Colombia Building 100 ktpa Biodiesel Plant

Colombia biofuels supplier, Ecodiesel is planning to build a massive 100,000 tonne/year capacity biodiesel plant in Barrancabermeja, Colombia with cost of investment to be in the range of $23m to start construction in February 2009.

The plant will use palm oil feedstock using Brazilian engineering technology Dedini A Industrias de Base. Upon completion, Colombia will be Latin America’s second largest biofuels producer after Brazil.

50% stake in Ecodiesel is partly owned by Colombian palm and vegetable oil manufacturers namely Extractora Central, Palmas Oleaginosas Bucarelia, Extractora Monterrey, Oleaginosas Las Brisas, Palmeras de Puerto Wilches and Palmas del Cesar y Agroince.

Algeria to Start Ammonia Plant

Fertiberia, a Spanish fertilizer producer is in the midst of selecting a contractor to build an ammonia plant in Algeria with a capacity to produce 1.2m tonnes/year of ammonia with due completion in 2011. Fertiberia has already entered Algeria market with collaboration with Fertial, an Algerian ammonia producer with 650,000 tonnes per annum of ammonia at Annaba and Arzew. The facility will utilised Sonatrach gas as a supply feedstock to the plant.

ABS Plant in Al-Jubail by Saudi Petrokemya

SABIC affiliate Arabian Petrochemical Co (Petrokemya) is on its way to build an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) petrochemical plant with a capacity of 200 ktpa at Al-Jubail complex.

This come quick after SABIC Innovative Plastics, formerly the US' GE Plastics, which SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corp) acquired last year. The ex-GE Plastics is also providing process technology for the plant.

Lanxess Investing in Butyl Rubber Plant in Singapore

Over €400 million investment has been put aside by Lanxess, the largest investment so far by the company in Jurong Island, Singapore. The plan is taking advantage of strong demand growth in Asia. Lanxess is the world’s second largest butyl rubber producer which total capacity will be 380,000 tonnes/year in early 2011 after the completion of the project. The Jurong Butyl Rubber chemical plant will have a capacity of 100,000 tonnes.

With MTBE being banned in many countries, isobutylene, main feedstock for butyl rubber is well sought after and global demand for butyl rubber is standing at 900,000 tonnes/year and butyl rubber is in very short supply.

The facility will also produce synthetic rubbers such as butyl and bromobutyl rubber, which are used in the production of tyres. The unit will use Raffinate-1 from Shell Eastern Petroleum butadiene extraction unit to Lanxess, which will take isobutene (isobutylene) for its rubber production.
Lanxess ambitious plan will also be looking at increasing the isoprene content of its butyl rubber for the tyre application, subsequently allowing it to open up new applications in China and India. The plan also includes expansion at its Sarnia, Canada, boosting its capacity to 150,000 tonnes/year. Lanxess also operates another 130,000 tonne/year butyl rubber unit in Zwijndrecht, Belgium.

$448 million China Methanol Plant to be Built by Hulunbuir

China, the most booming country in the world is planning to have yet another Methanol Plant by Huaneng Group subsidiary Hulunbuir Energy Development Co for a$448 million methanol plant in Manzhouli city, Inner Mongolia with a 600,000 tonne/year capacity methanol plant.

The facility will be using coal to produce methanol instead of natural gas. China is popular for its abundant cheap source of coal.

300ktpa PET Plant in Russia

A joint-venture between Russia's AK Bars Bank and South Korea's KP Chemical has been set-up to build a new 300 thousand tonnes/year capacity polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Tatarstan, in central Russia. The PET production facility will be built in the special economic zone of Alabuga with investment cost of $149m.

The technology licensors under consideration includes Switzerland's Buhler and Uhde Inventa Fischer and Lurgi Zimmer.

Melamine Plant Joint Venture in China by DSM and Fengxi

Fengxi Fertilizer, a China-based chemicals and fertilizer producer is setting up a joint venture with DSM to set up a melamine plant in the Shanxi province, China with major shareholder being Fengxi Group at 51% equity share. The investment cost is estimated at $14m.

The melamine plant will produce 52,000 tonnes/year of melamine in 2008, to be marketed under the brand name MelaminebyDSM to both the domestic and overseas markets.