Industry: Specialty polymers

Dow commercializes first plant For VERSIFY® plastomers & elastomers The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) announced the successful start-up of the first commercial plant for its new family of specialty propylene-ethylene copolymers, VERSIFY® Plastomers and Elastomers, in Tarragona, Spain. According to the company, the Versify product range combines Dow’s strength in catalyst and process technology as […]

ExxonMobil & Fujian Petrochemical to construct chemical complex Fujian Petrochemical Company Limited (a company owned 50 percent by China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and 50 percent by Fujian Government) (FPCL), ExxonMobil China Petroleum and Petrochemical Company Limited (ExxonMobil), and Aramco Overseas Company B.V. (Saudi Aramco) reached agreement to jointly fund the front end loading […]

ExxonMobil & Fujian Petrochemical to construct chemical complex Fujian Petrochemical Company Limited (a company owned 50 percent by China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and 50 percent by Fujian Government) (FPCL), ExxonMobil China Petroleum and Petrochemical Company Limited (ExxonMobil), and Aramco Overseas Company B.V. (Saudi Aramco) reached an agreement to jointly fund the front end […]

Russian polyolefins producer Lukoil is rumored to be the potential suitor for Basell Polyolefins Russian polyolefins producer Lukoil could bid for Basell. Shell and BASF announced their plans to review strategic options regarding their 50-50 joint venture, Basell. Rumors are that Lukoil was understood to have expressed an interest in Basell. It was also reported […]

BASF and Shell review strategic options regarding their joint venture Basell BASF and Shell announced their plans to review strategic alternatives regarding their joint venture Basell, in which they both hold a 50 percent equity interest. The options being reviewed by the shareholders include the sale of their stakes and an equity market transaction. During […]

Borealis to debottleneck PP plant & expand ethylene capacity in Norway Borealis announced its plans to debottleneck its PP plant at Rønningen. The company will also expand its Noretyl ethylene cracker capacity by 100,000 MT/year at its joint venture with Hydro Polymers. The two Norwegian projects will be completed in the autumn of 2005. The […]

Kazanorgsintez to triple PE capacity & add product capability using Univation’s capacity expansion technology Univation Technologies and Kazanorgsintez have signed an agreement enabling Kazanorgsintez to triple the capacity of two of its three existing UNIPOL™PE reactors and add breakthrough PE products to its manufacturing capabilities. The agreement will increase the two existing UNIPOL PE lines […]

Westlake Chemical Corporation files registration statement for Initial Public Offering Westlake Chemical Corporation announced that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been […]

BP to sell over 50% of petrochemicals business and prepares for IPO BP announced that it plans to consolidate the Olefins and Derivatives (O&D) division of its petrochemicals business into a stand-alone entity able to operate separately from the BP Group. The new O&D business will incorporate more than half of the $13 billion of […]

ExxonMobil develops new PP resin grades in Europe ExxonMobil Chemical announced the availability of an advanced polypropylene resin grade – ExxonMobil PP5122E1-designed to provide the high transparency and stiffness required for demanding sheet and thermoforming applications. ExxonMobil PP5122E1, available only in Europe, is a clarified polypropylene using proprietary ExxonMobil Chemical formulation processes. ExxonMobil PP5122E1 resin […]

Basell’s PE process technology licensing activity on the rise Basell announced that Salavatnefteorgsintez, a Russian petrochemical company controlled by Gazprom, has signed a licensing agreement to use Basell’s Hostalen technology for a new 120,000 MT/year high-density polyethylene plant at Salavat, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia. The plant is scheduled to be completed in 2006. In a […]

Major polyolefins producers Dow, ExxonMobil, Nova, and DuPont report earnings Dow Chemical Dow Chemical Company reported fourth-quarter sales of $8.3 billion, up 20% from fourth-quarter 2002 sales of $7.0 billion, with a 12% increase in price and an 8% increase in volume. Net income rose to $929 million, compared with a loss of $809 million […]