By Malini Hariharan India trails far behind China in the polyester business but there is growing interest in new investments that also extends upstream to purified terephthalic acid (PTA). The latest entrant to the projects listing is Thai major Indorama Ventures which has signed an MoU with Indorama Synthetics (India) for an integrated PTA, polyester […]
Asian Chemical Connections
IOC Defers PX/PTA, Proceeds With Acetic Acid, Butene-1
By Malini Hariharan The blog continues with a review of Indian projects. State-owned refinery major Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has deferred its paraxylene (PX) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) projects at Vadodara in Gujarat state, to post 2015. “The project is on hold because of commercial issues; we are looking at the total PX/PTA picture […]
Hits And Misses For Indian Projects
By Malini Hariharan The Indian project scene continues to see some hits and misses. Among the projects on track, sources at Gail (India) told the blog last week that expansion of its Pata cracker and a new polyethylene (PE) plant will be completed in Q1 2014. Mechanical completion is due in December 2013,, while commissioning […]
China coal-based MEG moves ahead
By Malini Hariharan China’s second coal-based monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant is due to start in the second half of 2012, reports ICIS news. The plant, located in Hebi, Henan province, will have a capacity of 250,000 tonnes/year and will be operated by Wuhan Engineering, Haiso Technology, and Hebi Baoma Group. The three companies successfully tested […]
Middle East looks overseas for growth
By Malini Hariharan The US shale gas buzz is now drawing Middle East companies with Sabic’s CEO revealing yesterday that the company is considering investing in a US cracker. Sabic would pursue the US cracker on its own or with a partner, reports ICIS news. A shortage of ethane in Saudi Arabia means Sabic has […]
US shale gas buzz in the Middle East
By Malini Hariharan The US shale gas advantage is a recurring theme at this year’s GPCA forum with companies giving more details about their expansion plans. Chevron Philips Chemical confirmed that it will build a 1.5m tonnes/year cracker at its Cedar Bayou complex in Texas, reports ICIS news Permits for the project are being filed, […]
BP and Indian Oil plan acetic acid jv
By Malini Hariharan Indian Oil Corp (IOC) is looking to set up a second joint venture in petrochemicals, this time with BP for production of acetic acid. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the feasibility of a 1m tonnes/year plant in Gujarat state, on the west coast of India. […]
PTT Global’s latest buy and Siam Cement’s Indonesia plan
By Malini Hariharan There have been no headline-grabbing deals but bit by bit PTT Global Chemical is extending its business beyond Asia and entering new product areas. Yesterday, PTT Global announced plans for a joint venture with Perstorp Holding France in toluene diisocyanate (TDI), aliphatic isocynates such as hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) and derivatives. PTT Global […]
India to export more benzene
By Malini Hariharan Indian exports of benzene are set to rise over the next few years as new plants start up. “India will remain in a net surplus position over the next five years and exports will continue, with [benzene] from western India moving to the Middle East, the US and Europe, and benzene from […]
Polyester still booming
By Malini Hariharan The blog has been listening to some interesting presentations on the polyester chain at the Indian Petrochem – 2011 conference in Mumbai. The global economic slowdown does not appear to have dampened prospects for polyester demand. “Demand for polyester grew by 5.6m tonnes last year which was atypical; we all thought that […]
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