Petrochemicals
LSB shuts Arkansas chemical plant after explosion
LSB Industries said its El Dorado chemical facility in Arkansas suffered significant damage to the DSN concentrated nitric acid plant and surrounding equipment when a reactor exploded Tuesday morning. The El Dorado facility is out of operation at the present time due to the damage.
Tronox, US to face off against Anadarko in $25bn environmental lawsuit
Creditors of Tronox joined by the US government are poised to square off with Anadarko Petroleum and former Tronox parent Kerr-McGee in a $25 billion environmental lawsuit that seeks to assign blame for the chemical company's "toxic past." Tronox, which makes TiO2, filed for Chapter 11 in early 2009.
Nalco to build dry polymer plant at Louisiana facility
Nalco announced the construction of a new dry polymer production facility at the company’s complex in Garyville, La. Construction of the facility is expected to be completed in December 2012. The plant is expected add 22 full-time positions to the company’s current Garyville workforce of 235 employees.
NOVA to sell North American styrenics unit to PFB
PFB Corp. has agreed to acquire performance styrenics business of Canada’s NOVA Chemicals, including the expandable polystyrene (EPS) and ARCEL resin products. PFB says the acquisition will underpin a vertically-integrated, construction-materials focused product offering in the US.
Reliance raises $2bn loan for India petrochemical expansion projects
Reliance Industries has signed a $2 billion-equivalent loan with nine banks covered by German credit insurance provider Euler Hermes. This deal will help diversify the company’s funding sources and extends the maturity profile of its long term debt in a cost-effective manner, Reliance said.
Westlake Chemical restarts VCM plant in Louisiana following March fire
Westlake Chemical said Wednesday that the vinyl chloride monomer unit at its complex in Geismar, Louisiana, has been safely repaired and restarted. The company added that it is working with customers and suppliers to mitigate the impact of the outage and to meet their needs.
HB Fuller to sell Latin American paints business
H.B. Fuller has signed an agreement to sell its Central American paints business to Colombia's Pintuco, a company of Grupo Mundial. "Our strategic vision is to be the best adhesives company in the world, and the paints business is not, therefore, core to our strategic plan," said CEO Jim Owens.
Evonik selects Jacobs for engineering work on new polyamide 12 plant in Asia
Jacobs Engineering Group was awarded a contract from Germany's Evonik to provide basic engineering services for a grassroots polyamide 12 production facility in Asia. Jacobs says it has been working closely with Evonik's project team in to develop the conceptual design for the new plant.
Eastman finishes retrofit, startup of newly-acquired plasticizer plant in Texas
Eastman Chemical has completed the retrofit and startup of its non-phthalate plasticizer manufacturing facility in Texas City, Texas. Eastman, which purchased the former Sterling Chemicals plant in mid-2011, said further capacity additions were possible with minimal investment.
BASF to build formic acid plant at Louisiana facility
BASF announced Friday that it will build a new production plant for formic acid at its integrated Verbund site in Geismar, Louisiana. The new 50,000 tpy plant is expected to start up in the second quarter of 2014. Investment terms for the project were not disclosed.
- Hunt Refining's Tuscaloosa refinery (U.S.) expedites maintenance, repairs on fire-damaged coker unit 5/23
- SIBUR-Sinopec's Amur GCC expects to produce first polyethylene in Q3 2026 5/23
- Phillips 66's Los Angeles (U.S.) refinery layoffs to begin in December, sources say 5/23
- Nigeria's Dangote refinery agrees to export polypropylene with Vinmar 5/23
- ExxonMobil Joliet refinery (U.S.) running unit at reduced rate 5/23
- Suncor reports flare replacement project at the Montreal refinery in coming weeks 5/23
