Venezuela (44)

Brazil (411)

Argentina (73)

VENEZUELA

Reports: El Palito complex still offline contradicting PDVSA statement
Petróleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA; Caracas) says that repair work and preparation for restart are ongoing at its refinery site in El Palito, Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. A power outage caused on 16 February affected the site's various...

Methanex to temporarily shut operations in Chile
Methanex says it expects to idle its Chile operation located at Cabo Negro, in March 2013 because of anticipated insufficient natural gas supply. Methanex is currently operating one plant in Chile at low operating rates. In 2013, planned output from this...

Sika acquires construction chemicals firm in Paraguay
Sika (Baar, Switzerland) says it has agreed to acquire Inatec (Asunción, Paraguay), the market leader in Paraguay in the area of construction chemicals. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Inatec, which was founded in 1982, is a privately...

Pemex restarts Camargo ammonia unit
Mexico's state oil company Pemex (Mexico City) says it has restarted its ammonia unit at Ciudad Camargo, Chihuahua state. The plant has been offline since 2002 and was restarted with an investment of $13 million, Pemex says. A fertilizer firm, Soluciones...

APLA 2012: Shale gas alters Latin America's prospects
Competitive raw materials stemming from shale gas development in the US have caused investors to reconsider the timing for planned world-scale projects in Latin America, with the exception of the 1 million m.t./year Ethylene XXI project, which...

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BRAZIL

Evonik starts engineering for silica plant in Brazil
Evonik Industries has started basic engineering for a precipitated silica plant in Brazil and expects to complete the plant by 2015, subject to approval from the relevant bodies and authorities. The planned facility, located at Americana, in the state of...

NatureWorks names distributor for Brazilian market
NatureWorks (Minnetonka, MN) has named Cromex (São Paulo) as its distributor for Ingeo biobased polymers in Brazil, NatureWorks has announced. Cromex will distribute NatureWorks' biobased polymers to its customer base of thermoformers, film extruders...

PolyOne adds TPE capacity in Brazil
PolyOne says its PolyOne GLS Thermoplastic Elastomers (McHenry, IL) business, a leading player in custom-formulated thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) solutions, has established new TPE production capabilities at PolyOne’s production facility at Diadema...

H.B. Fuller to acquire Brazilian adhesives firm Plexbond Quimica
H.B. Fuller says it has signed an agreement to purchase adhesives company Plexbond Quimica (Curitiba, Brazil), a provider of chemical polyurethane specialties and polyester resins. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. Plexbond Quimica...

Oxiteno's Ebitda increases 21%, supported by weaker currency and higher volumes
Oxiteno, the specialty chemicals arm of Ultrapar (São Paulo), achieved an Ebitda of 81 million Reais ($40 million) during the first quarter of 2013 compared with the same quarter of 2012. The Ebitda figure represents a 21% increase over the same...

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ARGENTINA

Argentina challenges EU at WTO on biodiesel import measures
Argentina has filed a challenge with the World Trade Organization (WTO; Geneva) against the European Union and/or its member states over a recent decision on the import and marketing of biodiesel in the EU, as well as measures supporting the EU biodiesel...

Makhteshim to acquire majority stake in agchems company in Chile
Makhteshim Agan (Tel Aviv) and ChileAgro Solutions (Calera de Tango, Chile) have entered into a definitive agreement under which Makhteshim is to acquire a majority stake in ChileAgro, the companies announced today. Financial details of the transaction...

Reports: Vale signs agreement to exit Argentina potash project
Vale (Rio de Janeiro) has signed an agreement with the Argentinean government and trade unions, allowing the company to quit the Rio Colorado potash project in the province of Mendoza, Argentina, putting an end to months of discord with the Argentinean...

Argentina's chemicals output up 2.6% during the first quarter
Chemical production in Argentina was up 2.6% during the first quarter of this year compared with the same quarter in 2012, according to figures released by state statistics office Indec (Buenos Aires). The report did not include specific volume or sales...

Argentina launches process to protect workers at Vale's Rio Colorado potash project site
The Argentinean government has launched a negotiation process to protect the workers, including subcontracted personnel, at Vale's (Rio de Janeiro) Rio Colorado potash project in Mendoza, Argentina, the Ministry of Labor (Buenos Aires) announced. The measures...

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