International Converting Industry News
- Published: June 01, 1996
Covering the Full Spectrum of International Industry News, Events & Activities
Supplier News
Joint Venture to Build First PE Plant for the Philippines
LONDON—The Bataan Polyethylene Corp.'s joint venture to construct the Philippines' first PE plant was inaugurated at the end of January, according to BP Chemicals Ltd.
The partners in the joint venture were Bataan Polyethylene Holding Corp. with a 50% share; BP Chemicals with 30%; Philippines National Oil Co./Petrochemical Development Cor-Corp. with 10%; and Sumitomo of Japan with 10%.
The Bataan Polyethylene Corp. has been formed to pursue the development of the next phase of the petrochemical industry in the Philippines, primarily the construction of a PE plant at PPDC's petrochemical site in Limay, Bataan.
The proposed plant will have a capacity of 200,000 tons/yr and will use BP Chemicals Innovene technology. Foster Wheeler, UK, will be carrying out engineering design work. The plant is scheduled to be in production in 1998.
An agreement has also been signed among PPDC, Petron (a refining and marketing joint venture), Petrocorp (Petroleum Corp. of Asia Pacific), the Bataan Polyethylene Corp, and BP to conduct a feasibility study for the Philippines' first naptha cracker to be built in Bataan in support of Petrocorp's upcoming polypropylene plant and the Bataan's PE plant.
Simon-Carves Ltd., a member of the Simon Group UK, has won a contract worth £2.3 million from Hyundai Petrochemical Co. Ltd. for the provision of engineering design and procurement services for a plant to produce 80,000 tpa of LDPE and ethylene vinyl acetate.
The facility will use the technology of Exxon Chemical Co., US, and be located on Hyundai's existing petrochemical complex at Daesan, Korea. Hyundai Petrochemical is part of the Hyundai Group, known for cars and shipbuilding.
In November 1995 Simon-Carves Ltd. won a contract worth more than [pound]1.5 million from Hyundai Petrochemical Co. Ltd. for the provision of engineering design and procurement services for a 150,000 tpa polyvinyl chloride plant. The facility will be part of a multimillion-pound investment by Hyundai, and it will use the technology of the Geon Co., US.
Dusenbery Reports Largest Single Machine Order in Four Years
Dusenbery reports it largest single machine order in recent years is a custom-built Model 613 surface wind automatic slitter that will convert a variety of papers for the Pfleiderer Mill at Teisnach, Germany.
Pfleiderer Teisnach is a producer of specialty papers such as chlorine- and acid-free tissue in 20-30 g/m2; colored tissue for flower wrapping in 28 g/m2; recycled offset in 50-120 g/m2; greaseproof qualities 35-70 g/m2; and masking paper from 45-120 g/m2.
The Dusenbery machine will handle a range from 20 g/m2 to 35-70 g/m2 in mill rolls weighing up to 3,000 kg. On each slitting cycle, the jumbo roll is accelerated to a speed of 500 m/min.
The slitter's automation is said to greatly reduce unproductive downtime. Other benefits extend to the machine operator. All control functions are carried out on a dual-language Dusenbery touch-screen that can be switched between English and German at the touch of a button.
Clear plastic guards enclose the slitting, autoload, and rewind sections. A safety key interlock only allows access when the machine is at rest.
Mergers
PE Film Manufacturers Announce Joint Venture
Courtaulds PLC, London, has announced an agreement in principle with Hoechst AG, Germany, to form a joint venture for the merging of their respective oriented polypropylene film businesses in Europe.
The interests covered by the agreement comprise Courtaulds OPP film operations at Swindon, U.K., and Mantes-la-Ville, near Paris, France; and Hoechst's OPP film operation at Neukirchen, Germany. The combined turnover of the two businesses for the current calendar year is projected to be about £265 million, of which Courtaulds' share is £105 million. Under the agreement, Hoechst will be the majority shareholder.
The combined capacity of Courtaulds' and Hoechsts' OPP plants will be about 120,000 tons, the majority of which is sold for food packaging.
Gordon Campbell, Courtaulds deputy chief executive/operations, reports, "This merger will combine two excellent businesses with complementary products and geographic coverage. It will strengthen their capabilities in the fast-growing but highly competitive sector to the benefit of both customers and employees."
