Top Chemical News from ChemNet.

China's Jiangsu Sanmu delays new PA plant startup to early Sep Aug 04,2010

China's Jiangsu Sanmu Group Corporation has deferred startup of its new 50,000 mt/year phthalic anhydride plant to early September, as the company is grappling with a shortage of electricity, a company source confirmed Tuesday. According to the source, Jiangsu Sanmu was to start up the phthalic anhydride plant "either Wednesday or Thursda...>>>

The Shell and PetroChina Takeover of Arrow Energy due to be implemented on August 23 Aug 04,2010

Shell and PetroChina planned to purchase Australia Arrow Energy with $3.45 billion on August 23th. Arrow’s Board of directors brought the acquisition plan into effect by vote in early July while Federal Court of Australia approved the plan on July 29th. Shell said it was satisfied with all trade clauses. >>>

China: China's Wanhua takes over Hungarian BorsodChem Aug 04,2010

The complete merger of China's Wanhua Industrial group with the Hungarian PVC and chemicals company BorsodChem is rapidly becoming a reality as minority shareholder Wanhua prepares to buy out BorsodChem’s current owners. The move, agreed by both firms, will give the Chinese industrial group a 100% stake in Kazincbarcika-based BorsodChem and c...>>>

German: Dow Reviewing Thai Investments Aug 04,2010

SCHWALBACH, Germany -- Dow Chemical is considering investing up to US$150 million more to integrate downstream products into its petrochemical production in Thailand now that the US-based chemical giant sees some light at the end of the tunnel in getting its suspended project to proceed. Gerard van Harten, vice-president for manufacturing an...>>>

Japan: Nippon Shokubai's MEG Facility at Ukishima to Restart on August 5th Aug 04,2010

Nippon Shokubai’s 105kt/y MEG facility located at Ukishima would resume production on August 5th as schedule after two-week maintenance. Besides, its 105kt/y MEG facility in Chidori was planned to shut down for one-month maintenance from August 16th. Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd. (Nippon Shokubai) is a leading chemical company and Japan's ...>>>

UK-listed EnQuest to buy Canada's Stratic for $132 million Aug 04,2010

Recently listed North Sea upstream company EnQuest has agreed to buy Canadian-based producer Stratic Energy for a total of C$135 million ($132 million) in a stock-and-debt deal, boosting its reserves in the North Sea, EnQuest said Tuesday. EnQuest was only created in March and brought together the North Sea assets of Sweden's Lundin P...>>>

Australia's Nexus denies Shell takeover talk after share surge Aug 04,2010

Australian junior oil and gas producer and explorer Nexus Energy on Tuesday denied reports of a potential A$480 million ($437 million) takeover offer from global major Royal Dutch Shell that sent its share price soaring. "Nexus advises that it has not been approached by any party nor is in discussions with any parties in respect of a t...>>>

Britain: BP delays Macondo injectivity test to Tuesday on leak Aug 04,2010

BP said late Monday it would delay until Tuesday injectivity testing on its blown-out Macondo well in the US Gulf of Mexico due to a small hydraulic leak found in the capping stack hydraulic control system. The test was expected to start Monday, ahead of plans to start a static kill operation on Tuesday. "During final prepara...>>>

German-Czech GATRAC introduces day-ahead gas capacity booking Aug 04,2010

GATRAC, a cross-border partnership of the Czech gas transmission system operator NET4GAS and Germany's ONTRAS-VNG Gastransport, said Tuesday it planned to introduce the possibility to book day-ahead capacity. At the same time, the company has improved the technology of its trading platform to simplify the booking process. Th...>>>

South Korea's Posco tenders to buy late-September LNG cargo Aug 04,2010

South Korea's largest steelmaker Posco has tendered to buy a spot LNG cargo for delivery in late September to its Gwangyang LNG import terminal, several market sources said Tuesday. Posco is building a third storage tank, with a capacity of 165,000 cubic meters, at Gwangyang, on the south-central coast of the country. The tan...>>>

September NYMEX gas tumbles after bumping up against $5/MMBtu Aug 04,2010

The September NYMEX natural gas futures contract tumbled Monday to settle at $4.701/MMBtu after a solid week of gains last week. Enerjay broker Jay Levine said the market had a good run but hit resistance at $5/MMBtu. "That's as good a reason as any," he said. "Easy come, easy go." PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn said he thinks th...>>>

China: Sinopec Ji'nan Refinery sets Aug crude oil throughput target stable at 380,000mt Aug 04,2010

Sinopec Ji'nan Refinery is slated to refine 380,000mt of crude oil in August, flat with the previous month, a source with the refinery said. Ji'nan Refinery, located in Ji'nan City of Shandong Province, has a topping capacity of 6.4-mil mt per year. It plans to expand processing capacity of a 1.4-mil-mt/yr crude distillate unit, which has been...>>>

China: PetroChina Daqing Petchem to refine 7% more crude oil daily in Aug Aug 04,2010

PetroChina Daqing Petrochemical is scheduled to process 560,000mt of crude oil in August, with daily throughput 7% higher than the previous month, according to a refinery source. The refinery set higher crude oil throughput target for August, because nearby PetroChina Daqing Refining & Chemical would be in turnaround in the whole month, the so...>>>

China: Weifang Hongrun negotiating with state oil giant on acquisition: market sources Aug 04,2010

Weifang Hongrun Petrochemical Auxiliary Co Ltd, China's third largest independent refinery by capacity, was negotiating with a state-run oil giant headquartered in Beijing on acquisition, a source close to the issue told C1 Tuesday. The potential buyer was one of the top four oil companies in China, according to a fuel oil importer based in Sh...>>>

Spot NWE benzene prices gain $10/mt as buyers return to market Aug 04,2010

Spot Northwest European benzene prices gained around $10/mt as the market traded upwards with buyers returning to the spot market Tuesday morning. The September market was heard traded twice at $935/mt and $945/mt for 1,000 mt CIF ARA barges, with Vitol and Mitsui confirmed as the buyers. There were also unconfirmed reports o...>>>

US styrene price climbs following jump in European price Aug 04,2010

US styrene sellers were notionally offering between 49 and 50 cents/lb, following a $50 jump in European styrene prices. The numbers remained notional because most producers were reported sold out of material for August. "If there was anything out there, it would have to be priced above 49 cents," one producer said. Buyers, th...>>>

Europe: EU confirms raids on polyurethane foam makers Aug 05,2010

Brussels - The European Union's executive on Tuesday confirmed that it has raided the premises of a number of makers of polyurethane foam, suspecting them of running an illegal cartel. EU rules prohibit price-fixing and other market manipulation. The European Commission has a long record of breaking up cartels, issuing fines worth billions o...>>>

America: Dow Reports Second Quarter Results Aug 05,2010

Dow reported earnings of $0.50 per share, or $0.54 per share excluding certain items.(2) This compares with a reported loss of $0.47 per share in the second quarter of 2009, or earnings of $0.05 per share excluding certain ite...>>>

German: BASF Coatings agrees to international cooperation with Audatex Aug 05,2010

Münster. BASF Coatings GmbH in Münster, Germany, and the Audatex GmbH in Stansstad, Switzerland, have agreed to comprehensive international cooperation. As part of the Solera Group, Audatex is a top solutions provider for the processing of collision damage and an established partner of insurance companies, bodyshops, carmakers and automotive expert...>>>

BayOne Urethane Systems Develops Renewable Resource HR Flexible Foam for Molding Applications Aug 05,2010

Recognizing market interest in products containing renewable resource content, BayOne Urethane Systems LLC, a joint venture between Bayer MaterialScience LLC and PolyOne, has followed up on its successful Bayfit® 500 flexible foam with the introduction of Bayfit® natural oil polyol (NOP) 633 High-Resiliency Moldable Flexible Foam made with ...>>>