TOYO awarded large gas chemical complex in Turkmenistan

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Toyo Engineering Corporation (TOYO, President and CEO Katsumoto Ishibashi) has been awarded a contract to build a large gas chemical complex for State Concern "Turkmengas", in collaboration with Hyundai Engineering Co., Ltd., Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd., and LG International Corporation of Korea, said the company in its press release.

The complex, TOYO’s first project in Turkmenistan, is scheduled to be completed in 2018. The complex will produce ethylene, high density polyethylene, and polypropylene from natural gas produced on the Caspian Sea shelf. TOYO will be responsible for the engineering, procurement, and commissioning of the gas separation unit, ethylene and polypropylene production units.

For the gas separation unit, TOYO’s technology, COREFLUX will be applied to achieve effective recovery of ethane and LPG, and BASF’s technology, OASE for acid gas removal. Lummus’ technology will be applied for ethylene production, and W. R. Grace & Co.-Conn. for polypropylene.

Polymer products produced at this complex are planned to be exported and sold mainly in the Asia, EU and Turkish markets. Turkmenistan is a country boasting abundant reserves of natural gas, and it has been maintaining high economic growth with the export of natural gas. The country is a promising market with strong investment potential, especially in petroleum and gas fields. TOYO will be contributing to Turkmenistan’s economic development through the execution of this project as well as expanding further its business in Russia and CIS countries.

We remind that, as MRC wrote previously, recently Toyo Engineering Corp. has received a contract to build a 15,000-tpy synthetic resin production plant in Houston, Texas, from Nippon Synthetic Chemical. Construction of the plant is scheduled to begin this summer and to be completed at the end of 2014. Earlier this year, Toyo Engineering was awarded a contract from Russia's TAIF-NK to provide services for detailed engineering and procurement on the oil refinery modernization project in Nizhnekamsk.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's polyvinyl chloride (PVC) continued to decrease on the back of strong prices in foreign markets and weak domestic demand. PVC imports to Russia dropped by 57% in the first four months of 2014, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to MRC DataScope report.

However, PVC imports slightly grew in April and March, helped by seasonally stronger demand. April PVC imports to Russia rose to 25,000 tonnes, from 19,200 tonnes in March. Nevertheless, Russia's suspension PVC (SPVC) imports decreased to 70,000 tonnes in the first four months of 2014, compared with 163,300 tonnes in the same period in 2013.

The main reasons for the imports fall were high prices of imported PVC and Russian converters' weak demand. Structure of PVC supplies over the reported period was as follows.

PVC imports from the USA fell to a record low 2,000 tonnes in April, compared with 5,500 tonnes in March. Russia's imports of US PVC dropped to 19,700 tonnes in January - April 2014, compared with 73,900 tonnes in the same period of 2013.

Imports of Chinese acetylene PVC also significantly reduced, despite the surge in April 19,200 tonnes, compared with 7,100 tonnes in March.
Total imports of Chinese acetylene PVC to Russia were 31,000 tonnes in the first four months of the year, compared with 72,200 tonnes in the same period a year earlier.

European PVC imports to the Russian market in April fell to 2,500 tonnes, from 4,400 tonnes in March. Russia's imports of European resin rose to 11,100 tonnes in the first four months of 2014, compared with 9,000 tonnes year on year ( the main volumes were imported from Belgium and Hungary).

MRC analysts expect SPVC imports to Russia to increase in future months. Despite the significant increase in production volumes at the local producers this year, Russian market remains dependent on external supplies especially in periods of high demand (May - October).


MRC

МOSCOW (MRC) -- French company Arkema Coatings Resins have announced they're stopping production at part of their site in Stallingborough, said Grimsbytelegraph.

There are reports nearly 60 jobs could be under threat at a chemical plant in North East Lincolnshire. It's understood French company Arkema Coatings Resins have announced they're stopping production at part of their site in Stallingborough.

The company are expected to enter into talks with trade unions and employee representatives next week. Arkema have informed its staff that the final outcome will not be known until the end of the consultation period but support and guidance will be available throughout the process.

Arkema acquired the coatings element of the Laporte Road business as part of a ?495-million deal in July 2011, with a separate brand, CCP, created by Total to retain the composites element of Cray Valley, which operated across 20 global sites.

The products are used in paint, adhesives, inks and sealants, as well as for architectural, sanitary and marine applications.

Three years ago, when the deal was completed, investment totalling more than ?1-million and a 10 per cent increase in staff across the two separate entities was highlighted, however a large part of that investment was for the CCP aspect.

Arkema was actually created by a Total reorganisation back in 2004, it is now a separate entity, trading on the Paris Stock Exchange. At the time of the deal, Cray Valley had 20 different production sites worldwide, with 1,800 people employed and seven research and development centres.

As MRC wrote before, Arkema started its new 60,000 MTY emulsion polymers facility on its Changshu platform. This new plant, which represented a USD30 million investment, is located in Arkema’s Changshu manufacturing complex, the company’s largest manufacturing complex worldwide.

Arkema is a global industrial and speciality chemical company made up of three business segments; Vinyl Products, Industrial Chemicals and Performance Products. It is present in over 40 countries with 14,000 employees.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styrolution, the global leader in the styrenics industry, has inaugurated a new line for the high performance styrenic specialty product Absolan at its Katol site located in Gujarat, India, reported the company on its site.

The new 40,000 mt line intends to meet the growing demand for Absolan across key growth industries in India, such as household, electronics, automotive. Absolan customers will benefit from improved local service and greater security of supply.

The new Absolan line augments Styrolution's current 60,000 mt production capacity in India bringing the total annual production capacity to 100,000 mt.

The move to increase domestic supply of styrenic specialties in India aligns with Styrolution's Triple Shift growth strategy, which puts a greater focus on higher growth industries, styrenic specialties and ABS Standard, and emerging markets.

Roberto Gualdoni, CEO, Styrolution: "India is one of the key strategic markets in Asia where Styrolution plans to accelerate growth and expand its footprint. This new line enhances Styrolution's capability to offer customers the high-performance styrenic specialities with the product and service quality they have come to expect. Ultimately, the expanded capacity paves the way for further growth together with our customers in India."

As MRC informed previously, in line with this strategey the company announced its two initiatives in October 2013: a planned joint venture with Braskem to produce ABS standard and ABS specialties in South America, and new AMSAN specialty production at Styrolution's plant in Altamira, Mexico.

Absolan is the brand name for Styrolution's styrene acrylonitrile copolymer (SAN) in India, commonly used in applications, such as household appliances, stationery, cosmetic packaging and general injection moulding. It is also used in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) compounding for applications across various industries, such as automotive, household, electronics, construction and healthcare.

The Styrolution Group GmbH is a global provider of styrenics , headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. The company is a joint venture between BASF (50%) and INEOS (50%), were merged into the main styrene operations of the two partners. Its main focus is on the production of monomer, polystyrene, styrenic specialties, and ABS. The company offers styrene plastics for a variety of everyday products from different industries, such as automotive, electronics, construction, household, leisure, packaging, medicine and health.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Veka Recycling, an industry leader in recycling post-industrial and post-consumer window frame material, will be promoting UK-based supply of its high-quality 100% recycled PVC-U pellet and micronised PVC-U (pulver), derived from end-of-life PVC-U windows, at the first Plastics Recycling Expo in Telford in June, reported Industry Today.

Material is processed to a high standard of purity at the company's Kent site, so it can be used to manufacture new windows, as well as a wide range of other long-life PVC-U goods, such as building, roofline and cabling/ducting products.

The average PVC-U window has a lifespan of around 35 years and can be recycled up to ten times, effectively giving the material a 350-year lifespan. This makes PVC-U one of the most sustainable products currently available in the building and home improvement market.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2013, Veka Recycling announced the investment of almost EUR1.2 million (USD1.6 million) in its south-east England facility to produce high-quality recyclate suitable for PVC extruded products. 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.

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.
MRC