Foster Wheeler USA Wins Coker Contract for BP Whiting Refinery in U.S.

Foster Wheeler Ltd. announced today that its subsidiary Foster Wheeler USA Corporation, part of its Global Engineering and Construction Group, has been awarded contracts by BP Products North America for the engineering, procurement and fabrication of a 102,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) six-drum delayed coking unit and gas plant facilities at BP’s Whiting refinery in Indiana, U.S.

Borealis and Uponor launch first water footprint initiative in the plastics industry

Thursday, Aug 21, 2008
Borealis, a leading provider of innovative value creating plastic solutions and Uponor, a leading supplier of plumbing and heating systems, have announced at the World Water Week in Stockholm a joint initiative to pilot for the first time the concept of water footprint to the manufacturing of a plastic application.

LyondellBasell Starts up New PP Compounding Plant in Mexico

LyondellBasell Industries has announced the start-up of a new polypropylene (PP) compounding facility in Altamira, Mexico, with a nominal capacity of 30 KT per year. The company is the leading global producer of PP compounded products and supplies the automotive, appliance, electrical and electronics sectors.

Dow Publishes its 2007 Report to Stockholders

In his annual letter to shareholders, Andrew Liveris, chief executive officer and chairman of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW ), summed up 2007 as a significant year for Dow …a year in which the organization demonstrated it has the right strategy, right people and right products to succeed in today’s marketplace.

“In a year of increasing uncertainty in the U.S. economy and continued increases in the costs of feedstocks and energy, our Company posted solid financial results. Perhaps more important, however, we took meaningful strides to establish Dow as an earnings-growth company,” said Liveris.

ExxonMobil Chemicals specialty elastomers improve flexibility ease processing of wire and cable compounds

ExxonMobil Chemical will present its broad portfolio of specialty elastomers for wire and cable applications at Chinaplas 2008 Hall W2 W2B31. Vistalon™ EPDM* rubber, Exact™ plastomers and Santoprene™ thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPVs) can improve flexibility in polyolefin-based compositions. In addition, these specialty elastomers are cost competitive and all are available in pellet form for easier processing. They are all compliant with the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directives, and a wide range of the grades are Underwriters Laboratories (UL) approved

Dow cutting EG production at Terneuzen

The Dow Chemical Co. said Tuesday that it will transition to ethylene oxide (EO)-only production at its EO/EG plant in Terneuzen, The Netherlands, shutting down production of ethylene glycol (EG) at the site before the end of 2008. In 2009, Dow will implement an efficiency improvement project that will enable a 22 percent increase in purified EO production capacity and significantly reduce emissions at the plant.

Borealis Company Information

Borealis at a glance

Delivering innovative, value creating plastics solutions

With more than 40 years of experience in polyolefins and using our unique Borstar® technology, we focus on providing plastic materials to the infrastructure, automotive and advanced packaging markets across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Our production facilities, innovation centres and service centres work with customers in more than 120 countries to provide materials that make an essential contribution to society and sustainable development. We are committed to the principles of Responsible Care® and to leading the way in Shaping the Future with Plastics™.

Our polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) products continue to enhance society and address challenges such as providing clean drinking water and sanitation to millions of people around the globe and safe, light, energy-saving components for cars and aeroplanes. We live by our values of Responsible, Respect, Exceed and Nimblicity™ – a value we created as an expression of what makes us different.

From simple everyday products that make life easier to step-changing technological developments, we are leading the way and Shaping the Future with Plastics. 

Feedstocks and olefins

As an integrated polyolefins company, Borealis ensures a secure, cost-efficient supply of hydrocarbon feedstocks for our crackers, and olefins for our PE and PP plants.

Borealis purchases basic feedstocks from the oil and gas industries and converts these into ethylene and propylene through its olefin units. These feedstocks include:

• Naphtha
• Butane
• Propane
• Ethane

Our steam crackers in Finland, Sweden, and Abu Dhabi (joint venture with ADNOC) produce both ethylene and propylene, while propylene is also produced in a propane dehydrogenation plant in Belgium. The balance of our olefin needs is sourced primarily from one of our owners, OMV. We also sell a variety of co-products from the cracking process.

Innovation

Innovation plays a central role in Borealis’ strategy of creating and delivering value to customers. Borealis’ polymer research and product development focuses on high-performance, cost-effective, differentiated polymers. Approximately 10% of our workforce makes up our technology organisation at three Innovation Centres in Austria, Finland and Sweden, which act to minimise the time to market for new products.

Approximately 30% percent of Borealis’ research and development budget is dedicated to reaching far beyond the customers’ current challenges to tomorrow’s solutions. Borstar technology is revolutionising the scope of plastics solutions possible today and in the future.

Energya Plastics

Energya Plastics, a company of Energya Plastics division, was founded in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the purpose of providing quality plastic products needed by the different divisions in the Energya Industries Company. Energya Plastics produces high quality PVC, XLPE, and Master Batch .

Shell to Make Hydrowax Investment at Dutch Facility

Today in Petrochemical News we feature a press release from Shell about investing in their dutch refinery and complex facility.  For full details please read on: Shell to Make Hydrowax Investment at Dutch Facility

Shell Nederland Chemie B.V. on Monday said it is making a significant investment to strengthen the integration of the Pernis-Moerdijk refinery and chemicals complex in The Netherlands. The investment forms part of an ongoing program to secure the long-term potential and competitiveness of Shell chemical assets in Western Europe and will concentrate on supplying hydrowax from the Pernis refinery, and other Shell chemical refineries in Europe, to Moerdijk to create an advantaged feedstock position.   The project will focus on the modification of a number of furnaces at Moerdijk to crack hydrowax and modifications to the associated logistics infrastructure at Pernis and Moerdijk. Hydrowax, a by-product from refining hydrocrackers is available from the Pernis refinery and can offer significant economic advantages compared to conventional ethylene feedstocks. The project is expected to be complete and onstream during the first quarter of 2009.   Graham van’t Hoff, VP Base Chemicals Europe, said: “The investment announced today is key to ensuring Pernis-Moerdijk maintains its position as one of the most competitive petrochemical complexes in Europe. By securing advantaged feedstock we maximize the oil chemicals advantage between the two sites and pave the way for further integration. It’s about taking a long-term view and being proactive in providing the best possible platform for business sustainability.”   Monday’s announcement is the latest in a broader program for Shell chemicals companies in Europe designed to boost the integrity and efficiency of derivative production units and build capacity additions. The program includes an expansion of the Pernis IPA (isopropyl alcohol) plant, reinforcing Shell’s leading global position in IPA and a recently announced investment to increase flexible polyol capacity at Pernis to meet growing demand for slabstock foam, CASE (coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers) and molding applications.   Shell Chemicals manufacture and deliver petrochemical building blocks to industrial customers. These products are widely used in plastics, coatings and detergents.

Saudi Firm Completes GE Plastics Acquisition

Saudi Firm Completes GE Plastics Acquisition

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) on Friday announced the completion of its purchase of GE Plastics from General Electric for a purchase price of US$11.6 billion. The announcement was made by SABIC Chairman, HH Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thenayan Al-Saud.   The former GE unit is now SABIC Innovative Plastics, a new business addition to SABIC that will focus on the global growth of thermoplastics and engineering plastics through innovation to serve the automotive, electronics, healthcare, and construction sectors. Brian Gladden has been appointed CEO of SABIC Innovative Plastics.   “We are very pleased to confirm the completion of this acquisition,” said Prince Saud. “This acquisition will significantly broaden SABIC’s plastics product portfolio and provide access to new global markets. The people, products and technologies of SABIC Innovative Plastics bring a legacy of material innovation and expertise that I believe will enable SABIC to further strengthen and grow its position as a world-class leader in the plastics industry. We will maintain our commitment to the people, communities and facilities that have contributed to this world-class organization.”   Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO, added, “We were able to secure the required financing due to recognition of SABIC in the global financial and capital markets, sound business profile of SABIC Innovative Plastics and its world-class diversified product portfolio. Hence, we successfully completed the deal on time, despite the prevailing turbulence in the global credit markets. This acquisition will further enhance SABIC’s position amongst the leading global companies. Our global manufacturing capabilities will be further expanded to include significant additional plants and compounding operations in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific regions.   “SABIC Innovative Plastics is another strategically important step in our global growth and ongoing commitment to serve our customers–both in terms of geography and in meeting their needs for innovative plastics solutions and products that deliver outstanding value.”   Following earlier acquisitions of DSM and Huntsman’s petrochemicals businesses in Europe, SABIC now has more than 30,000 employees. The company has an expanded global network of manufacturing facilities, Research & Technology centers and sales offices. With a presence in more than 100 countries, SABIC is well-positioned to meet the needs of its global customers.   SABIC Innovative Plastics is a global supplier of plastic resins and compounds widely used in automotive, healthcare, consumer electronics, transportation, performance packaging, building and construction, telecommunications and optical media applications. The company manufactures and compounds polycarbonate, ABS, ASA, PPE, PC/ABS, PBT and PEI resins, as well as the LNP line of high-performance specialty compounds, under such well known brand names as Lexan, Cycolac, Geloy, Noryl, Cycoloy, Valox and Ultem.   The Specialty Film and Sheet division of SABIC Innovative Plastics manufactures high-performance Lexan sheet and film products used in thousands of demanding applications worldwide. The dedicated automotive organization is an experienced, worldwide supplier, offering leading plastics solutions for five key automotive segments: body panels and glazing; under the hood applications; component; structures and interiors; and lighting.