Dow Freeport, Texas, steam cracker comes on line

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow Chemical has brought light hydrocarbon unit No 8 in Freeport, Texas, back online, a company source said Wednesday, as per Plastemart.

The unit shut on December 14 when the trip of a cracked gas compressor was discovered during an attempted restart after a two-week turnaround. A restart was attempted again starting January 2, according to filings with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

As MRC wrote before, Dow Chemical began construction on 30, June 2014 its previously-announced world-scale ethylene production facility in Freeport, Texas. This represents a prominent milestone in the company delivering on its strategy to invest in a performance-based portfolio of technology-enabled businesses.

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) -- At this year’s Cosmetagora exhibition, BASF,e world's largest petrochemical major, showcases two new personal care solutions inspired by life: the anti-aging face care concept "Beautiful Faces" and "Color Trends 2016" - a trend-driven collection of effect pigments, as per the company's press release.

The formulations comprised in BASF’s new concept "Beautiful Faces" enable personal care solutions that meet the universal desire for significant anti-aging effects, while allowing manufacturers to target very specific consumer needs.

These were defined by means of a market research study and a validated typology system. Having a clear insight into consumers’ needs and anticipating future trends are crucial for creating successful personal care products.

To develop color care solutions that really resonate with consumers, BASF’s Personal Care business draws its inspiration for new products and concepts from real life and keeps a close eye on regional and global trends. Now, by analyzing cultural drivers in the global market place, BASF has identified the beauty trends that will become dominant in 2016: "Color Full", "Ancient Wisdom", "Woman of Power" and "Third Act". BASF is presenting its "Color Trends 2016" portfolio of effect pigments at this year’s show to help manufacturers leverage the market opportunities that are evolving with these upcoming trends.

As MRC reported earlier, last year, BASF developed new ingredients and innovative concepts for the personal care market. Driving forward the development of the brand Care CreationsTM, the company is taking a more and more science based approach to explore consumer needs: the focus is on a validated typology system with which users can define different consumer personalities.

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.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The main polycarbonate (PC) suppliers to the Ukrainian market rolled over their January export prices from last year, according to MRC Price Report.

Importers said that Sabic Innovative Plastics and Bayer, the main PC suppliers to the Ukrainian market, had maintained their export prices unchanged from last year, despite lower prices in feedstocks chain. Domestic prices have been still growing because of the devaluation of the national currency. Most converters were trying to receive trade credit. However, not all traders were ready to ship PC under such conditions. The average delay of payment acceptable to the Ukrainian market is 30 calendar days at the moment. But some sellers still insisted on prepayment.

Despite this, market players expect consumption to remain at the last year's level in all processing sectors. Shipments of injection moulding products to foreign markets are also unlikely to drop. This is particularly true for the Russian market, where injection moulding products from Ukraine are more competitive at the moment compared with the domestic ones because of lower net costs.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qatar Petroleum and Shell have decided not to proceed with the proposed Al Karaana petrochemicals project, and to stop further work on the project, reported Shell on its site.

The decision came after a careful and thorough evaluation of commercial quotations from EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) bidders, which showed high capital costs rendering it commercially unfeasible, particularly in the current economic climate prevailing in the energy industry.

The Al Karaana project was initiated with a Heads of Agreement (HOA) between QP and Shell in December 2011, and envisioned the construction of a new world-scale petrochemicals complex in the Ras Laffan Industrial City north of Qatar. The complex was to be operated as a stand-alone QP-Shell joint venture (80% QP, 20% Shell).

QP and Shell’s existing partnerships include Pearl GTL - the world’s largest integrated gas-to-liquids plant located at Ras Laffan, which has boosted Qatar’s position as the world’s GTL capital. The partnerships also include Qatargas 4 -an integrated Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) asset- in addition to joint downstream and upstream investments in Singapore and Brazil.

As MRC informed previously, in 2013, Royal Dutch Shell took a final investment decision tol increase production capacity at its Singapore petrochemical plant to meet demand for specialized materials used in the automotive and furniture industries. The upgrade will increase the plant's capacity to produce polyols - industrial chemicals used to make high-quality foams - by more than 100,000 metric tpy to 360,000 tpy. The project was expected to be completed in 2014.

Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Clariant, a world leader in Specialty Chemicals, shows its support for greater sustainability across the industrial, decorative and automotive applications by introducing new products and advanced solutions for the global paint and coatings community at the European Coatings Show 2015 in Germany, as per the company's press release.

Making its debut for the point-of-sale market, Clariant will present its new patented 24-canister dispenser machine designed for use in professional paint stores and typical POS retail environments. The simultaneous color dispenser relies on a unique Clariant piston pump technology and is available with up to 24 canisters of 3- or 6-liter size.

"Sustainability - the key to long-term success for us and our customers - fuels Clariant’s innovation pipeline. We are committed to creating value for all stakeholders by addressing the trend to manufacture sustainable, economic and energy-saving products without compromising on innovation in color and performance," comments Joachim F. Kruger, Senior Vice President, Corporate Sustainability and Regulatory Affairs.

As MRC wrote before, Clariant has recently signed an agreement to acquire the remaining 50% shares of Companhia Brasileira de Bentonita (CBB) from Geosol, a world leader in analytical services for mineral exploration.

We also remind that last year, CB&I and Clariant announced that their new Ziegler-Natta (ZN) polypropylene catalyst plant in Louisville, Kentucky, was on schedule to begin production in 2015. The plant is part of a long-term strategic partnership between Clariant’s catalysts business and CB&I’s Lummus Novolen Technology business.

Clariant AG is a Swiss chemical company and a world leader in the production of specialty chemicals for the textile, printing, mining and metallurgical industries. It is engaged in processing crude oil products in pigments, plastics and paints.
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