LyondellBasell gets permit for ethylene expansion at Corpus Christi

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell has received a key permit required in the company's multi-plant ethylene expansion program which, when fully operational, is expected to increase annual ethylene capacity by an estimated USD3.12 billion, for a total estimated capacity of USD19.9 billion in North America, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The ethylene expansion program began in 2013 and represents a total investment of approximately USD1.3 billion in the company's Channelview, La Porte and Corpus Christi, Texas plants which benefit from shale gas production.

On April 16, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final greenhouse gas permit for the Corpus Christi project. The permit is the first to be drafted by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and issued by EPA under a new program designed to help improve permitting efficiency and productivity for applicants in the State of Texas.

"We are very pleased with the joint efforts of the EPA and TCEQ. Successfully securing our permit in Corpus Christi means our multi-plant ethylene expansion program is on target to be fully operational by the end of 2015," Gallogly added.

The required plant modifications are well underway at the La Porte facility and are scheduled to be completed this summer. Start-up at the Channelview plant is planned for early 2015. Construction at Corpus Christi is expected to begin during the second half of this year with start-up scheduled for late 2015.

"Rather than build a new plant from the ground up, which can take five years or more, our approach is to expand our existing facilities and seize the feedstock advantage more swiftly and cost-effectively," said LyondellBasell CEO Jim Gallogly. "These projects, in addition to the recent restart of an idle methanol unit at our Channelview plant and a butadiene expansion at our Wesseling, Germany plant, can potentially add approximately USD1.1 billion to our EBITDA, based on 2013 margins," he added.

LyondellBasell Industries NV is a manufacturing company. The Company produces chemicals, fuels, and polymers used for packaging, clean fuels, durable textiles, medical applications, construction materials, and automotive parts. LyondellBasell Industries operates globally and is headquartered in the Netherlands. LyondellBasell is also a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. The more than 250 polyolefin process licenses granted by LyondellBasell are twice that of any other polyolefin technology licensor.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Specialty chemicals group Lanxess is increasing its prices worldwide for inorganic pigments by a minimum of EUR125 per 1000 kg (USD 175 or local currency equivalent), with immediate effect, as per the company's statement.

Customers will be contacted individually regarding the specifics of the price increase as it applies to their products or regions.

Iron oxides produced by Lanxess’ Inorganic Pigments business unit are marketed under the trade names Bayferrox, Bayoxide and Colortherm and are the preferred choice in a wide variety of applications in the construction, coatings and colorants, plastics, paper and toner industries.

As one of the world’s leading inorganic pigment producers, Lanxess meets the growing demands of the global market by offering a broad and innovative product portfolio manufactured according to strict sustainability guidelines and supported by high levels of technical expertise.

As MRC reported, last summer, Lanxess started construction of a premium iron oxide red pigments facility in Ningbo. The company is investing EUR55 million in the plant, which will have an initial capacity of 25,000 metric tons annually. With the start of the piling process, the construction work proceeded right on schedule. New red iron oxide pigments will be introduced to the global market in the first quarter of 2015.

The Inorganic Pigments business unit is part of Lanxess’ Performance Chemicals segment, which posted sales of EUR2.13 billion in fiscal 2013.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.3 billion in 2013 and roughly 17,300 employees in 31 countries. The company is currently represented at 52 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Samsonite-Hungaria, a subsidiary of US manufacturer Samsonite International, is investing almost EUR8 million (USD11 million) in a fresh expansion phase at its plastics moulded suitcase plant at Szekszard in south west Hungary, as per Plastemart.

The company is constructing a new 4,400 square meters production hall at the site which will add output of 800 polycarbonate (PC) cases per day. The building, taking the plant’s size to 19,000 sqare meters, is due for completion by mid May allowing the unit to launch production by June 2014, the firm announced.

Through its latest project, Samsonite-Hungaria will broaden its product portfolio and boost overall output at Szekszard by 28%. New added value technology is being introduced to enable the plant to turn out designer PC cases in parallel with its older Curv composite material case models in order to meet a demand for innovative baggage in Europe. Curv is a reinforced polypropylene (PP) composite sheet produced by Propex Operating Co. LLC.

As MRC informed before, in 2012, Italian moulding and compounds company Finproject made new investments to the tune of EUR8m at facilities in India and Mexico as part of its international expansion strategy. The company produces more than 30,000tpa of vinyl and polyolefin compounds for various sectors, but it is most closely associated with footwear, in particular Crocs EVA foam clogs. Finproject's moulding division also makes soles, sandals and boots with polyolefin compounds bearing its own brand name XL Extralight for customers such as Hugo Boss and Samsonite.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Westlake Chemical Corporation has announced that one of its wholly owned subsidiaries, Westlake Chemical Partners LP, has filed a Registration Statement on Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") relating to its proposed initial public offering of common units representing limited partner interests, reported Westlake on its site.

Chemical Partners is a Delaware limited partnership recently formed by Westlake to operate, acquire and develop ethylene production facilities and related assets. Chemical Partners' initial assets are expected to consist of the general partner interest and a portion of the limited partner interest in Westlake Chemical OpCo LP, which will own and operate ethylene production and pipeline assets.

The number of common units to be offered and the price range for the offering have not been determined. Westlake will own the general partner of Chemical Partners and all of its incentive distribution rights and expects to retain a majority of Chemical Partners' units representing limited partner interests.

A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective.

As MRC wrote earlier, in late December 2013, Westlake Chemical Corporation started-up its new chlor-alkali plant located at its vinyls manufacturing complex in Geismar, Louisiana. This new chlor-alkali plant has the capacity to produce 350,000 electrochemical units (ECU's) annually and utilizes state of the art membrane technology. The plant is adjacent to the existing vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) facilities at the Geismar complex.

Westlake Chemical Corporation is a manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and building products with headquarters in Houston, Texas. The company's range of products includes: ethylene, polyethylene, styrene, propylene, caustic, VCM, PVC resin and PVC building products including pipe and specialty components, windows and fence.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In its constitutive meeting, the new Supervisory Board of BASF has elected Dr. Jurgen Hambrecht as its new chairman, as per the company's press release.

Hambrecht thus succeeds Dr. h.c. Eggert Voscherau, who took over as chairman following the annual shareholders’ meeting 2009 and who was no longer available for re-election.

As vice chairmen, the Supervisory Board elected Michael Diekmann and Robert Oswald, both of whom had previously held this function.

The annual ahareholders’ meeting of BASF SE elected the following shareholder representatives as members of the Supervisory Board: Dame Alison Carnwath DBE, London; Professor Dr. Francois Diederich, Zurich; Michael Diekmann, Munich; Franz Fehrenbach, Stuttgart; Dr. Jurgen Hambrecht, Neustadt/Weinstrasse; Anke Schaferkordt, Cologne.

The appointments of the Supervisory Board members are valid until the end of the annual shareholders’ meeting 2019.

As MRC informed previously, in September 2013, the Supervisory Board of BASF Coatings appointed Thomas Hartmann as Managing Director and Industrial Relations Director of BASF Coatings. He succeeded Eva Muller who assumed a new position within the BASF Group.

BASF is the largest diversified chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC