone.

“This builds on Total’s already well-established partnership with Qatar and at the same time strengthens our commitment to the development of the Congolese petroleum industry," he said.

As MRC wrote before, Total, Europe’s third-largest oil company, intends to invest EUR160m before 2016 to adapt its petrochemical platform in Carling, in the Lorraine region of eastern France, and to restore its competitiveness. Total plans indeed to develop new activities on the platform in the growing markets for hydrocarbon resins (Cray Valley) and for polymers, while shutting down the acutely loss-making steam cracker in the second half of 2015.

Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has honored The Dow Chemical Company, the largest US chemical maker by sales, as one of the honorees of the 18th annual US Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award, for the development of EVOQUE pre-composite polymer technology, reported Dow on its site.

This win marks the ninth time that Dow and its affiliates have received this recognition, more than double any other company since the award’s inception in 1996.

The US Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award is presented annually to organizations that incorporate the principles of green chemistry into chemical design, manufacture, and use. Dow’s past recognitions span innovation across a broad number of applications, including environmentally-friendly insect control, synthetic pathways that reduce carbon dioxide waste, and an environmentally safe marine anti-foulant.

The 2013 award recognizes the innovative technology behind EVOQUE that is changing the way paint is made and allowing more effective hiding with lower environmental impact. This technology improves sustainability and performance such as rust resistance, protection and durability, while requiring less titanium dioxide, helps to reduce the paint’s carbon footprint by more than 22% and water consumption by 30%.

As MRC wrote previously, earlier this month, Dow Chemical unveiled its plans to separate chlorine-related assets including its epoxy business as the company focuses on higher-margin activities. The chlorine assets account for as much as USD5 billion of annual revenue and include plants at 11 sites employing almost 2,000 people, Midland.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation. As of 2007, it is the second-largest chemical manufacturer in the world by revenue (after BASF) and as of February 2009, the third-largest chemical company in the world by market capitalization (after BASF and DuPont). Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, and synthetic rubber.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Veka Recycling is investing almost Euro 1.2 million (USD1.6 million) in its south-east England facility to produce high-quality recyclate suitable for PVC extruded products, said Recyclinginternational.

A new compounding line will enable the company to supply European markets with PVC pellets derived from post-industrial or post-consumer window frame material. According to the firm, this is in addition to the existing supply of both pellet and micronised PVC from its German and French factories.

According to Veka's managing director Tony Cattini, the investment will help to meet continuing demand for recycled content in new products with all the associated economic and environmental benefits for manufacturers and consumers. 'It also underlines our commitment to progressive growth and development in this sector as well as continuing to offer a sustainable and reliable outlet for PVC window waste,' he says.

As MRC wrote before, Veka Recycling Ltd, will be joining colleagues from France and Germany at K 2013 to announce the launch of its high-quality recyclate suitable for a wide range of new PVC-U extruded products.

Established in the UK since 2007 and with an annual recycling capacity of 20 000-plus tonnes, the Kent-based company is part of the VEKA Recycling Group, which has processing facilities in three European countries and has more than two decades' recycling experience in producing pelletised material that can be used in new extrusion products, including windows.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Japanese petrochemical producer - Taiyo Vinyl Corp., a subsidiary of Tosoh Group, is in plans to shut its polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant for maintenance, reported Apic-online.

Located at Osaka in Japan, the PVC plant has a production capacity of 170,000 mt/year.

According to a Polymerupdate source in Japan, the plant is likely to be shut for a maintenance turnaround in July 2014 for a period of about one month.

As MRC informed before, Taiyo Vinyl has been expanding its PVC production capacities in Chiba, Japan. With the construction of a new plant, the company plans to increase its PVC production by 10,000 tonnes per year.

Taiyo Vinyl Corporation, a subsidiary of Tosoh Group, is one of Japan's largest manufacturers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The plant in Chiba is one of the company's key assests, which supplies 50% of its products to the domestic market. The company also produces PVC at the plants in Yokkaichi and Osaka with the annual capacity of 310,000 and 150,000 tonnes, respectively.
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