BASF to sell shares in Ellba Eastern to joint venture partner Shell

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, the German chemicals giant, and Shell, an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company, have reached an agreement for BASF to sell its share in the 50-50 joint venture Ellba Eastern, Jurong Island, Singapore to Shell, reported BASF on its site.

The joint venture, which is operated by Shell, produces styrene monomer (SM) and propylene oxide. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Closing is planned for December 31, 2014.

BASF remains globally committed to propylene oxide and its respective value chains. Therefore, as part of the agreement, BASF and Shell have signed a supply contract to provide BASF with the necessary volumes of propylene oxide.

ELLBA Eastern started production in 2002. The plant is fully integrated into the Shell site on Jurong Island, Singapore, and has an annual capacity of 250,000 metric tons of propylene oxide and 550,000 metric tons of styrene monomer. The ELLBA joint venture between Shell and BASF in Moerdijk, the Netherlands, is not affected by the transaction.

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2014, BASF and Archroma agreed on the sale of BASF’s global textile chemicals business to Archroma, a supplier of specialty chemicals to the textile, paper and emulsions. Archroma is a portfolio company of SK Capital Partners, a private investment firm with focus on the specialty materials, chemicals and healthcare sectors. It is planned to integrate the business into the Archroma Textile Chemicals Specialties business. Currently, the textile chemicals business is part of BASF’s Performance Chemicals division.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It 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. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Plastic Technologies Inc. (PTI) and Hemetek Techno Instruments Mumbai have recently entered an agreement to provide polyethylene terephthalate (PET) package evaluation services in Southeast Asia, said Industrysourcing.

Plastic Technologies Inc PET materials testingThe partnership will involve state-of-the-art PET material and bottle testing to be done in Hemetek’s expanded testing facility in Baroda, located in the Gujarat state, in western India. The open house is scheduled for January 20, after which the facility will start accepting bottle performance projects.

Brand owners and suppliers in Southeast Asia use limited in-house capability or send components to laboratories outside the region for evaluation. The PET material and bottle testing facility will address this need for a local resource to evaluate if preforms and bottles meet performance parameters. The PET resin, preform, and bottle testing will cover solution intrinsic viscosity, acetaldehyde and moisture content, finish dimensions, and bottle expansion and burst.

According to PTI global analytical labs director Greg Fisher, "For the past 30 years, PTI has earned a global reputation as the leader in PET bottle development and performance testing. Through our new partnership with Hemetek, a company that has established itself as a respected package testing solutions provider, we are now able to bring these services to Southeast Asia."

"Empty PET bottles do not typically sustain long journeys well, and particularly those that are subjected to temperature extremes typically found in Southeast Asia," added Hemetek president Viraj Devasthale.

Partnering with PTI in locating testing services in closer proximity to bottling plants will help reduce time and costs, and provide brand owners with critical data to meet performance standards, Mr. Devasthale said.

As MRC wrote before, Plastic Technologies Inc. is partnering with the Centro de Tecnologia de Embalagem (CETEA) to produce a second technical training conference for the rapidly-growing Brazilian marketplace.

Plastic Technologies, Inc. (PTI) is recognized worldwide as the preferred source for plastic package design, package development, rapid prototyping, pre-production prototyping, and material evaluation engineering for the plastic packaging industry.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mazda Motor Corporation has announced that, in conjunction with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, it has developed a new bio-based engineering plastic that can be used for exterior design parts for automobiles, said the producer in its press-release.

The new plastic will help Mazda to reduce its impact on the environment in a number of important ways. As the plastic is made from plant-derived materials, its adoption will help to curb the use of petroleum resources and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, the material can be dyed and emissions of volatile organic compounds associated with the painting process reduced. Dyed parts made from the bio-based engineering plastic feature a finish of higher-quality than can be achieved with traditional painted plastic. The deep hue and smooth, mirror-like finish of the surface make the newly-developed plastic suitable for external vehicle parts with a high design factor.

This bio-based engineering plastic will be used for the first time for interior parts for the all-new Mazda MX-5 which will be launched globally in 2015. Moving forward, it will be used for exterior parts in other production models.

As MRC wrote before, Mazda Motor Corporation began collecting damaged bumpers (that were replaced at dealer service centers) as far back as 1992 and recycling them for use as vehicle undercovers. In subsequent years, it continued to hone paint removal technology to the point where by 2003, joint development with recycling system manufacturer Satake Corporation (Hiroshima) had increased the paint removal rate to 99.9%.

Mazda Motor Corporation, formerly (1927–84) Toyo Kogyo Company, Japanese automotive manufacturer, maker of Mazda passenger cars, trucks, and buses. The company is affiliated with the Sumitomo group. It is headquartered at Hiroshima.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Effective from 1 January 2015, Lauren Kjeldsen takes over the management role as Head of the Business Line Comfort & Insulation within the speciality chemicals group Evonik Industries AG, reported GV.

She succeeds Dr. Tammo Boinowitz, who takes over a new responsibility as the Business Line Head of Evonik’s Personal Care business on 1 January 2015. In her new role, Kjeldsen is responsible for the further global development of the polyurethane foam additives business.

Throughout her career at Evonik, Kjeldsen worked within the synthesis and catalyst business as well as in various marketing and management positions in Germany, the USA, and China.

As MRC informed earlier, Essen-based Evonik Industries is making an investment in the double-digit-million euro range in a new research center at the Rheinfelden site. Starting at the beginning of 2016, research into silanes will be carried out in modern laboratories in the four-story building.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2013 more than 33,500 employees generated sales of around EUR12.9 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of about EUR2.0 billion.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kuwait National Petroleum Co. (KNPC) is considering combining its planned Al-Zour Refinery with the production of petrochemicals, according to GV with reference to Kuwait News Agency quoting KNPC Chief Executive Mohammad Al-Mutairi.

The Supreme Petroleum Council has given KNPC and parent company Kuwait Petroleum Corp. the green light to proceed with the 615,000-b/d Al-Zour refinery, which is to be built south of Kuwait City. Site preparations have been started and the project has received Kuwait Environment Public Authority approval.

Separate sources reported that the petrochemical production would involve an olefins and aromatics project planned by affiliate Petrochemical Industries Co., for the production of ethylene, ethylene glycol, high-density and linear low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate and purified terephthalic acid.

Al-Mutairi explained that KNPC’s strategy is to build an integrated refinery and petrochemical complex that would include liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facilities.

Earlier this year, KNPC awarded Foster Wheeler a contract for the pre-front-end engineering design and the front-end engineering design of a new onshore LNG import and regasification terminal that is expected to start commercial operations in 2020.

As MRC wrote before, in June 2014, China's state-owned Sinopec said it had signed a pact with Kuwait Petroleum Co to enhance cooperation in the oil sector, including refining.
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