Plant Closure

Samsung Total Petrochemicals Co. has completed construction of its polypropylene plant in Dongguan, China. The plant can produce 28,000 tons of polypropylene/year, used mainly in making auto parts and electronic components.

Sulfuric Acid Plant Contract

China Energy Recovery, Inc. has won a new EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract to construct a sulfuric acid plant with a built-in waste heat recovery system for Tianjin Qinfa Chemical. The total contract value is approximately $4.47 million. The new plant will be designed to produce 200,000 tons of sulfuric acid annually and generate 29 tons of steam/hour from waste heat energy capture during production. Part of the steam will be used to generate electricity and the rest will be used directly.

Restructuring

BASF is restructuring its production of polyamide 6 in Europe. The production will be bundled at BASF’s two Verbund sites in Antwerp, Belgium, and Ludwigshafen, Germany. The production of polyamide 6 at Rudolstadt, Germany will be discontinued at the end of 2010. This change will result in the loss of 58 positions in Germany. BASF will continue to operate a compounding plant for the production of engineering plastics in Rudolstadt. In Ludwigshafen, production will focus on higher margin products, which will result in the optimization of production processes and reduce production capacity, eliminating 19 positions. The affected employees will be offered other positions at the site.

Facility Closure

Huntsman Corp. has completed an internal review of the styrenics operations owned by Huntsman Chemical Company Australia Pty Ltd. The company has decided to close the facility in West Footscray, Australia. Products produced at the site represent less than two percent of Huntsman’s 2008 global sales. The company expects to stop operation of the styrene plant at the end of 2009 and then close its polystyrene and expandable polystyrene plants in early 2010.

New Plant

Total is building a plant for its brand Bostik, an adhesives and sealants manufacturer, in Corlu, Turkey. Turkey will become a production base in the region for Bostik in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The company’s operations will shift to Turkey from France and Germany after the plant is completed in 2011.

Expansion

Ecolab Inc. has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government to expand its presence in China by establishing a China holding company/regional headquarters in Shanghai. Ecolab committed to making incremental investments of $30 million in China, with additional investments to follow as the business expands. The expansion will include additional manufacturing, research and development projects and technology platform upgrades.