La Seda launches recyclable PET for automotive sector

March 26 (prw) -- Leading European PET producer La Seda de Barcelona has joined forces with two Spanish plastics car parts suppliers to develop the first fully recyclable PET polymer for the automotive sector.
The Spanish PET major, along with national component makers Grupo Ficosa International SA. and Zanini Auto Grup, have come up with prototypes for the first recyclable PET polymer-based rear view mirrors, hub caps and badges.

Through its PETAUTO polymer project, La Seda aims to tap a rich potential PET market of around 300,000 tpa, representing the volume of polyamide (PA) and ABS compounds the European automotive industry currently consumes.

La Seda says its new PET product, under development since 2008 in a joint ┬1.7m project at Barcelona's industrial research, development and innovation Technology Centre Leitat, is 100% recyclable. Its use in place of polyamides and technical plastics could result in cost savings of more than 50%, according to the Spanish polymer producer.

The group, parent of leading bottle preform moulder Artenius PET Packaging Europe, carried out detailed investigations on the most used additives that would provide PET with the necessary characteristics for its use in the automotive sector.

The PET group has applied for an international patent for its new automotive polymer which will be produced at La Seda's El Prat de Llobregat plant in Barcelona.

La Seda, which already produces recyclable food and beverage packaging PET polymers, says its innovative PETAUTO product is a contribution to compliance with EU standards which demand that 85% of vehicle components must be made from recyclable material. This requirement is set to rise to 95% from 2015.

PETAUTO is the first of several La Seda projects designed to tackle new and potential markets such as those in construction, optics, cosmetics, renewable energy, aeronautics and pharmaceuticals, the group said.

La Seda is currently ranked number one in Europe and third globally in the PET packaging sector. Its PETAUTO partners, also based in Barcelona, are both global leaders in automotive component manufacture. Family-run Ficosa, with production in Europe, Asia and North and South America, specialises in producing vehicle rear view mirrors, while Zanini, which makes interior, exterior and wheel trim, has plants in Europe, Mexico, Brazil and the US.

La Seda, which is emerging from a financial crisis, saw major restructuring and significant capacity cutbacks since the group revealed heavy losses for 2008. As part of its revised strategy, it has stressed its commitment to the recycled PET business and to introducing new added-value products to the market.

⌠La Seda's strategy includes the development of recyclable plastics that are environmentally respectful (sic). This project is an example of a sustainable economic change based on the company's increase of production capacity, commented group president Jose Luis Morlanes.

He added that the project was ⌠a competitive and innovative initiative as a solution for the current economic crisis.

Meanwhile, Zanini ceo Joan Miguel Torras declared that as a result of the joint project and resulting prototypes, ⌠we may rapidly adjust to the requirements of European standards in terms of CO2 emission reduction in our manufacturing processes as well as higher recyclability percentages for our products.

MRC

March 26 (BusinessWeek) -- LyondellBasell said Thursday it priced a senior note offering at $2.75 billion to support the chemical company's emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The notes will be issued by LBI Escrow Corp., which will merge into subsidiary Lyondell Chemical Co., as part of the Lyondell Chemical's climb out bankruptcy, which is expected to occur around April 30, if its reorganization plan is approved.

The senior notes are made up of $2.25 billion of 8 percent senior secured notes and 375 million euros of 8 percent senior secured notes, both maturing in 2017. The offering is scheduled to close April 8.

The company plans to use proceeds from the offering, which will be put in escrow until its reorganization plan is approved, to repay debt.

LyondellBasell is the world's third-largest independent chemical company and is controlled by billionaire investor and founder of Access Industries, Len Blavatnik. Its products are used in gasoline, plastics, electronics, autos, paints and many other products.

LyondellBasell was formed in 2008, when Basell International Holdings paid $12.7 billion for Houston-based Lyondell Chemical, taking on debt just as oil prices skyrocketed, squeezing profit margins at chemical makers.

As oil prices fell in the second half of 2008, the recession undercut demand for chemical products, leading several affiliates and subsidiaries of Netherlands-based LyondellBasell to file for bankruptcy protection earlier last year.

MRCMRC Reference

LyondellBasell. The share in the Russian market in 2008:
PE - 1.4% (including HDPE - 2.5%, LDPE - 0.3%);
PP - 4.1% (including block-copolymers - 9.5%).

Annual sales growth in Russia, during the recent 5 years:
PE - 27%;
PP - 88%.

The leader in the following polymers processing technologies:

pipe extrusion;

film extrusion;

injection molding.

March 26 (Bloomberg) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., the Hong Kong-listed company known as Sinopec, won a contract to build a $1.7 billion polypropylene plant in western Kazakhstan.

Sinopec agreed to buy and export all the polypropylene produced at the facility, Kazakh Deputy Oil and Gas Minister Aset Magauov told reporters today in Almaty. The Export-Import Bank of China will provide a $1.26 billion loan for the project, he said.

TOO Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries, 51 percent held by the London-traded unit of state-owned KazMunaiGaz National Co., will invest $300 million of its own money, and Kazakhstan will provide a ⌠budget credit of $140 million, Magauov said.

The polypropylene plant will form part of a gas chemicals complex, which will be able to produce 450,000 metric tons of polypropylene and 800,000 tons of polyethylene a year once completed in 2014, according to KazMunaiGaz. LyondellBasell Industries AF SCA, which Kazakhstan had sought as a partner for the project, filed for bankruptcy last April.

David Harpole, a LyondellBasell spokesman in Houston, said March 19 that the company had informed the partners of its withdrawal from the venture.

MRC

March 26 (plastemart) -- Kazakhstan will commence the integrated petrochemical complex project in the Atyrau region on its own. Inability to find partners for the development and indecision n part of LyondellBasell on project participation since January, has compelled to company to start the development on its own. Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries, the project operator, and Sinopec Engineering have recently signed an agreement for the cooperation in the first polypropylene production phase. Production capacity includes 400,000 tpa of low and high density polyethylene, 400,000 tpa of low density linear polyethylene and 400,000 tpa of polypropylene, once completed in 2014.

The TengizChevroil joint venture signed a contract in March last year to supply 6-7 billion cubic meters of gas to this complex per year. The initial cost of the project was US$5.2 bln which later increased as the raw material prices grew. The funding issue had already been solved. The Export-Import Bank of China will provide a US$1.26 bln loan for the project. Kazakhstan Petrochemical Industries, 51% held by the London-traded unit of state-owned KazMunaiGaz National Co., will invest US$300 mln of its own money, and Kazakhstan will provide a ⌠budget credit of US$140 mln.

MRC

March 25 (Rompetrol Petrochemicals) -- Rompetrol Petrochemicals, the petrochemical division of the Rompetrol Group, will increase the capacity of the high density polyethylene installation (HDPE) by more than 70% by March 2011, the total value of the investment being estimated to approximately USD 18 million. Stopped in 1996 due to the lack of raw material, the installation was modernized and restarted in 2007, following a total investment of over USD 14.5 million.

⌠Against the background of the reduction or shutting down of production capacities in Central and Eastern Europe, the company maintains its objective set in 2007 of becoming one of the main suppliers and producers of polymers in the region. The modernization program will allow an increase in the installation capacity - from 60,000 to 100,000 tons/year, a reduction of over 10% in the processing cost, a diversification of the range of products provided, as well as an increase in the operating safety stated Cosmin Cocean, Chief Refining and Petrochemicals Officer, The Rompetrol Group.

The project will be carried out in partnership with Mitsui Chemical (the licensor of the HDPE installation) and Rominserv (the general contractor of the Rompetrol Group) and will have two major stages, the rehabilitation and modernization of the granulation tower in the installation by August and the increase in the processing capacity by the first quarter of next year.

Together with the increase in the production capacity, the company will also expand the range of products it provides with two new types designed for the production of gas transportation pipe/very thin foil and large volume containers.

The low- and high-density polyethylene installations currently have a nominal capacity of 60,000 tons/year and entered between 1996 - 2006 in conservation following the lack of raw material - ethylene. In order to modernize and restart them, as well as to build a liquefied gas sea terminal, Rompetrol Petrochemicals allocated over USD 30 million in 2006 (LDPE) and over USD 14.5 million in 2007 (HDPE).

MRC