News in brief

19 May 2003 00:00  [Source: ICB]

Sasol at the helm

Sasol has signed the joint venture agreement with Iran's National Petrochemical Company (NPC) to own and operate the Olefins 9 complex in Bandar Assaluyeh. The 50:50 joint venture with NPC subsidiary Pars Petrochemical will be called AriaSasol. The complex comprises a 1m tonne/year ethylene cracker and 300 000 tonne/year medium/high density polyethylene plant. Completion of the cracker is planned for the second half of 2004, with the polyethylene plant starting up in late 2005.

DME project plans

Ningxia Petrochemical Industry Group is considering a dimethyl ether (DME) project in Ningxia, China. The plant, to be built in two phases, would convert coal into DME. Phase I will produce 210 000 tonne/ year while Phase II would add capacity of 620 000 tonne/ year. The US Trade and Development Agency has awarded $675 000 to the company to fund preparation work to evaluate and define the project's technical and economic requirements.

BE&K set for EPC

BE&K Engineering will design and manage a furnace rebuild project for Owens Corning composites plant in Jackson, Tennessee, US. The project is due to complete in April 2004. BE&K will provide engineering, procurement and construction management services.

Aker scoops bid

Aker Kvaerner's Chemetics business has won a $30m contract to supply an integrated chlorine dioxide plant for a new greenfield pulp mill in China. The facility will produce about 23 000 tonne/year, and will be the largest of its kind in the world, says Aker Kvaerner. Chemetics will carry out design, equipment manufacturing and project management. Aker Kvaerner is also supplying engineering and equipment for the pulp mill.

SK in PET sale talks

South Korea's SKChemicals is in talks to sell SKGlobal's 10% stake in a joint venture 120 000 tonne/year polyethylene terephthalate bottle-grade chip project in Poland. The firm holds a 60%stake in the $75m project, with the Polish Anwil owning 10%, SKGlobal 10%, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 20%. SKChemicals will consider more than one investor, but if none emerge it may buy the stake itself.

Decisions delayed

Iran's Pars Petrochemical has delayed selecting an engineering, procurement and constructioncontractor for its 645000 tonne/year ethylbenzeneproject in Assaluyeh, Iran. Originally expected in April, a decision will now not be made before the end of May after Pars called for new proposals from the two shortlisted consortia: Daelim Industrial and Chagalesh; Snamprogetti and Sazeh Consultants.

TCG cans project

India's Chatterjee Group (TCG) and Paul Soros Group(PSG) have shelved plans to set up a naphtha-based urea project at Sangur, Punjab, India, because it had become unviable under the state's new urea pricing and subsidy scheme, according to TCG's chairman. Under the joint venture name of Punjab Sangur Fertilisers, the Rupee15bn (E275.8m/$318.1m) project would have produced 490 275 tonne/year of ammonia and 849 810 tonne/year of urea.

NPC to up output

Delegates at the 6th Seminar on Polymer Technology and Sciences in Karaj, Iran, heard Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, president of National Petrochemical (NPC), say that Iran will raise its polymer output from 900 000 tonne/year to 6m tonne/year within the next three years. Over the past four years, 300 research projects have been set up in polymer-related fields, added Nematzadeh.

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