INTERNATIONAL
U.K. Firms Win Large Contracts from Soviets Multimillion dollar awards go to British firms to supply ethylene and polyethylene plants The agreements which the U.S.S.R. recently signed with Britain for chemical plants and know-how worth about $84 million (C&EN, May 6, page 19) point up once again the Soviet Union's determination to step up its drive for self-sufficiency in chemicals and plastics. For Britain, they serve as a muchneeded morale boost. The British were disappointed over their failure to win long-sought contracts at the Leipzig fair in East Germany in March. Now the U.S.S.R. has agreed to buy six polyethylene plants, each having a capacity of 24,000 tons per year of high-density polymer—to be made under an ICI process license—and two ethylene separation units, each with a 60,000 ton-per-year capacity. Simon-Carves, Ltd., Stockport, Cheshire, part of the Simon Engineering group, will supply the six polyethylene plants, valued at about $56 million. Humphreys and Glasgow, Ltd., London, will supply the $17 million ethylene separation plants. The contracts call for essentially turn-key units. British firms will supply over 95% of the hardware and all of the engineering and scientific skills. For the polyethylene plants, Simon-Carves will be designer and contractor, giving most of the manu-
facturing work to other British companies. ICI's licensing fee could amount to 20% of the contract price. For this sum, however, ICI would not only grant the right to use its process but would also supply detailed know-how and engineering advice. If necessary, ICI will send a team of experts to the plant sites to assist in start-up. When the six plants are operating, at the end of 1966 or early in 1967, Soviet high-density polyethylene capacity will be close to 180,000 tons a year. Its current capacity is about 20,000 to 40,000 tons a year. Britain's present capacity is 150,000 tons, while U.S. capacity for highdensity polyethylene will be about 388,000 tons a year by late 1963. With its typical secrecy, the U.S.S.R. does not mention where the proposed plants will be located. It says only that the six polyethylene plants will be divided among four locations and will be supplied by the ethylene from the Humphreys and Glasgow-built plants. Simon-Carves says the polyethylene plants will be located in regions of high temperature variations, ranging from —49° to 104° F. To what extent ethylene feedstock will come from existing Soviet facili-
U.K. Firms Have Several Other Contracts to Build Plants in U.S.S.R. Company
Value
Wycon Services*
Vickers-Armstrong* (with its German engineering partner, Hans Zimmer) Prinex, Ltd.,** subsidiary of Courtaulds, Ltd. * 1961 contracts.
66
C&EN
MAY
Capacity and Product
$6 million
12,000 Tons a year of 50% aqueous solution of dimethylolethyleneurea 4200 Tons a year of monochlorophenoxyacetic acid weed killer
$11.2 million
$17.8 million
** 1962 contract.
13,
1963
Ton-per-year plant for nylon 66
Triacetate fibers plant
Source:
C&EN
ties is not known. Chances are good, however, that the ethylene units will be located near the large, recently discovered natural gas deposits in the Caucasus and in the upper Volga region. Russian natural gas reserves now being exploited are estimated -at about 20 million cubic meters. The contracts exemplify the Soviets' determined drive to boost chemical and plastics output. This has meant switching funds from other industries, such as steel. Some sources note that the U.S.S.R. plans to increase its investment in the chemicals industry in 1963 to $1.9 billion, an increase of 36% over 1962's figure. About 100 new chemical ventures are scheduled to come into operation this year alone, out of a total of more than 600 new industrial plants planned. Simon-Carves, no newcomer to the international chemicals scene, has contracts to supply polyethylene plants in Roumania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, and East Germany. The Yugoslav plant is due to come on stream this year. The others are due for completion next year. The combined capacity of these plants is in the order of 100,000 tons a year. The signing of the recent contracts came at the conclusion of a monthlong visit to the U.K. of a group of Soviet delegates headed by V. A. Klentsov, president of the machinery purchasing unit, Techmashimport. L. A. Kostandov, deputy minister of the Soviet chemical industry, was also in the group. Earlier, it was said that total contracts might amount to as much as $280 million and that they would include a tire factory and a polyester fiber plant (C&EN, April 23, page 19). Total orders to British firms actually came to nearly $84 million. These included, in addition to the $73 million contracts for the ethylene and polyethylene plants, about $500,000 for a phosphorus pentasulfide plant (won by Humphreys and Glasgow) and $10 million to John Dalglish and Sons, Glasgow, Scotland, for the supply of machinery for drying and packaging synthetic rubber. Additional orders may well materialize. A British trade mission sponsored jointly by the London and Birmingham Chambers of Commerce is on a 10-day visit to the U.S.S.R. It was invited by the All-Union Chamber of Commerce in Moscow and has the full support of the British Board of Trade and of the Foreign Office.
