Dow enhances R&D capabilities in Texas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- As part of its ongoing commitment to innovation, The Dow Chemical Company has announced that a new research and development (R&D) facility will be built in Lake Jackson, Texas, near its largest manufacturing site in Freeport, Texas, reported Dow in its statement.

The Texas Innovation Center will house state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and technical expertise centers to enable ongoing innovation that supports the commercialization of solutions across the various high-growth end-use markets, such as food packaging, personal care and automotive.

"The Freeport site has long been an important research and development location for Dow, providing breakthroughs that have paved the way for a more sustainable future," said Andrew N. Liveris, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer. "The enhanced capabilities at our new location will continue the tradition of R&D expertise in Texas by delivering leading edge technology."

The new center replaces several of the company’s existing R&D facilities in Freeport, Texas. Upon completion in 2016, the Texas Innovation Center will be a global research and development hub of modern lab and office facilities for more than 2,000 people from Dow R&D, businesses, functions and manufacturing.

"In the next five years our site will see remarkable growth in manufacturing and the Texas Innovation Center will bolster our R&D operations on a long-term path forward as well," said Earl Shipp, vice president of US Gulf Coast Operations.

The Texas Operations site employs more than 12,000 people and has more than 65 manufacturing plants working together to produce 44 percent of Dow’s products sold in the United States and about 21% of the company’s products sold globally. It is also home to one of the largest R&D centers in Dow.

As MRC informed previously, in February 2014, CB&I was awarded a contract to provide pipe fabrication for Dow Chemical's US Gulf Coast investment program. Dow's investment plan includes construction of a new propylene and ethylene production unit in Texas and four new polyethylene plants in Texas and Louisiana.

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, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene (PP), and synthetic rubber. The company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 36 countries across the globe.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Following further discussion, the European Commission has decided to market test an alternative remedy package submitted by Ineos and Solvay for evaluation of the proposed 50/50 joint venture between the parties in a Phase II investigation, reported Ineos on its site.

The proposed remedy package consists of the LVM heritage assets (Beek in The Netherlands, Mazingarbe in France and Tessenderlo in Belgium) as well as the PVC and VCM plants at Wilhelmshaven (Germany) and potentially the EDC and chlorine membrane plants at Runcorn (UK) which are operated by INEOS. This remedy package will be tested in lieu of the remedy package initially submitted on 27 February.

Discussions with the Commission will continue during the market testing phase, ahead of any final decision on clearance being made, which is now expected by 16 May.

The parties are confident that the proposed Joint Venture will ultimately secure clearance.

Ineos and Solvay will continue to run their businesses separately until completion of the transaction, which is dependent on the above approvals and procedures.

As MRC wrote before, two of Europe’s biggest chemical companies agreed a joint venture that will create one of the world’s largest producers of PVC plastics by revenues in May 2013.

Solvay S.A. is a Belgian chemical company founded in 1863, with its head office in Neder-Over-Heembeek, Brussels, Belgium. The company has diversified into two major sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics. Solvay supplies over 1500 products across 35 brands of high-performance polymers – fluoropolymers, fluoroelastomers, fluorinated fluids, semi-aromatic polyamides, sulfone polymers, aromatic ultra polymers, high-barrier polymers and cross-linked high-performance compounds.

INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SINOPEC), Asia’s biggest oil refiner, has identified 1,100 sections of its national pipeline network that are too close to residential areas, reported Hydrocarbonprocessing with reference to chairman Fu Chengyu's statement.

The discovery follows a nationwide pipeline safety inspection after a blast at a China Petroleum-controlled oil pipeline in East China’s Qingdao killed 62 people in November.

As MRC wrote previously, Qingdao is one of China's largest crude oil import terminals, supplying at least two major Sinopec refineries - the Qingdao plant and Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical Corp - as well as many small, independent refineries. The explosion occurred after an oil leak led to a fire.

"City regulators have to follow pipeline rules in urban planning, otherwise not only the enterprise and residents, but the whole society may get hurt," Fu said in an e-mailed newsletter on Wednesday.

China should also consider shortening pipeline safety distance rules for more efficient law enforcement, Fu said. Current regulations list the safe distance at between 700 to 1,200 meters, while the US and Japan allow 103 meters and 30 meters respectively, he said.

A total of 48 officials were disciplined and 15 face criminal charges after the Qingdao explosion. Fu was among those disciplined by the central government.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC) is a large scale integrated energy and chemical company with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Sinopec is the worlds seventh biggest company by revenue.
It is one of the major petroleum companies in China. Sinopec's business includes oil and gas exploration, refining, and marketing; production and sales of petrochemicals, chemical fibers, chemical fertilizers, and other chemical products. Sinopec is China's largest manufacturer and supplier of major petrochemical products. It is the second largest producer of crude oil in China. Its refining capacity and ethylene capacity rank No.2 and No.4 globally.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qatar’s stock exchange began listing shares of Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Co. on 26 Feb. 2014, opening up trading in the company to foreigners, as per GV with reference to press reports from Doha.

Mesaieed Petrochemical, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qatar Petroleum (QP), recently raised USD 880-million in an initial public offering of nearly 26 % of the company’s shares to Qatari private citizens.

To be listed under the symbol MPHC, foreigners will be permitted to acquire up to 15% of Mesaieed Petrochemical in the secondary market.

As MRC reported earlier, Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO) have recently signed the FEED contract with Tecnimont SpA for the Al Sejeel Petrochemical Complex, to be built in Ras Laffan Industrial City. The signing of the FEED contract for the project, in which QP and QAPCO own respectively 80% and 20% equity interest, marks a strategic milestone for the progress of the mega-petrochemical complex.

The complex's construction scheduled for completion in 2018. It will comprise the worlds largest mixed-feed steam crackers, and is designed to produce 2.2 million tpa of polymers, including polyethylene (PE) - high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) - and polypropylene (PP) resins.

Mesaieed Petrochemical is a holding company for medium- and high-density polyethylene and 1-hexene producer Q-Chem I, high-density polyethylene and normal alpha olefins producer Q-Chem II, and Qatar Vinyl Co., a producer of caustic soda, ethylene dichloride and vinyl.

Qatar Petroleum is a state owned petroleum company in Qatar.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (MCC) PTA India Corp. is likely to restart its No. 2 purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in India informed that the plant is likely to be restarted early next week. It was shut in late January 2014 for maintenance turnaround.

Located at Haldia in the eastern Indian state of west Bengal, the plant has a production capacity of 800,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, Taekwang Industrial shut its PTA plant for maintenance turnaround on March 10, 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for around 10 days. Located in Ulsan, South Korea, the plant has a production capacity of 1 million mt/year.

Besides, China based company Xianglu Petrochemical started up its new purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant in end-November 2013. Located in Xiamen, China, the plant has a production capacity of 1.5 million mt/year.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC), a Fortune 500 giant, is Japan’s largest diversified chemical company. It is among the top 10 Chemical Companies of the world. MCC has its operations in around 50 countries and leads about 282 affiliate companies across the globe. It is also the world’s second largest producer of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and began selling the imported chemical in India in the early 90’s.

Seeing the vast growth potential for polyester products in the country, MCC decided to set up its own PTA manufacturing facility in Haldia in 1997. It entered into a shareholders’ agreement with the Government of West Bengal, setting up an affiliate company, MCC PTA India Corp. Private Limited (MCPI), headquartered in Kolkata.
MRC