Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 11 May:

Formosa Plastics picks process tech for US PE, PP units in Texas
Formosa Plastics Corp USA has chosen the process technologies that it will use in the polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) plants it is building in Point Comfort, Texas, the company said on Monday.

NPE ’18: Mexico’s Pemex to have more ethane for its PE plants
Mexico’s Pemex expects to increase production of polyethylene (PE) this month with availability of additional ethane volumes during the stoppage of Braskem Idesa plant, scheduled to start in mid-May, a company source said on Tuesday on the sidelines of this year’s National Plastics Exposition (NPE).

NPE ’18: Shell’s US Pennsylvania petrochemical project under construction
Shell Chemical is continuing construction at its greenfield petrochemical investment in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, said Michaell Marr, business integration lead, on the sidelines of the National Plastics Exposition (NPE) on Tuesday. The site was graded at the end of last year, and vertical foundations for the cracker facility are currently being put into place, Marr said.

US ACC sets goals to recycle, recover all plastic packaging by 2040
The American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Plastics Division has established three goals for the recycling and recovering of all plastic packaging in the US by 2040, the industry group said on Wednesday.

NPE ’18: Sustainability, circular economy persist as trends for plastics
Sustainability will continue to be a trend driving the plastic packaging industry, with recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET) at the forefront of the circular economy effort, delegates said at this year’s National Plastics Exposition (NPE).

Braskem selects lead mechanical subcontractor for new US PP line in La Porte
US-based Bilfinger Westcon will be the lead mechanical subcontractor for Braskem’s new 450,000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP) line in La Porte, Texas, the Brazil-headquartered producer announced on Thursday.

Proposed Chinese tariffs on propane may boost US PP – Braskem
China’s proposal to impose retaliatory tariffs on US exports of propane could increase US margins of polypropylene (PP), the head of Braskem said on Thursday.

US ethylene spot prices slump amid long supply, leading to unit shutdown
US ethylene spot prices slumped this week on the back of long supply and soft sentiment, causing a unit to be shut down due to poor margins.