Asahi Kasei Fibers to expand production capacity for Bemliese

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Asahi Kasei Fibers will construct a new production facility for Bemliese cellulose nonwoven fabric in Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan, reported the company on its site.

Bemliese is the world’s only continuous-filament cellulose nonwoven fabric. It is composed of regenerated cellulose fiber made from cotton linter, the short fibers on cotton seeds. These natural origins impart a high level of environmental compatibility which makes Bemliese the ideal material for a wide range of applications - in the skincare and medical fields, as wipers for industrial and commercial use, in landscaping, and in beverage filtration.

Sold in markets around the world, Bemliese is enjoying particularly strong demand growth in skincare applications, and such demand growth is forecasted to continue. The new production facility will enable Asahi Kasei Fibers to better meet the needs of customers as markets for Bemliese expand worldwide.

As MRC informed before, Asahi Kasei’s (Tokyo, Japan) Fibers division will expand production capacity for polypropylene spunbond nonwovens in Thailand at its subsidiary Asahi Kasei Spunbond (Thailand) Co. AKST will add a new production line of 20,000 metric tons per year capacity which, combined with its existing production line, will double its capacity for spunbond nonwovens to 40,000 m.t/yr. The investment for the capacity expansion is approximately USD5 billion, with a scheduled startup of November 2015.

Asahi Kasei Corporation is a global Japanese chemical company. Its main products are chemicals and materials science.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS – which owns and operates the Grangemouth petrochem refinery – has commissioned eight large-volume Dragon class ships to transport liquefied shale gas ethane from the US to Europe, said Scottishenergynews.

And the company – which owns a number of licences to explore for shale oil / gas in the Central Belt – has now put roof in place that covers Europe’s biggest ethane storage tank at Grangemouth.

The huge tank is 56 metres in diameter and 44 metres high – that gives it a displacement volume of 108,372 cubic metres – large enough for 560 double decker buses to fit inside.

The investment in the Grangemouth tank and infrastructure is part of the company’s GDP450 million rescue package to equip the site to import ethane gas from the US. The project will transform Grangemouth overnight and will allow its manufacturing assets to once more compete globally, providing raw materials for thousands of manufacturing businesses across the UK and Europe.

John McNally, Chief Executive, INEOS O&P UK, said: "We know that US ethane has transformed US manufacturing and now Scottish industry will benefit as well". Bringing US ethane to Europe is a huge undertaking involving INEOS experts from across the globe. To raise the roof of this huge tank means that yet another milestone for the project has been reached.

"It is still early days on this project as we now set to work on the internal structure of the tank and the surrounding infrastructure. We are on schedule for the first US ethane to arrive in Grangemouth during the second half of 2016."

The building of Europe’s largest ethane storage tank is part of INEOS’ USD1 billion global project to bring US shale gas to Europe as supplies dwindle from the North Sea.

INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Switzerland-based Ineos and Chinese state-owned oil and petrochemical giant Sinopec are reportedly close to settling a dispute over patents related to the industrial chemical acrylonitrile, said Chemicals-technology.

Ineos CEO Jim Ratcliffe was quoted by Financial Times as saying: "The companies are close to a settlement based on a thorough discussion of the subject, based on a good relationship, a good understanding, and I think very soon we'll see a very good solution coming out of that."

In March 2014, the Swiss firm filed a lawsuit against Sinopec after its subsidiary Sinopec Ningbo Engineering allegedly broke a technology agreement and developed new acrylontirile plants without its consent.

Acrylonitrile is a key compound that is used to produce carbon fibre, which is primarily used in the automotive, aerospace and defence industries. Ineos earlier claimed that the incident heavily impacts its acrylonitrile business, which generates up to $500m in annual earnings.

Claimed to have a replacement value of USD3bn, the business has a workforce of 5,000 across its US and European operations.

"The fundamental value of a business like Ineos depends on its intellectual property which includes trade secrets and patents, covering technology, design and operations.

"Unless we protect our intellectual property, ultimately we will see the demise of Ineos," Ratcliffe added.
As a result of continuing dispute, Ineos and Sinopec have halted their planned joint-venture to build phenol plant in Nanjing.

INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The volumes of processing of polycarbonate (PC) in the Russian market was about 45,500 tonnes in the first six months of the year, down 13% year on year, according MRC ScanPlast.

At the same time, domestic PC supplies rose to 35,500 tonnes over the reported period, up 11% compared to the same time a year earlier, while exports of PC from the country decreased twofold to 10,000 tonnes. Thus, we can see import substitution in the Russian PC market on the back of the rouble devaluation. This applies to all sectors of consumption, except the bottle one. The producers of bottles need coloured PC granules, which Russian manufactures do not produce. The cost of uncoloured PC granules and masterbatches is too high for converters.

The only producer of PC in the CIS - Kazanorgsintez (KOS) is primarily focused on the supply of PC granules for extrusion according to market needs. During the reporting period the extrusion segment decreased by 18%. Consumption of it was about 37,000 tonnes.

Producers of sheets reported a fairly good buying activity in the market despite the economic crisis. Demand is expected to be quite calm in the summer and a new surge in demand traditionally occurs for late August - early September, in line with the activity in the construction sector.

Amid stagnation and negative forecasts concerning the construction industry, producers of sheets expect large orders from the public sector ahead of the preparation for the football championship in 2018.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iran has developed its own technology to produce catalysts that are used by isomerisation units of oil refineries and petrochemical complexes, said Chemicals-technology.

The country has so far depended on the US for catalysts that are used to produce Euro-5 and Euro-6 gasoline.
With the latest development, the country claims to break the monopoly of the US in the segment, and makes Iran the second country in the world to produce catalysts.

Supplying Petrochemical Industries Parts, Equipments and Chemical Engineering (SPEC) managing director Jalil Sobhani was quoted by Iranian media as saying: "Iran has achieved the technology needed to produce such catalysts, thus becoming the second country in the world in this regard."

"In recent years, Iran has significantly expanded its presence in petrochemical segment with plans to become a major producer in the Middle East."

Iranian scientists have already created around 25 precious metals-containing catalysts for use by refinery and petrochemical industries. SPEC said it is preparing to produce Euro-5 and Euro-6 gasoline catalysts, and is ready to accept orders. Iran-based Exir Novin Farayand Asia and SPEC have partnered to commission a production line to produce oil industry catalysts, reported Tasnim.

In recent years, Iran has significantly expanded its presence in petrochemical segment with plans to become a major producer in the Middle East. The country is estimated to host third-largest oil reserves and largest natural gas reserves in the world.

As MRC informed previously, it has been more than 50 years that Iran started producing petrochemical products and Iran National Petrochemical Company (NPC) is celebrating its anniversary this year. Iran, as one of the main energy hubs in the world, with huge oil and gas reserves, is one of the leading producers of petrochemical products in the world.

MRC