Ethane cracker to be started by Borouge

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borouge is in plans to start its new ethane cracker, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in the UAE informed that the Borouge 3 cracker is expected to start in June 2014. It was initially scheduled to start in end-May 2014 but the same was delayed. The reason behind the delay could not be ascertained.

The cracker has a production capacity of 1.5 million mt/year.

As MRC wrote before, Borealis and Borouge, leading providers of innovative, value-creating plastics solutions, have recently developed important material solutions to address specific challenges faced by the global automotive industry.

We remind that Borealis and Borouge announced the dedicated roll-out of the technology platform Borlink in Russia. Borlink was introduced by Borealis and Borouge as a technology platform offering a complete global package of power cable compounds and expertise serving applications for medium and high voltage (MV, HV), including extra high voltage (EHV) and high voltage direct current (HVDC).

Borouge is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi National Oil company and Borealis.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. Borealis is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and operates in over 120 countries with around 5,300 employees worldwide, generating EUR7.5 billion in sales revenue in 2012.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Wacker, the Munich-based chemical company, has reorganized its distribution network for silicone and polymer products in Central and Eastern Europe, reported the company on its site.

As part of a regional optimization process, the already existing partners IMCD, Euro-Him-1, Hellermann, Radka, Revada and Variachem will be entrusted with the distribution of Wacker’s product range for silicones and polymers.

Effective July 1, 2014, these partners will replace the previous distribution partner Brenntag CEE. The chemicals distributors IMCD, Euro-Him-1, Hellermann, Radka, Revada and Variachem are already distributing products from the Group’s silicones and polymers portfolio in different regions. As part of the reorganization of the distribution network in Central and Eastern Europe, Wacker is further extending these partnerships.

With over 3,000 highly specialized and innovative products, WACKER is also one of the largest silicone manufacturers worldwide. The portfolio ranges from silicone fluids, emulsions, resins, elastomers and sealants to silanes and pyrogenic silica. These products find application in such sectors as construction, chemicals, cosmetics, textiles, automotive, paper and electronics.

As MRC informed earlier, in 2013, Wacker Chemie AG officially launched its new production plant for ethylene-vinyl-acetate copolymer (EVA) dispersions at its Ulsan site in South Korea. The additional 40,000 tonnes from the second reactor line increases the site's EVA-dispersion capacity to a total of 90,000 tonnes per year. The production capacity of the site, thus, almost doubled, making the plant complex one of the biggest of its kind in South Korea.

Wacker Chemie AG is a worldwide operating company in the chemical business, founded 1914. The company is controlled by the Wacker-family holding more than 50 percent of the shares. The corporation is operating more than 25 production sites in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The product range includes silicone rubbers, polymer products like ethylene vinyl acetate redispersible polymer powder, chemical materials, polysilicon and wafers for semiconductor industry.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lubrizol Corp. has received all necessary regulatory approvals to proceed with its previously announced chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) joint venture with Sekisui Chemical Co. in Thailand, said the company in its press release.

Lubrizol said the partners will invest about USD50-million to build a 30,000-t/y CPVC resin plant in the first phase. This phase, for which a specific location was not given, is expected to be fully operational by late 2014 or early 2015.

A second phase will double capacity to 60,000 t/y with a further USD50-million investment and is scheduled to begin production by the end of 2016.

Lubrizol's involvement in the joint venture is part of a multi-phased USD400-million expansion of the company's global CPVC resin and compounding manufacturing capacity. Lubrizol is building a new 55,000-t/y resin and 65,000-t/y compounding plant in Louisville, Ky., and a new compounding plant and warehouse in Dahej, India. In April 2014 Lubrizol announced the groundbreaking for a new TempRite chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) compounding plant in Dahej, India.

The Lubrizol Corporation, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is an innovative specialty chemical company that apart from its production develops and supplies technologies to customers in the global transportation, industrial and consumer markets. Lubrizol's advanced polymer technology delivers exceptional performance for the plumbing, fire sprinkler, industrial and other building and construction related applications. Lubrizol is providing innovative solutions for its customers high-performance application needs and remains committed to ongoing investment in its CPVC capabilities that support future growth.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- PolyOne Corporation, a premier global provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions, presented its specialty portfolio for automotive interiors to designers and engineers at the 2014 WardsAuto Interiors conference, reported the company on its site.

These advanced technologies, including soft-touch materials as well as colorants and special effects, enable customers to design new features that boost consumer appeal and reduce manufacturing complexity.

Recently, PolyOne introduced Geon VBX vinyl powder formulations based on innovative technologies that offer maximum design freedom and efficient production of soft-touch surfaces. These new materials meet or exceed OEM airbag safety requirements for instrument panels and provides up to 15% faster cycle times and 35% lower scrap rates, when compared to standard materials.

Additional featured solutions that provide design freedom and manufacturing improvements include:

- Paint-free metallic finish: OnColor FX Metal colorants – providing visually appealing metallic finishes without the need for a secondary painting process;
- Marking alternative: OnColor FastMark additives – enabling parts such as signal stalks and trunk/hood release handles to be permanently laser etched with images, symbols and words;
- Premium surfaces: OnColor FX Granite colorants – creating a premium fabric look on surfaces that utilize molded-in texture.

As MRC informed earlier, in February 2014, PolyOne Corporation announced the addition of new capabilities to its OnColor HC Plus portfolio. These expanded offerings add medical-grade LDPE, nylon, PEBA, PS and PVC to the globally available palette of specialty healthcare colorants, and are pre-certified to meet or exceed biocompatibility requirements for ISO 10993 and/or USP Class VI protocols.

PolyOne Corporation, with 2013 revenues of USD3.8 billion, is a global provider of specialized polymer materials, services, and solutions. PolyOne is a provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions with operations in specialty polymer formulations, color and additive systems, polymer distribution and specialty vinyl resins.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- With smart materials being one of the fastest growing areas of materials technology, SABIC and Cima NanoTech, a Singapore and US-based company, have announced the joint development of a plastics industry first: a transparent conductive polycarbonate film that has the potential to revolutionize the materials used in consumer electronics, household goods, automotive, architecture and healthcare, reported Sabic on its site.

The new material, designed to provide "next generation" functionality, has the potential to further enhance performance, enable new innovative applications and open doors for new product designs, Ernesto Occhiello, SABIC Executive Vice President, Technology and Innovation, explained. This could translate into faster response touch screens for consumer electronics, transparent "no-line" anti-fogging capabilities for automotive windows, better EMI shielding effectiveness for electronics, and transparent WiFi/Bluetooth antennas for mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops and all-in-one computers.

Aligned with SABIC’s focus to provide solutions that will solve industry challenges, SABIC engaged in a joint collaboration with Cima NanoTech in the latter half of 2013 to develop the promising new material, which will be available for customer trials later this year.

"Transparent conductive polycarbonate is a breakthrough material that customers in consumer electronics and other important industries have been seeking," Matt Gray, Director of Marketing, Consumer Electronics for SABIC’s Innovative Plastics business, said. "Our work with Cima NanoTech is strategically aligned with our commitment to continuous innovation in areas of importance to our customers," Gray noted.

The collaboration, leveraging both Cima NanoTech’s proprietary SANTE nanoparticle technology and SABIC’s world-renowned LEXAN film, a polycarbonate material, has resulted in the development of a new series of transparent conductive materials that are lightweight with excellent transparency, outstanding conductivity and high flexibility.

As MRC reported before, designed specifically to help customers in the beverage industry reduce transportation losses, SABIC has broadened its stretch film portfolio to include one of the first commercially available materials in Europe to combine polypropylene (PP) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE). The film’s high holding force (up to 12% compared to current solutions) for superior load stability is ideal for protecting heavy loads and is the result of SABIC’s constant focus on innovation and expertise in combination know-how. This film solution helps customers meet the demand for high-performance and optically-clear solutions, and can help them reduce costs.

SABIC is a diversified manufacturing company, active in chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia. It is the largest company in the Middle East.
SABIC is currently the second largest global ethylene glycol producer and is expected to become number one after the introduction of these new projects. SABIC is the third largest polyethylene manufacturer, the fourth largest polyolefins manufacturer and the fourth largest polypropylene manufacturer. It is also the world's largest producer of mono-ethylene glycol, MTBE, granular urea, polyphenylene and polyether imide.
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