The nation's fast-growing supply of cheap natural gas is setting off a manufacturing revival that's expected to create hundreds of thousands of jobs as companies build or expand plants to take advantage of the low prices, USA Today recently reported.

Nearly 30 chemical plants proposed in the U.S. in the next five years, according to the American Chemistry Council. The projects would expand U.S. petrochemical capacity by 27% and employ 200,000 workers at the factories and related suppliers, says Council President Cal Dooley. Dooley says this is a major turnaround from the late 1990s when chemical makers moved overseas, laying off 140,000 employees. The U.S. has seen a natural gas boom in recent years, with producers using new drilling techniques to extract fuel from shale formations in Texas, Pennsylvania and other regions. U.S. natural gas prices, at slightly more than $2 per million British thermal units, are about 75% below Western Europe rates.

One plant, Royal Dutch Shell, recently announced that it chose a site near Pittsburgh for a facility to convert ethane from locally produced natural gas into ethylene and polyethylene. They're used to make plastics that go into packaging, pipes and other products. The planned ethane cracker would employ a few hundred workers.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' partner Robert Mc-Cutcheon estimates inexpensive natural gas could help U.S. manufacturers save $11.6 billion a year and create more than 500,000 jobs by 2025. Among industries affected:

•Chemical. Dow Chemical plans to spend $4 billion to build two chemical plants near the Gulf Coast and restart another in the next five years as it adds 500 employees. "The affordability of U.S. natural gas allowed us to choose to build these assets near home," says Brian Ames, a Dow global vice president.

Canada-based Methanex plans to move a methanol operation from Chile to Geismar, La., by 2014 as it hires 130 workers. Methanol is in windshield-washer fluid, paint and plastic bottles.

•Steel. Nucor is building a $750 million plant that will use natural gas — instead of more traditional coking coal — and iron ore to make iron in St. James Parish, La.

•Agriculture. Potash is restarting a nitrogen fertilizer plant in Geismar that will employ 46, and Rentech Nitrogen plans to expand a similar facility in East Dubuque, Ill.

COMPANY NEWS

PPG and Argex Announce Agreement for Titanium Dioxide Collaboration

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) announced recently that it has entered into a technical collaboration agreement with Montreal-based Argex Mining Inc. (TSX-V:RGX) (FSE:ASV) (OTCBB:ARGEF) to utilize PPG’s existing technology and know-how relating to the manufacture of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigment for paints and coatings applications. The TiO2 is intended to be compatible with various end-use applications for PPG and would be produced by Argex. Terms were not disclosed.

“This strategic initiative offers PPG the opportunity to leverage our expertise and secure an enhanced supply of this critical raw material. Volatile pricing for titanium dioxide continues to be an important issue for the company.”

“PPG and Argex plan to combine efforts with the goal of developing a titanium dioxide product that can meet conventional standards for interior and exterior paint applications,” said Charles F. Kahle II, PPG chief technology officer and vice president, research and development, coatings. “This strategic initiative offers PPG the opportunity to leverage our expertise and secure an enhanced supply of this critical raw material. Volatile pricing for titanium dioxide continues to be an important issue for the company.”

Roy Bonnell, Argex president and chief executive officer, said, “PPG’s decision to collaborate closely with Argex as both a technical and commercial partner is a further validation of our process and the suitability of the Argex TiO2 pigment for commercial use. PPG’s involvement will assist Argex greatly in our stated goal to advance rapidly to production.”

The agreement provides for the negotiation of a purchase and supply agreement between Argex and PPG based on the successful development of the treatment technologies. Both companies have agreed to certain terms of mutual exclusivity during the negotiation period.

PPG previously manufactured titanium dioxide using the chloride process at its Natrium, W.Va., chemicals plant and sold titanium dioxide pigment for coatings and other end-use applications. Titanium dioxide is a raw material widely used in the paint and coatings industry as pigment for its hiding, durability and whiteness characteristics.

Argex Mining Inc. has recently transitioned from a mining exploration company to a near-term producer of commodities that the world needs: titanium dioxide, iron and vanadium pentoxide. With a primary goal of advancing rapidly towards production, Argex has adopted a simple and low risk strategy for the scale-up of its proprietary process that allows it to produce high purity TiO2 directly from its 100% owned deposit. Additionally, the Company owns 100% of the Mouchalagane property, which is a large Labrador Trough iron ore property that represents further potential upside for the Argex shareholders.

BASF's Advanced Foam Material to Quiet Trams in Bonn, Germany

Bonn’s trams are to get a makeover – an injection of BASF’s Basotect foam, which will add both sound absorption and thermal insulation to the current rolling stock.

Basotect foam is available in several versions for different applications

“The prices of new vehicles have risen rapidly in recent years,” said project manager Alexander Wingen from Bonn’s municipal works. “But our old trams are still structurally sound. This is why we have decided to convert them and equip them with the very latest technology.”

“An advantage of Basotect for us was that it is very easy to process without producing any dust,” says Wingen. “This was important to us because we have created a special workshop in which we will gut the vehicles and completely modernize them. This means that we can cut the material to the exact size required on site using our own cutting tools.”

GE Harnesses Nanotechnology, Nature to Help Save Airlines Cash

GE Global Research has released a new research report showing promising results for its nanotextured anti-icing surface technology.

According to the report, the technology dramatically reduces ice adhesion and delays ice formation on flat surfaces, which could lead to some significant advantages for the airline industry.

Azar Alizadeh, a materials scientist at GE Global Research and project lead on the anti-icing surfaces program, explained that excess ice accretion on aircraft surfaces can cause lift off issues and negatively affect the aerodynamics of wings during flight. It can also reduce the efficiency of turbine blades.

Traditionally, airlines have used massive amounts of deicing agents and energy-intensive heating systems to combat and prevent ice formation on aircrafts. GE's nano-enabled anti-icing surfaces, however, could help create a passive, more efficient anti-icing system.

This could mean some big cost savings for the airline industry, said Alizadeh.

With this technology, ice will still adhere to surfaces in extreme cold, but a much smaller force will be required to remove it, she explained. In most cases, the weight of the ice or the wind's drag forces may be enough to remove the build-up.

While promising, these advances are still a few steps from commercial viability, GE warns. The nanotech surfaces and coatings require further development before they are durable enough and ready for commercial applications.

This development comes as part of GE's ongoing advanced nanotechnology research program at GE Global Research.

Work in this field was inspired by research into the Lotus plant leaf, said an announcement from GE. These leaves are covered with a nanotextured wax that repels water. This has helped GE scientists create super water-repellent coatings to improve moisture control in steam turbines and work toward reduced fouling and gas turbines, which would enable them to run more efficiently and reduce maintenance frequency.

EXPANSIONS

BASF India to set up Rs 1,000 crore Chemical Facility at Dahej

Chemicals producer BASF India recently said it will invest Rs 1,000 crore to set up a new production facility at Dahej in Gujarat. It will be financed through internal accruals and loans, the board said.

The site will employ more than 250 people at full capacity, primarily in operations. The facility will start production in 2014.

With this new production plant, BASF aims to ensure local supply for growing markets and industries such as appliances, footwear, automotive, construction, adhesives, architectural coatings, paper and personal care.

The new facility will be an integrated hub for polyurethane manufacturing and will also house production facilities for care chemicals and polymer dispersions for coatings and paper.

Chevron Phillips Chemical to Build New Plant in Baytown

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP is building the world’s largest on-purpose 1-hexene plant capable of producing up to 551 million pounds per year at its Cedar Bayou Chemical Complex in Baytown.

Construction will begin during the next few months and should be complete during the first quarter of 2014.

S & B Engineers and Constructors Ltd will design and build the facility using Chevron Phillips Chemical’s proprietary, second generation, on-purpose 1-hexene technology, which produces a co-monomer grade 1-hexene from ethylene.

The product, 1-hexene, is a critical component used in the manufacture of polyethylene, a plastic resin commonly converted into film, pipe, detergent bottles, and food and beverage containers.

The proprietary technology is already in use at Qatar Chemical Company Ltd’s facility in Mesaieed, Qatar, and also be used at the Saudi Polymers Company plant in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Both of these facilities are joint ventures of wholly owned subsidiaries of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC. Chevron Phillips Chemical is based in The Woodlands.

Honeywell UOP's $20 million Expansion in Alabama Should Be Complete by Fall

A catalyst and adsorbent production facility that employs nearly 400 in Chickasaw, AL announced recently it expects to complete a $20 million expansion by the fall.

UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced the expansion to its "specialized adsorbent and catalyst process area." The expansion constitutes a 50-percent increase in that process area's volume production, according to Dan Key, vice president of integrated supply chain at Honeywell UOP.

The Chickasaw plant is the largest manufacturing facility that Honeywell UOP operates, Key said, and the expansion will create eight new jobs. It also puts the company in line for $1.9 million in tax breaks over the next decade.

The equipment currently on order to complete the expansion to UOP's specialized process area is expected to be installed and operational in the fall, and will allow increased production of its ion-exchanger adsorbents, which are "crystalline materials that can selectively remove radioactive ions from liquids."

The materials have been used commercially for more than 30 years to remove radioactive ions from liquids, such as radioactive waste streams in commercial nuclear power plants, alkaline tank waste, and spent fuel storage pool water, according to the release. And such adsorbents are currently in use in the contaminated wastewater reservoirs of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, which suffered three catastrophic meltdowns in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

Honeywell UOP is currently under contract with the Toshiba Corporation to provide the materials for use in Japan.

The Chickasaw plant currently produces molecular sieves used to absorb gases and liquids. The plant also produces catalysts that help petrochemical producers increase production while reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Dow Announces Coatings Manufacturing Investment in Saudi Arabia

The Dow Chemical Company recently announced plans to invest in a new manufacturing facility for its Dow Coating Materials (DCM) business unit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Dow Coating Materials is the premier supplier of products and technologies to architectural and industrial coatings manufacturers. The planned facility, which will be located at the Jubail Industrial City, will manufacture a wide range of coating materials for both the Kingdom and export markets worldwide.

Jerome Peribere, Executive Vice President of The Dow Chemical Company and President and Chief Executive Officer, Dow Advanced Materials Division (AMD), said, “By investing in a new coatings facility in Saudi Arabia, we are moving closer to our regional customers, and realizing our regional business objectives in a key growth market for Dow.”

The new facility is the latest in a series of investments to be announced by Dow in Saudi Arabia. In July 2011, Dow and Saudi Aramco announced an agreement to form Sadara Chemical Company, a joint venture to build and operate a world-scale, fully integrated chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia. Upon completion, the joint venture is projected to be among the world’s largest petrochemical facilities and would represent the largest foreign direct investment into Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical sector. Dow also recently announced plans to invest in a best-in-class manufacturing facility for DOW FILMTEC™ Reverse Osmosis (RO) elements in the Kingdom.

Dow Adds $125m to Thai Investment

Dow Chemical Co is pouring an additional US$125 million into its Thai operations, strengthening the country's role in transforming the US-based firm from a manufacturer of basic chemicals to a maker of specialty products.

The new projects, both set to finish construction this year, are a $100-million propylene glycol (PG) plant and a $25-million polyolefin encapsulant film factory to produce materials for solar panels.

The PG plant, with an annual capacity of 150,000 tonnes, will be used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, food and health products.

Andrew Liveris, Dow's chairman and chief executive, cited Thailand's pro-investor policies and pool of talent as reasons for the company's continued investment here.

Built with investment partners Siam Cement Group and the Belgium-based Solvay, the complex comprises five downstream plants producing polyethylene, specialty elastomer, hydrogen peroxide and propylene oxide.

The investments have made Thailand the largest manufacturing centre for Dow in Asia-Pacific.

Last year, Dow posted total revenue of $60 billion, of which $10.5 billion (17.5%) was generated in Asia. Including an additional $3 billion from joint ventures, the region contributed $14-15 billion, with the Thai unit accounting for $300 million.

Dow Oxygenated Solvents Announces Butyl Glycol Ether Expansion at Texas Facility

The Dow Oxygenated Solvents business announces an expansion plan to increase capacity of Butyl Glycol Ethers at its Seadrift, Texas facility. This plan is part of a two-phase debottleneck project that will increase capacity of Butyl CELLOSOLVE™ Solvent and Butyl CARBITOL™ Solvent by 15%. Phase 1 will be completed late March; followed by Phase 2, which will be finished during a planned turnaround this fall.

Mark Bassett, Global Business Director for Oxygenated Solvents, states, “This expansion, in addition to Dow’s investment in Sadara, demonstrates Oxygenated Solvents commitment to our customers’ growth needs. The Seadrift debottleneck is the first of a series of announcements that will highlight major projects that are currently underway within the business. These investments reinforce our commitment to the market and being the world’s premier supplier of Oxygenated Solvents.”

Dow is the world’s largest supplier of Butyl Glycol Ethers. Dow’s Butyl Glycol Ethers are extremely versatile solvents with an excellent balance of several different physical properties including high performance, range of compatibility, fast evaporation rate and 100% solubility. These key raw materials are used primarily in the production of coatings, household and industrial cleaners, brake fluids, inks and oil and gas.

Linde to Construct On-Site Plants for Sadara's Major Chemical Complex in Saudi Arabia

The technology group The Linde Group and Sadara Chemical Company recently signed a long-term contract that will see Linde supply Sadara with carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H2) and ammonia (NH3) at a chemical complex now being built by Sadara in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, which will be the world's largest chemical complex ever built in a single phase. The on-site gases supply contract includes a HyCO facility for the production of CO and H2 plus an ammonia plant. Linde will be investing USD 380 million in the project. Sadara, established in October 2011, is a joint venture developed by Saudi Arabian Oil Company and The Dow Chemical Company.

"This contract is an excellent opportunity from several perspectives," states Professor Dr Aldo Belloni, Member of the Executive Board of Linde AG. "It is Linde's largest on-site petrochemical project in this region, and our first in Jubail. It thus strengthens our position as a global leader in the generation and supply of carbon monoxide for MDI and TDI production plants at integrated chemical hubs. The petrochemical industry is expanding rapidly in Saudi Arabia. We expect that this growth will give added momentum to the expansion of our gases and engineering business in the Middle East."

Linde's Engineering Division will design, deliver and construct the new turnkey gases facilities at Sadara's site in the Jubail 2 petrochemical cluster. The company will be building a two-stream HyCO plant, plus a single-stream NH3 unit producing waterless liquid ammonia. Linde will also install a large NH3 storage tank, resulting in a sophisticated supply concept which will enable the plant to run smoothly and reliably at all times. The production units are scheduled to be ready in 2015. Once built, they will be operated by Linde's Gases Division. Linde is setting up a local gases company for on-site support.

Sadara will use carbon monoxide, hydrogen and ammonia primarily for the production of aromatics, isocyanates (MDI and TDI), amines and hydrogen peroxide. Methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) and 2,4 toluene diisocyanate (TDI) are used in the production of polyurethanes - an essential component in many products ranging from synthetic fibres through insulating foam and adhesives to mattresses and car seats.

Sadara will construct, own and operate a world-scale integrated chemicals complex in Jubail Industrial City II in Saudi Arabia. Sadara will have a differentiated product mix, most of which are produced locally for the first time. This differentiation will create further growth opportunities for conversion and downstream industries in the adjacent PlasChem Park.

The Linde Group is a world-leading gases and engineering company with around 50,500 employees in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Polyacetal Supplier in Major Korean Expansion

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Inc. (MGC; Tokyo) and Celanese Corp., Dallas, TX are undertaking a major expansion of polyacetal (POM) resin production capacity at their affiliate Korea Engineering Plastics Co. (KEP; Seoul). Capability will be boosted by 35,000 tonnes/year to a total of 140,000 tonnes/year by the first quarter of 2014.

KEP has been producing POM in Ulsan, South Korea, since 1988 using MGC technology. The new investment in South Korea will transform the site into the world's largest production facility for POM resin

The material is used widely in the automotive and electrical/electronic market segments for mechanical components, and MGC is forecasting average annual growth for the resin of 5-6%, with supply tightness persisting for the foreseeable future.

Further, MGC is also undertaking a major expansion at its Thai Polyacetal Co., Bangkok, with capacity rising from the current 55,000 tonnes/year to 100,000 tonnes/year by the second quarter of 2013. With a 30% stake, TOA Dovechem Industries Co. (King Amphur Bangsaothong, Thailand) is MGC's partner in this joint venture.

McIlvaine Company

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