New polymer to meet market trends for miniaturization and convergence of el...

Royal DSM N.V. has developed a new polymer which extends the portfolio for high performance engineering thermoplastics. PA4T has been developed by DSM Engineering Plastics, the inventor and global market leader in high performance polyamides with Stanyl® 46.

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Braskem continues to mull investment of US$1.5 bln in petrochem plant is Bo...

Brazilian petrochemicals company Braskem continues to mull investing a minimum of US$1.5 bln in petrochemical plants in Bolivia. Braskem could also invest in more than one project, and investment in each of the plants would be of at least $1.5 billion. Brazilian state-run energy company Petrobras is evaluating partnership with Braskem in the project, which is to use natural gas to make polyethylene. Bolivia's state energy company YPFB is also expected to participate in the project that could build one or two plants in the Santa Cruz region, near the Brazilian border, or in natural-gas-rich Tarija province.

Sinopec to finance projects with issue of 30 bln yuan worth 6-yr bonds

In a move to fund its projects, Asia's largest refiner - China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) plans to issue 6-year bonds with warrants to the tune of 30 bln yuan. Proceeds from the bond issue will be invested in two ethylene plants in Tianjin in northern China and in Zhenhai in Zhejiang province with annual capacity of one mln tons each, delivering natural gas from Sichuan province in southwest China to the east coast. Some of the proceeds will also aid in paying back bank loans.

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Teknor Color cashes in on trend for stand-out packaging

The growing need to communicate with consumers through elaborate and eye-catching packaging has triggered an innovation at Teknor Color Company.

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World's first in TPUs to be launched at K 2007

Merquinsa, leader in specialty TPUs for adhesives & elastomers, will confirm its commitment to innovation with the announcement of a unique TPU technology breathrough intended to be commercialized within the next months.

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PolyOne inaugurates manufacturing facility in Poland

PolyOne Corporation, a leading global provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions, has announced the inauguration of a new color concentrates manufacturing facility in Kutno, Poland, September 27, 2007.

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DuPont and Plantic's starch-based bio materials JV to focus on food and oth...

DuPont and Plantic Technologies Limited, an Australian company specializing in starch-based biopolymers, plan to collaborate in the development and sale of renewably sourced polymers made from Plantic® technology. Plans include the collaborative development of new, renewably sourced resins and sheet materials based on high-amylose corn starch as the renewable feedstock for applications including cosmetics, personal care and food packaging trays, caps and containers.

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Borealis' new sales office in Mexico to serve the local wire and cable mark...

Borealis, a leading provider of innovative, value creating plastics solutions, has opened a new sales office in Mexico City. This new office reflects Borealis' commitment to serve the wire and cable market in Mexico better by combining innovative product offering with high quality local sales and technical support.

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Teknor Color cashes in on trend for stand-out packaging

The growing need to communicate with consumers through elaborate and eye-catching packaging has triggered an innovation at Teknor Color Company.

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New fast cycling Santoprene TPVs that reduce processing time

ExxonMobil Chemical Company has introduced a new family of fast cycling Santoprene™ thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV) grades which can be used to replace thermoset rubber and thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) in "thick, chunky" applications.

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BASF increases ethylene oxide capacity in Europe

To further strengthen its market position and get better equipped for the future, BASF is raising ethylene oxide production capacity in Ludwigshafen and Antwerp to 140,000 tpa.

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RIL and Gail join forces to explore petrochemical plants in Russia

Reliance Industries (RIL) and state-owned Gail India are jointly scrutinizing the feasibility of setting up petrochemical plants in Russia. Both companies had earlier signed an MoU to collaborate in downstream projects overseas.

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Rhodia's new 48,000 ton Polymerisation plant

Rhodia's new 48,000 ton polymerisation plant, under construction in Onsan, South Korea, is to come on-stream as scheduled.

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UHMWPE range for use in Total Joint Arthroplasty and other medical devices

DSM has announced the start of an initiative to enter the market of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) for use in Total Joint Arthroplasty and other medical devices. In the upcoming years DSM Biomedical will make significant investments in a research and development program focused on UHMWPE-grades with optimized material properties, specifically aimed at currently unmet clinical needs in this orthopedic segment.

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Fibre for orthopedic sutures surpasses polyester in promoting healing

Dyneema Purity®, DSM's high-performance specialty polyethylene fiber developed specifically for medical applications, has been shown to promote better tissue formation than traditional polyester in orthopedic suture applications.

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Mitsui, Mitsubishi mull investment in MRPL's aromatic unit

Japanese trading houses Mitsui & Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. are considering investment in an aromatic unit planned by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL). The proposed Rs 48.52 bln complex is to be built by a new venture - ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd.

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First international conference on Agricultural Film

AMI has announced the programme for the first international conference on Agricultural Film, which will be held in Barcelona from 18-20th February 2008. There is an overview of the markets for plastics in agriculture (AMI) followed by a paper outlining the prospects for the industry and changes that will affect the technology used by plant growers (BSK Plast Pack & Agrarservice Und Trade).

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KP Chemical to increase PX capacity for production of PTA

KP Chemical is to increase of paraxylene (PX) for the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) at its UOP Parex Process unit. For this, KP Chemical Corp has reloaded its Parex Process unit in Ulsan, South Korea with UOP Parex ADS-37 adsorbent. The reload, completed in June 2007, considerably increases the capacity and makes KP Chemical the 15th Parex operator to utilize ADS-37 since its introduction by UOP in 2004.

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A process that aids performance-based PU products with reduced impact on th...

The Dow Chemical Company has introduced a proprietary process that helps polyurethane manufacturers make products that are performance-based and reduce the impact on the environment. Distinct in the chemical industry, RENUVA™ Renewable Resource Technology is used to produce bio-based polyols with high renewable content in the finished product with performance that rivals petroleum-based polyols.

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PTT Chemical Plc to issue B4 bln in bonds, olefins capacity to almost doubl...

PTT Chemical Plc is to issue bonds to the tune of 4 bln baht in early October mainly to finance a 5 year plan that includes olefins capacity expansion and related intermediate and downstream investment. This issue was planned a year ago, with an initial amount of 12 billion baht, which got revised later to 8 bln baht.

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Sealed Air Corp. to purchase assets of Dow's performance foam business

The Dow Chemical Company has signed an agreement with Sealed Air Corporation to purchase certain assets of Dow's ETHAFOAM™ performance foam business. Dow's ETHAFOAM™performance polyethylene foam is used in a wide variety of applications, such as electronics, military sports, leisure and transportation.

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Indonesian Tuban Petro to invest US$400 mln for aromatic capacity expansion

Indonesia's Tuban Petrochemical Industry (Tuban Petro) plans to invest US$400 mln to expand the capacity of paraxylene of its subsidiary PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) starting next year.

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Total and Galactic in bioplastics research JV in Europe

France's Total Petrochemicals and Galactic Escanaffles have entered a joint-venture to produce 1,500 tpa of polylactic acid (PLA) for use in bioplastics, including packaging. The plant will be based at Galactic Escanaffles site, Belgium.

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Work on Sino-Kuwaiti refinery and petrochemicals project to gain momentum

Officials from the state-run Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) have expressed concerns over the slow development of the multibillion Sino-Kuwaiti refinery and petrochemicals plant project.

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IL&FS to prepare detailed project report for PCPIR in Orissa

IL&FS has been shortlisted by the Orissa government to prepare a detailed project report for the petroleum, chemicals and petrochemical investment region (PCPIR) in Paradip.

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IG Petro to expand PA capacity to become world number two

IG Petrochemicals Ltd. plans to expand its phthalic anhydride (PA) capacity at Taloja by 40,000 tons to become the world number two in phthalic anhydride manufacturing after BASF. An investment outlay of Rs. 140 crores is planned for the expansion project.

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Supreme Court suspends Haldia board meeting

The Supreme Court has suspended last weeks' order by the Calcutta High Court that had aided the Bengal government gain control of Haldia Petrochemicals.

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Four contract workers at Port Arthur Sabine Petrochemicals hospitalized

Four Austin Industries contract workers, working inside Port Arthur Sabine Petrochemicals, were sent to local hospitals after they reported breathing difficulty. The foursome has been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure to be evaluated. An investigation is being conducted to determine the cause of the incident to prevent a reoccurrence

IG Petro in advanced stages of negotiations to form polyol JV with American...

IG Petrochemicals Ltd. is in advanced stages of negotiations plans to form a joint venture company with USA based Stepan Chemicals to manufacture polyols. Polyol, made from phthalic anhydride, is a foam used in beds and other applications.

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POLYMER - ABS

ABS prices moved up to US$1725/MT in Asia in the week of September 24, 2007, in line with another gain of feedstock costs. Ongoing robust feedstock prices have led to regained strength in the Asian markets. Most major producers hiked offers by USD20/MT, concurrent with surging ACN and butadiene prices.

POLYMER - GPPS

GPPS prices inched up in Asia in the week of September 24, 2007 to US$1480/MT. Higher prices were trigger ed by robust crude oil and feedstock prices. However, weak buying sentiments from China kept a SM price surge under check despite rising feedstock values.

POLYMER - PVC

PVC prices weakened to US$1030/MT in Asia in the week of September 24, 2007. Markets remained slightly toned down on dismal demand from China. Current demand from Middle East countries, Russia and Egypt has dipped more than before due to mounting resistance from buyers. In all possibility, sellers could face higher pressure ahead of upcoming low demand season. Though selling intentions were pegged ten dollars higher than last weeks' prices, most deals were heard done at lower prices.

POLYMER - POLYPROPYLENE

PP markets remained lifeless in Asia in the week of September 24, 2007. Damp market conditions prevailed, as the market paused for firm offers for October shipment.

POLYMER - LLDPE

LLDPE markets remained lackluster as prices stagnated at US$1400/MT in Asia in the week of September 24, 2007. Awaiting October offers from the producers, buyers prefer to wait and watch in anticipation of downward price revision. LLDPE prices are estimated to drop on the back of seasonally slow demand in Asia.

POLYMERS - LDPE

Stability reigned in the LDPE markets in Asia in the week of September 24, 2007. Prices stagnated at US$1560/MT in Asia this week. Awaiting October offers from the producers, buyers prefer to wait and watch in anticipation of downward price revision. A dip in LDPE prices is expected on the back of seasonally slow demand in Asia.

POLYMERS - HDPE

Resistance from buyers in China has kept price of HDPE stagnant in Asia in the week of September 24, 2007. Buyers from Asia, particularly China, prefer to "wait and watch" in anticipation of price revision. This has led to fewer new deals in this week. However, quiet market conditions in Asia have not succeeded in lowering HDPE prices mainly because of strong demand from non-Asian countries. Slow trading of HDPE cargoes toward Latin America caused by rising freight costs as well as decreasing market demand, as also affected the market.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCK - STYRENE MONOMER

Despite a quantum jump in upstream benzene prices, styrene monomer prices dipped by over thirty dollars this week. SM prices dropped to US$1370/MT in Asia in the week of September 24, 2007. Triggered by rising oil and naphtha prices, benzene prices spiked above US$1000/MT in Asia this week (by almost twenty dollars).

POLYMER FEEDSTOCK - PROPYLENE

Propylene prices dropped by ten dollars in Asia in the week of September 24, 2007, to US$1080/MT as weak sentiments were witnessed in the propylene market. Despite softer prices for propylene, a very small number of deals were heard done, mainly due to restrained demand from end-users. A tight supply status is anticipated shortly, resulting in further price increases in the coming weeks.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCKS - ETHYLENE

Ethylene prices dipped to US$1190/MT in Asia this week. Increasing supply weighed down by inadequate demand from end users kept ethylene prices in Asia depressed in the week of September 24, 2007. An abundant supply situation in Japan was mainly due to problems in domestic downstream plants. Demand continues to remain bearish from Taiwan, mainly because of the smooth commencement of operations at 85-90% levels at the 700,000 tpa No.1 cracking unit of Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC). Competitive offers for cargoes from Taiwan as well as India were heard.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCKS - VCM

VCM prices softened to US$840/MT in Asia in the week of September 24, 2007, mainly because of weak demand from China. Tough price opposition from the PVC producers of China has kept VCM markets slack this week. Lower price realization from PVC buyers has caused this resistance from the Chinese PVC makers - the buyers in the VCM market.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCKS - EDC

Quiet conditions that prevailed in EDC markets kept prices down at US$460/MT in Asia in the week of September 24, 2007. A number of VCM plants in Asia are scheduled for annual maintenance shut down in October, keeping demand from downstream VCM makers down. Sellers continue to quote at last weeks' levels, but feeble demand is keeping bids at a level not higher than US$460/MT.

NAPHTHA

Naphtha prices in Asia spiked by over twenty dollars to US$730/MT in the week of September 24, 2007. Asian naphtha prices bounded higher, in line with a swift increase in crude oil values.

Price trends of oil, polymer feedstock & commodity polymers in Asia for the...

SUMMARY Crude oil prices touched new highs and surpassed US$82 a barrel during the week on news of a cut in interest rates by the Federal Reserve to boost the US economy. Naphtha spiked in line with robust crude prices. EDC and VCM prices continued their downward trend due to bearish downstream demand. Ethylene prices dropped on account of weaker demand from downstream PE manufacturers that weighed down increasing supply. Propylene prices dropped on quiet market conditions. Despite a quantum jump in upstream benzene prices, styrene monomer prices dipped by over thirty dollars this week.HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE and PP markets stagnated as damp market conditions continued to prevail. PVC prices dropped as markets remained slightly toned down on dismal demand from China. GPPS and ABS prices climbed along with rising feedstock prices. CRUDE OIL 79.1 81.62 Oil prices closed at US$81.62 a barrel in the week of September 24, 2007 for November contract on the Nymex. During the week, oil prices touched new highs and surpassed US$82 a barrel on news of a cut in interest rates by the Federal Reserve to boost the US economy. The Federal Reserve announced a cut in key interest rate to 4.75%, twice of what most economists expected. Later in the week, prices slipped, but firmed up around record levels as the market was wary of potential looming tropical storm off the west coast of Florida. This resulted in temporary closure of about 25% of the Gulf of Mexico's daily oil production, providing an extra boost to the oil market's already strong run in view of tight crude inventories. However, the actual drive behind the rally is an influx of speculative "nontraditional" capital into energy commodities, an inflow that increases when the dollar falls.

GAIL to explore strategic cooperation with Bharat Petrochemicals Company Lt...

Gail India, plans to explore all options for strategic cooperation with Bharat Petrochemicals Company Ltd (BPCL). Gail India may weigh the prospects of tying up with BPCL whose combined refinery production capacity at Mumbai, Kochi and Numaligarh refineries was 22.28 mln metric tons in 2006-07.

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IOC mulls investment of over Rs 43500 cr for expansion over next 5 years

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) plans to invest over Rs 43,500 crore over the next five years, for capacity expansion, de-bottlenecking and quality upgradation.

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Project costs in MENA to rise despite cheap feedstock availability

Despite abundant availability of cheap feedstock, the petrochemicals sector in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is likely to witness higher engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) costs as per the latest report by National Bank of Kuwait. The EPC costs, which include factor inputs, contractors' margins and systematic pricing of project risk by the contractor, make up as much as 70% of the total project cost.

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Plastvision India 2007 : the most important and biggest show of 2007 of the...

A message from Dr. M.B. Parmar, Chairman, Visitors Promotion.Exhibition Preview is a new concept conceived by the Visitors Promotion Committee of the Plastivision India 2007 to give pre-publicity of Exhibitors' Products to be displayed by them at the event.

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Kazakhstan to develop petrochemical industry

Before 2009, Kazakhstan plans to invest over US$1.6 bln in modernization and reconstruction of all three refineries - the total investments will be about US$1 billion in the Atyrau refinery, US$600 million in Shymkent, and US$40 million in Pavlodar petrochemical plant, which will render possible for all three refineries to switch to new production standards such as Euro-5, and to install additional facilities, for example facilities for catalytic cracking in Atyrau refinery.

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Oil prices dip to US$81.34 a barrel on dispersion of tropical depression in...

Oil prices fell Monday after a tropical depression in the Gulf of Mexico dispersed without causing damage to key oil and gas infrastructure. The tropical depression was feared to develop into a storm capable of damaging oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico, but weakened over the weekend. Light, sweet crude for November delivery dipped to US$81.34 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. November Brent crude dipped to US$78.90 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London.

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GAIL open to approach RIL aboard Iranian petrochemical project

Gail India is open to approach domestic private sector refiner and petrochemicals major Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on board an Iranian petrochemical project. As per an earlier plan, GAIL and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) were to partner the project along with the National Iranian Gas Export Company. GAIL and IOC had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian government for using natural gas from South Pars field to run the petrochemical plant.

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Daelim Industrial wins overseas project orders worth US$2.2 bln in 06-07

After winning orders for overseas projects valued at US$2.2 bln this year alone, South Korean polycarbonate major, Daelim Industrial, has secured its outstanding leadership in the Middle East as a plant manufacturer. This represents a more than threefold jump in the value of orders targeted for this year. Daelim Industrial specializes in engineering industrial design and construction.

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Venezuela projects revenues of US$100 bln over next 5 years

Venezuela, the fourth largest supplier of crude oil to the United States, projects revenues of US$100 bln over the next 5 years through expansion of its petrochemicals industry. By 2013, the industry will have created 700,000 jobs, 10 times the number employed at state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, and will require US$20 billion in investment. Royalties to the government from the petrochemicals industry have been projected to rise to US$20 bln by 2013, from US$340 mln this year.

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A new engineering plastic reduces electronic component malfunction due to m...

A new engineering plastic that markedly reduces the risk that electronic components will malfunction due to contact with moisture or oil has been introduced by BASF. The electrical conductive paths of these components can easily be overmolded with the plastic to form a tight seal.

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West Bengal Govt makes advances with frozen HPL agenda

The West Bengal government has called for a board meeting on October 1 of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) to discuss a number of pending and litigious matters that have been deferred for over two years because of the long drawn legal battle between the partners.

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Nippon Oil to commence operation at Sendai refinery in October-November

In a bid to boost its position in a fast-growing Asian market, Japan's Nippon Oil Corp plans to start commercial operations of its new petrochemical facilities at its Sendai refinery from October-November .

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Abu Dhabi Polymers Ltd (Borouge) appoints new CEO

Borouge has announced the appointment of Mr Abdul Aziz Abdulla Al Hajri as Chief Executive Officer Designate of Abu Dhabi Polymers Co Ltd, the Borouge Production Company. Borouge is a joint venture established in 1998 between Borealis, a leading provider of innovative, value creating plastics solutions, and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

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Legal setback to TCG as Court dismisses transfer of HPL shares

Calcutta High Court has dismissed the Company Law Board (CLB) order that instructed the West Bengal government to transfer 155 million shares of Haldia Petrochemical Ltd. (HPL) to its joint venture partner TCG and exit the company - This is a legal setback to the Purnendu Chatterjee-led The Chatterjee Group (TCG).

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Sinopec and DuPont launch EVA JV in China

China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and DuPont Packaging and Industrial Polymers have embarked upon a new joint venture to produce ethylene vinyl acetate resins (EVA). Sinopec will have 55% holding in the new company and DuPont will hold 45%.

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Rotary Engineering to win US$199 mln worth contracts from Exxon Mobil in Si...

Singapore oil and gas infrastructure services firm Rotary Engineering expects to win contracts worth US$199 mln (S$300 mln) from Exxon Mobil in Singapore. Rotary has tendered for several for Exxon Mobil's "Singapore Parallel Train" (SPT) project at city-state's petrochemical hub of Jurong Island.

The company considers its chances of winning most of the SPT projects tendered for good.

Celanese inaugurates largest chemical complex in Nanjing

US based chemical maker Celanese has inaugurated its largest global chemical complex in Nanjing with a total investment of US$330 million. Celanese's complex, located at the Nanjing Chemical Industrial Park, brings world-class scale to one site for the production of acetic acid, vinyl acetate monomer, acetic anhydride, emulsions, Celstran® long fiber-reinforced thermoplastic (LFRT) and GUR® ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE).

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Sterling Chemicals in a US$60 mln styrene supply agreement with Nova

Sterling Chemicals Inc. has joined with Nova Chemicals Inc. in a US$60 million styrene supply agreement. Under the terms of the deal, Calgary, Alberta-based chemical company Nova will have the exclusive right to the entire production capacity of Houston-based petrochemical company Sterling's Texas City styrene plant. The supply agreement will have an initial term extending until Dec. 31, 2017.

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Taiwan Formosa restarts 700,000 tpa No.1 naphtha cracker, plans another shu...

Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp. has restarted its 700,000 tpa No.1 naphtha cracker, but plans to shut down another naphtha unit. Asia's largest ethylene producer plans to shut its No.2 900,000 tpa cracker for maintenance once the No.1 unit restarts stable operations. As a result, the Taiwanese petrochem major will will skip spot buying for November. The No.1 naphtha cracker is expected to run at full capacity by the end of the week.

Unionised workers at South Korea's top ethylene maker to go on strike?

South Korea's top ethylene producer - Yeochun Naphtha Cracking Centre (YNCC) may see a disruption of operations. YNCC, has a total capacity of about 1.8 mln tpa and is a 50:50 joint venture between Daelim Industrial Corp and Hanwha Chemical Corp.

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Sumitomo and Saudi Aramco plan to raise US$3bln by IPO

Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. (Petro Rabigh), a 50:50 venture of Sumitomo Chemical and state-owned Saudi Aramco had earlier estimated total operational costs at US$4.3 bln. These costs have been recalculated at US$9.8 bln on account of surging materials prices.

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US$4.5 bln petrochemical plant and LNG terminal at Goldboro to commence con...

Keltic Petrochemicals Inc. and MapleLNG's US$4.5 bln petrochemical plant and LNG terminal at Goldboro plan to commence project construction in spring 2008 - after clearing more regulatory hurdles.

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Dow plans acquisition of Danish PU systems maker Edulan A/S

The Dow Chemical Company plans to acquire Danish company Edulan A/S, an independent polyurethane (PU) systems house specializing in rigid foam and elastomer technologies, subject to regulatory approvals.

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Oil prices yo-yo to stabilze around US$82

Despite a dip recorded in oil prices, prices are expected to firm up around record levels as the market is wary of potential looming tropical storm off the west coast of Florida.

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Pacts for feedstock supply for Assam gas cracker project signed

The feedstock supply agreement has been signed for the Assam Gas Cracker Project. The Gas supply agreement was signed between Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited (BCPL) and Oil India Limited (OIL) and the Naphtha supply agreement was signed between BCPL and Numaligarh Refineries Limited (NRL).

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Korea Kumho Petrochemical plans to spend over US$300 mln for expansion

Korea's fourth-biggest petrochemical company by sales - Korea Kumho Petrochemical Co. plans to spend 285.3 bln won (US$307.8 mln) for the expansion of its plants in southern Korea by 2010.
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Texas Petrochemicals restarts successfully after Hurricane Humberto

Texas Petrochemicals, Inc's Port Neches facility has safely resumed its operations post Hurrican Humberto. All its units are successfully on line following a short outage as a result of Hurricane Humberto's landfall in southeast Texas.

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La Seda Offer Eastman Chemical 180 MLN EUR For Dutch, UK Plants

La Seda de Barcelona SA said has launched a E180 mln binding offer for Eastman Chemical Company´s PET and PTA plants in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Workington, UK. La Seda has stated that the move is part of the investment plan and capital hike that was approved by the group in June.

Supreme Petrochemicals projects turnover of Rs 1600 cr in current fiscal

India's largest polystyrene producer Supreme Petrochemicals Limited, is anticipates a turnover of Rs 1,600 crore in the current fiscal commencing from July 1, 2007.

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Medical device designer seeks Polymer Chemist at Medical Grade Polymer 2007

The recent AMI conference on Medical Grade Polymers (September 12-13, Philadelphia) attracted a cross-section of the medical device industry. There were a lot of mechanical engineers visiting to try to understand the materials that they have to work with and the materials suppliers were happy to provide the information.

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ExxonMobil awards Mitsubishi contract for PE plant in Singapore

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has been awarded a contract by ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. for two large-scale polyethylene (PE) units planned in Singapore.
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Degussa plans to invest E250 mln in 100,000 tpa MMA plant in China

Germany's Evonik Degussa, a global leader in specialty chemicals, has commenced construction on a new plant to produce about 100,000 tpa of methyl methacrylates (MMA), along with products such as methacrylic acid and butyl methacrylates.

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POLYMERS - HDPE

The market for High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) was lackluster in Asia in the week of September 17, 2007. HDPE prices stagnated at last weeks price level of US$1410/MT on account of limited deals. Suppliers did try to raise prices by offering material atleast twenty dollars higher, but lack of buying interest resulted in no deals at this price. Most buyers from China preferred to "wait and watch" in anticipation of a price amendment.

STYRENE MONOMER

Runaway oil prices and restricted supply kept Styrene Monomer prices high at US$1410/MT in Asia in the week of September 17, 2007. Price of feedstock benzene in Asia also firmed up on the back of strong crude oil market.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCK - PROPYLENE

Propylene prices dipped by twenty dollars to US$1090/MT in Asia in the week of September 17, 2007, as the market remained subdued. Quiet market conditions prevailed as a small number of deals was done due to little buying interest and low inventories that led to inadequate offers from the suppliers of South Korea. Restrained end-user demand prevailed as PP prices continued to be under downward pressure as well as on account of plant maintenance shutdown by few ACN producers.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCK - ETHYLENE

Ethylene prices dipped to US$1210/MT in Asia in the week of September 17, 2007. Prices in Asia dipped by almost thirty dollars on account of weaker demand from downstream PE manufacturers. PE demand remained lackluster on the eve of scheduled maintenance shutdown over the months of September and October. Market players are anticipating a continuous increase of ethylene supply- as Formosa's 700,000 tpa no.1 cracker restarts next week.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCK - VCM

VCM prices dipped by ten dollars to US$850/MT in Asia in the week of September 17, 2007 due to weak demand from China. Softer sentiments prevailed in the market due to strong opposition to price change from Chinese PVC producers. South Korean Hanwha Chemical plans to shut down its 230,000 tpa VCM plant in Yeosu at the end of October for a 20 day turnaround.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCK - EDC

EDC prices saw a drop to US$470/MT in Asia in the week of September 17, 2007. No movement was seen in the market as both buyers and sellers preferred to wait and watch. It seems that the buyers will prevail in the situation of "who will relent first" as sellers' intention to peg prices at last weeks levels are predicted to be hampered by bearish demand from downstream VCM producers in Asia due to the several scheduled plant outages for the maintenance turnaround. Falling feedstock ethylene rates also continue to maintain pressure as EDC prices head southwards.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCK - ETHYLENE

Ethylene prices dipped to US$1210/MT in Asia in the week of September 17, 2007. Prices in Asia dipped by almost thirty dollars on account of weaker demand from downstream PE manufacturers. PE demand remained lackluster on the eve of scheduled maintenance shutdown over the months of September and October. Market players are anticipating a continuous increase of ethylene supply- as Formosa's 700,000 tpa no.1 cracker restarts next week.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCK - VCM

VCM prices dipped by ten dollars to US$850/MT in Asia in the week of September 17, 2007 due to weak demand from China. Softer sentiments prevailed in the market due to strong opposition to price change from Chinese PVC producers. South Korean Hanwha Chemical plans to shut down its 230,000 tpa VCM plant in Yeosu at the end of October for a 20 day turnaround.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCK - EDC

EDC prices saw a drop to US$470/MT in Asia in the week of September 17, 2007. No movement was seen in the market as both buyers and sellers preferred to wait and watch. It seems that the buyers will prevail in the situation of "who will relent first" as sellers' intention to peg prices at last weeks levels are predicted to be hampered by bearish demand from downstream VCM producers in Asia due to the several scheduled plant outages for the maintenance turnaround. Falling feedstock ethylene rates also continue to maintain pressure as EDC prices head southwards.

NAPHTHA

Naphtha prices rose by almost twenty dollars, past US$700/mt in Asia in the week of September 17, 2007, in line with escalating oil prices. Open-spec naphtha prices for H1-November delivery ended the week at US$705/mt.

Price trends of oil, polymer feedstock & commodity polymers in Asia for the...

SUMMARY Crude oil futures escalated past US$80 per barrel as fast-forming Hurricane Humberto stunned the area around the Texas-Louisiana border and rendered shut down of three refineries. Naphtha rose in line with robust crude prices. EDC and VCM prices dropped due to bearish downstream demand. Ethylene prices dropped on account of weaker demand from downstream PE manufacturers. Propylene prices dropped on quiet market conditions. Styrene monomer (SM) prices rose in line with rising oil and benzene prices. HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE and PVC markets stagnated on dull buying interest. Subdued demand from China has pressurized PP as well as GPPS prices to drop. ABS prices climbed along with rising feedstock prices. CRUDE OIL Crude oil prices escalated past US$80 per barrel, but ended the week of September 17, 2007 at US$79.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Fast-forming Hurricane Humberto stunned the area around the Texas-Louisiana border, shutting down three refineries -Total Petrochemicals USA, Valero Energy Corp. and Motiva Enterprises LLC refineries in Port Arthur were shut down by power outages.

Mitsubishi and Sasol agree to dissolve JV for acrylic acid and acrylates bu...

Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and Sasol Chemical Industries Limited have agreed to dissolve the joint venture for acrylic acid and acrylates business in the Republic of South Africa, established on September 30, 2003.

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SP Chemicals to shift focus on styrene monomer production

In a bid to meet strong global demand, SP Chemicals plans to produce 320,000 tpa of styrene monomer. SP Chemicals plans to invest 1.1 bln renminbi (S$220 mln) on production facilities in China, financed by internal cash flow and bank borrowings.
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Petronas plans Kertih plastics hub to gain from readily available feedstock

Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) plans to develop a plastics manufacturing hub in Kertih to take advantage of readily available feedstock from its adjacent ethylene crackers. Currently, the capacity at these two plants is almost fully utilised but the output is mostly exported.

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Graham Corp. receives two equipment supply orders

Graham Corp. has received two orders totaling to US$3.7 mln to provide equipment for a methanol production facility in Oman and for a Gulf Coast oil refinery in Texas.

Graham will provide steam surface condensers, one of the industrial products it makes for the oil, petrochemical and other industries. The Texas order was from to replace a steam surface condenser that Graham originally provided in the mid 1960s and them replaced in 1988.

PetroChina secures environmental clearance for oil and petrochemical projec...

Asia's top oil and gas company - PetroChina, has won environmental clearance for its oil and petrochemical projects. The six projects, including a 200,000 bpd refinery and one mln tpa ethylene complex in the remote northwestern region near the Kazakhstan border, are to be financed by a domestic share issue.

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Iran privatizes 12 petrochemical companies

Iran has privatized 12 petrochemical companies in the past Iranian calendar year that has ended on March 20, 2007. This accounts for 35% of the sector's subsidiaries. The petrochemical companies of Khorassan, Shiraz, Tabriz, Bisotun in Kermanshah, Fanavaran, Shahid Tondguyan, Amir-Kabir, Razi in Mahshahr, and Ghadir in Assaluyeh constitute the privatization-bound companies of this year.

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Grapevine hints at sale of 6.1% stake in Unipetrol by Czech financial group

Market grapevine suggests that Czech financial group KKCG has hived off 6.1% stake in petrochemicals maker Unipetrol to an unnamed local company with Russian financing. The stake corresponds to 11 mln shares and was sold for 280 crowns a share, which is a 2.4% discount to Uniperol's volume weighted average price on Friday of 287 crowns a share. Russia's Lukoil is speculated to be backing the buyer.

Oil prices go over US$82 a barrel as US Fed cuts rates

Oil prices touched new highs and surpassed US$82 a barrel on news of a cut in interest rates by the Federal Reserve to boost the US economy. The Federal Reserve announced a cut in key interest rate to 4.75%, twice what most economists expected. New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for October delivery, was trading at US$82.27 a barrel, up 76 cents from its close of US$81.51 in late US trades on Tuesday. Brent North Sea crude for November delivery rose to US$78.25 a barrel.

Polypropylene Market Update in North America, September 17, 2007

Spot Polypropylene prices have softened just a tad from August highs however, the current price break might seem more dramatic to those buyers whose resin costs had previously moved into the mid-$.60s/lb. Since August price increases were not fully implemented, there has been a steady flow of Generic Prime Homopolymer offers available from some producers in the lower $.60s/lb.

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Polyethylene Market Update in North America, September 17, 2007

Spot Polyethylene prices on average were mostly steady this past week, which is contrary to producers' efforts to raise September contracts by as much as $.09/lb. Spot prices have been unable to regain steam since slipping a couple cents from season's highs after the August price increase was pushed off.

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Polymer Market Update in North America, September 17, 2007

Until this past week, the feedstock and resin market rallies had stalled and they began to give back some of their previous gains. Then Tropical Storm Humberto suddenly gained hurricane status on Thursday as it made landfall along the Petrochemical rich Texas/Louisiana region.

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Alfa to acquire PET Eastman's polymers production facilities in Mexico and ...

ALFA, S.A.B. de C.V. (ALFA) plans to acquire PET Eastman's polymers production facilities in Mexico and Argentina.

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Dow Polyurethanes plans capacity expansion of its Dutch polyols plant

In a move towards its' commitment to strengthen its position in Europe, with a focus on driving the growth of its Performance businesses throughout the region; Dow Polyurethanes, a business group of The Dow Chemical Company, plans to go ahead with the detailed engineering phase for capacity expansion at its polyols plant in Terneuzen,

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Royal DSM N.V. introduces UHMWPE for use in total joint arthroplasty and ot...

Royal DSM N.V has forayed into the market of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) for use in total joint arthroplasty and other medical devices. In the coming years DSM Biomedical plans to invest a significant amount in a research and development program focused on UHMWPE grades with optimized material properties, specifically aimed at currently unmet clinical needs in this orthopedic segment.

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Oil prices dip to US$78 a barrel

Light, sweet crude for October delivery dipped to US$78.59 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midmorning in Singapore. In London, October Brent crude slipped to US$75.98 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.

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Shaw group awarded Exxon Mobil' second petrochemical project in Singapore

Engineering and construction company - The Shaw Group Inc.'s company has been awarded a contract to design and build ExxonMobil Chemical´s new petrochemical plant and power generation facility in Singapore.

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An innovative water soluble packaging solution

EcoSol® - a water soluble, biodegradable, poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) film ideally suited for packaging applications for a wide range of products including detergents and cleaners, degreasers, concrete additives, pigments, biocides, water treatment products, agricultural products, and others has been introduced by Cortec® Corporation.

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Oman's Octal Holding plans to become world number 1 in APET sheet packaging

Oman's Octal Holding has invested US$300 mln into a petrochemical plant and plans to become the world's largest producer of amorphous polyethylene terephthalate (APET) sheet packaging.

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Oil prices settle above US$80 per barrel

Oil prices settled above US$80 a barrel as production problems at refineries as Hurricane Humberto hit Texas. Light, sweet crude for October delivery settled at a record US$80.09 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, October Brent crude fell 28 cents to settle at $77.40 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.

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Indian refiners to maintain naphtha exports at 900,000 tons for October

The naphtha Asian market is likely to remain under pressure with a supply glut that will be caused by continuance of high naphtha export volume by Indian refiners.

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Saudi Chevron Phillips Co likely to delay start up of Jubail plant

Reports indicate that Saudi Chevron Phillips Co is likely to delay the start up of the US$3 bln petrochemical plant in Jubail from Q4-2007 to Q1-08, with an ethylene production capacity of 220,000 tpa. Saudi Chevron Phillips Company is equally owned by Saudi Industrial Investment Group and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company.

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Texas Petrochemicals suspects fraud : to commence internal investigation

Texas Petrochemicals, Inc. has commenced an internal investigation into certain payments from accounts of the Company which appear to have been improperly authorized. The payments in question were reflected as operating expenses in the Company's accounting records during the periods in which they were made and, therefore, were reflected in the Company's earnings and EBITDA for those periods.

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Three refineries shut as fast forming Humberto strikes Texas and Louisiana

Fast-forming Hurricane Humberto has stunned the area around the Texas-Louisiana border. Humberto had been expected to hit land as a tropical storm, but suddenly transformed and strengthened into an 85 mph (137 kph) hurricane - the fastest on record. As Humberto struck, it killed at least one person, shut down three refineries and cut power to more than 100,000 customers.



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Chennai Petroleum Corp mulls 15 mln tpa grassroot refinery cum petrochemica...

Chennai Petroleum Corp Ltd (CPCL) is currently holding discussions with TIDCO to identify about 3,000 acres of land at Ennore for expansion plans that include petrochemical projects and a 15 mln tpa grassroot refinery cum petrochemical complex with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

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Tatneft selects Fluor to build oil refinery plant

Russian regional oil producer Tatneft has signed a preliminary agreement with US engineering company Fluor Corp. to build an oil refining and petrochemical complex in Nizhnekamsk.

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Vinythai's acquisition of Apex to boost economies of scale

Acquisition of assets of Apex is a move aimed at expanding production to meet economies of scale, which would increase its cost competitiveness in the global market. Vinythai Public Co. Ltd., Southeast Asia's third largest polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer, plans to expand capacity by acquiring the operating assets of Apex Petrochemical Co.

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Ineos lifts FM on ethylene from Grangemouth

Ineos Polyolefins has lifted force majeure (FM) that was declared on 29 May, on ethylene from at its Grangemouth, Scotland site on 3 September 2007.

Calcutta High Court refuses to contemplate TCG plea

The Calcutta High Court refused to consider a verbal plea by The Chatterjee Group (TCG) to prevent a board meeting of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL) at New Delhi on Wednesday from appointing a financial institution director.

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New extremely highly thermally conductive plastic compounds

PREMIX OY has widened its range of conductive plastics by introducing new extremely highly thermally conductive plastic compounds. PRETHERM TPE compounds are based on thermoplastic elastomers and exhibit excellent thermal conductivity.

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Bayer MaterialScience mulls world-scale MDI facility in Europe

Bayer MaterialScience is considering building a world-scale production methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) facility in Europe. A feasibility study is underway to focus particularly on factors such as costs and infrastructure for a number of possible locations. A decision on the construction of the facility is due to be made next year.

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Oil prices retreat from US$80 per barrel

Light, sweet crude for October delivery slipped marginally by 26 cents to US$79.65 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midmorning in Singapore. In London, October Brent crude dipped to US$77.62 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.

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S$61 million IPO launched by China-based Sinostar PEC

Sinostar PEC, Chinese producer and supplier of downstream petrochemicals plans to raise S$61 million through an IPO. Sinostar is offering 160 million shares for sale priced at 38 cents each, through the IPO that closes on 24 September 2007.

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OPEC agrees to boost crude output by 500,000 bpd

In an effort to calm markets shaken by high oil prices and worries that supplies could grow tight by the end of the year, OPEC has agreed to boost its crude output by 500,000 bpd with effect from Nov. 1. The increase would be based on the group's current production, meaning OPEC was adding actual oil to the market.

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Haitian acquires Germany's Zhafir Plastics Machinery

Ningbo, China based plastic injection moulding machine manufacturer Haitian International has acquired Bergisch-Gmünd, Germany based research and development company Zhafir Plastics Machinery for a sum of EUR 6.57 mln.

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Argentina Petroken cuts PP output by 15-20% on Shell refinery shutdown

Argentina's Petroken has reduced polypropylene (PP) output by 15-20% on account of diminishing feedstock deliveries from a Royal Dutch Shell refinery near Buenos Aires that is shutting down on allegations of contamination.

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Bioplastics with PLA based on sugar beet and sugarcane residues

An Italian biotech start-up called Bio-On is entering the bioplastics market with a process that produces polylactic acid (PLA) based plastics from sugar beet and sugarcane residues with a claimed efficiency of 95% : waste streams become valuable resources that can be converted almost in their entirety in a useful product.

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Essar sells naptha to Glencore at a lower premium

Essar Oil Ltd. is reported to have sold a late-September cargo of naphtha to oil trader Glencore at a lower premium to its earlier sales. Indian refiners are expected to export about 950,000 tons of naphtha for this month, and have so far sold or offered only 740,000 tons.

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Lukoil-Neftekhim plans US$1 bln investment in petrochem facility in Ukraine

Lukoil-Neftekhim plans to invest an approximate sum of US$1 bln in Ukraine`s Karpatnaftokhim. The new facility will process plastic and raw petrochemicals at Ukraine in the Ivano-Frankivsk town of Kalush. This amount does not include US$600 mln that the company plans to invest in the construction facility of new products - chlorine, caustic soda and 350,000 tpa polyvinylchloride.

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Essel Propack to acquire Alcan's packaging unit?

Reports indicate that Essel Propack is in talks to acquire Alcan's packaging unit. Although the Rs 300-crore Essel Propack is the largest specialty packaging company through its 12 plants across the world, it has a relatively smaller presence in the personal care packaging segment. If successful, the deal with Alcan would propel Essel to the top position in personal care packaging. Alcan Packaging Beauty, on the other hand, is present in 11 countries and has some of the world's leading cosmetics and beauty companies as its customers.

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Construction of Rhodia Polyamide's South Korean polymerization unit on Schedule

The construction of Rhodia Polyamide's new 48,000 tpa Polyamide 6.6 salt and polymerization plant in Onsan, South Korea is on schedule and that plant start-up is set for early December 2007.

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Dow expansion to support growing North American demand for end-use PU products & PU s...

To support growing demand for end-use polyurethanes products and polyurethane systems formulations in North America, Dow has planned expansion. Dow Polyurethanes, a business group of The Dow Chemical Company, plans expansion of the specialty mix polyols capability at its manufacturing facility in Freeport, Texas to the tune of 59000 tpa. The expanded capacity is scheduled to come on stream in early 2009.

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Polypropylene Market Update in North America, September 10, 2007

Spot Polypropylene offers are still coming in at mostly steady prices and spot supplies have begun to grow. The offers are accumulating since prices are considered high given that market sentiment is now turning negative. Propylene monomer costs are reported to have settled at least $.025/lb lower to $.455/lb. Considering that during this past year contract Polypropylene prices have closely followed contract Propylene prices, resin buyers are rightfully expecting a concession in September.

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Polyethylene Market Update in North America, September 10, 2007

The spot Polyethylene market was slow most of the past week. Producer offers were limited as would be expected for the beginning of a month when there is not only one, but two price increases nominated. Traders, however, have had little confidence in the $.09/lb in play, so they have been offering out their inventories for the past two weeks. With export sales a little hard to come by, producers silence did not last long and a fair amount of offers began to show in the later part of the week.

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Polymer Market Update in North America, September 10, 2007

The commodity resin markets were slow this past week. With considerable price increases currently in play for September resin contracts, fresh producer supplies were sparse this first week of the month. Upward price momentum seems to have stalled along with the export market, which had provided such good support to domestic pricing in recent months.

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ABS

ABS prices moved higher to US$1710/MT in Asia in the week of September 10, 2007. This price rise has been supported by rising values of feedstock costs - ACN, butadiene and SM. Offers for the next few weeks of September are estimated to rise by 10-20 dollars as cost pressures build up, particularly from feedstock ACN. This week saw a quantum leap in prices after an unexpected outage of China Secco's 240,000 tpa ACN plant.

GPPS

GPPS prices rose to US$1480/MT in Asia in the week of September 10, 2007. Improved buying interest from China has helped firm up market sentiments. Buyers in Hongkong and China have started to replenish stocks ahead of national holidays in China. Buyers prefer to stockpile because they anticipate a rise in prices as crude oil and feedstock benzene prices continue to rise.

PVC

PVC prices in Asia have stagnated at US$1040/MT in the week of September 10, 2007, on the back of strong demand globally. Weaker buying interest from China is expected to wane further as the traditionally low demand season nears commencement. However, strong demand from Russia, the Middle East and Africa, and tight PVC avails across Europe have pushed prices to the level of US$1,030-1050/MT. Producers seem reluctant to accept low bids for buyers in China and PVC prices in Asia are expected to increase by 30-40 dollars in October, as producers intend to increase their October on the back of strong global demand.

Polypropylene

PP prices dipped to US$1390/MT in Asia in the week of September 10, 2007. The market witnessed lowering of prices for September shipment on account of dwindling demand from Chinese buyers.

LLDPE

LLDPE price dipped by ten dollars to US$1400/MT in Asia in the week of September 10, 2007. As the conventional high season in China draws to a fag end, declining market sentiments were brought on by muted demand.

STYRENE MONOMER - LDPE

LDPE prices rose in Asia by ten dollars to US$1560/MT in the week of September 10, 2007. Stringent supplies from producers supported this rise. Supplies were tight because of preference of several producers towards a sustained increase in EVA production instead of LDPE production for improved profits.

POLYMERS - HDPE

HDPE prices in Asia withdrew to US$1410/MT in the week of September 10, 2007. This dip in prices was due to dwindling demand from China before the start of the national holiday from October 1. The weak demand was because Chinese processors do not wish to accumulate inventory before the holidays. Despite some upbeat selling indications, several suppliers started to lower their offers.

STYRENE MONOMER

Boosted by rising benzene prices, SM prices increased to the level of US$1395/MT in Asia in the week of September 10, 2007. Egged on by robust crude oil prices, upstream benzene prices rose in the week by about 5-10 dollars.

PROPYLENE

Propylene prices steadied at US$1110/MT in Asia in the week of September 10, 2007. A small number of firm offers were heard from S.Korean producers due to shortage of supply, but prices remained firm as buyers preferred to wait and watch as downstream PP prices started upon a downward price correction. More than 10,000 tons of propylene cargoes were rendered as surplus to be sold in the Chinese market. This supply glut can be attributed to a plant outage at Shanghai Secco Petrochemical's 260,000 tpa acrylonitrile plant. The glut has not exerted any immediate effect on the current market sentiments, as the surplus will be used to compensate the loss of propylene production from Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC) No.1 cracking unit, scheduled to go on a month long maintenance turnaround after an unplanned outage. This will result in a loss of propylene production of approximately 30,000 tons and also lead Formosa to defer the turnaround schedule for its No.2 cracking unit until the end of the month. The surplus glut is expected to have a negative effect on propylene demand from China in October first week, coinciding with the long National Day holiday of China.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCK - EDC

EDC market in Asia steadied at last weeks' level of US$480/MT in the week of September 10, 2007. A lull prevailed in the markets as most sellers could not match lower buying intention from the downstream vinyl producers. On the supply side, the markets will experience a 50,000 ton output loss over the next 3 weeks when Formosa shuts down its 1,100,000 tpa EDC plant at Mailio for annual maintenance.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCK - VCM

Fewer transactions in the VCM markets caused prices to stabilize at US$860/MT in Asia in the week of September 10, 2007. September offers were pushed back due to more-than-anticipated price resistance from Chinese buyers. Chinese buyers continue to resist down adjusted prices on account of relatively low domestic PVC price realization in China, and buying intention is pegged at least 20-30 dollars lower than sellers bids. However, supported by bullish market sentiments for downstream PVC, VCM sellers rejected further price cuts

NAPHTHA

Naphtha prices rose in line with strong crude oil prices in Asia in the week of September 10, 2007. Naphtha prices in the Asian market for second half of October delivery closed at US$680/MT levels this week.

Price trends of oil, polymer feedstock & commodity polymers in Asia for the week of S...

SUMMARY Crude oil futures spiked to their highest closing since August 2, rising to US$76 levels for October delivery in the week of September 10, 2007 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, on account of a continued drop in inventories. Naphtha rose in line with robust crude prices. EDC and VCM prices stagnated at last weeks' level. Ethylene prices dropped upon the arrival of cheaper cargoes from the Middle East. Styrene monomer (SM) prices rose in line with rising benzene prices. Propylene prices steadied as downstream PP prices started upon a downward price correction. LDPE rose on the back of stringent supplies. HDPE, LLDPE and PP prices dipped on weaker demand. PVC prices stagnated, while GPPS prices rose on improved market conditions and ABS prices climbed along with rising feedstock prices.

CRUDE OIL Crude oil futures for October delivery climbed to its highest closing price since Aug. 2 to US$76.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, on release of a government report showing a drop in crude and gasoline inventories. This is the eighth time in nine weeks that crude oil inventories have dropped, supporting the data that gasoline supplies have fallen by 1.5 mln barrels to their lowest level since September 2005. Concerns of faltering demand triggered by a slowdown in US economic growth is reason to believe that OPEC may reject calls to increase output at its Sept. 11 meeting.

Uflex to set up green field plant a Mexico

India's Uflex Ltd. is to set up a green field project for manufacturing polyester film in Mexico. Upon completion, the plant will attain the capacity of 52,800 tpa in several phases. With a capital outlay of US$91 mln, the plant will cater mainly to the American markets by providing better reach and service to the customers.

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Strong Demand for advice on REACH to be met at Conference

Smithers Rapra Technology, a subsidiary of the US-based independent testing, consulting and contract research organisation, The Smithers Group, has added Antwerp to the list of destinations for their growing series of REACH conferences.

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Sintex Industries mulls acquisition of Bright Brothers' auto plastic biz

Sintex Industries plans to acquire the automotive plastics division of Bright Brothers through Bright Auto Plastic, a downstream subsidiary of Sintex Industries.

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Aker Kvaerner awarded PTA contract in Portugal

Aker Kvaerner has been awarded a contract to provide the engineering, procurement services and construction management for Artenius' new mega Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) plant, to be built in Sines, Portugal. The contract value is approximately GBP 20 million.

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RIL to acquire polyester assets of Malaysia's Hualon

Reliance Industries Ltd. is to acquire the polyester assets of Hualon Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd in Malaysia. RIL has reached an agreement with the Receivers and Managers of Hualon Corporation, to acquire all assets of Hualon for undisclosed amount.

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A 25% reduction in fresh produce packaging will not compromise product quality

Recent trials by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) have demonstrated that the fresh produce industry can reduce packaging by around 25% without compromising product quality. This reduction in packaging also means fresh produce and packaging suppliers can reduce material costs, waste and greenhouse gas emissions while meeting retailers' challenging packaging reduction targets.

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EU authorities to further investigate acquisition of Hydro's polymers business by Ine...

The EU competition authorities plan to conduct further investigations in connection with the acquisition of Hydro's polymers business, Kerling ASA, by UK-based Ineos. This investigation is part of the competition clearance process.

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Novel method to make foam polystyrene biodegradable

Foam polystyrene has been made biodegradable through a novel approach by Chinese scientists. The team has now developed a new approach that involves embedding water-absorbing resin particles about five micromeres in diameter throughout a chemical like styrene before it is polymerised to form a polystyrene-like material.

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New Metallocene-based PP grade for TWIM Applications

Basell has launched a metallocene-based Metocene polypropylene (PP) copolymer, Clyrell EM248U, targeted for application towards processors of clear, thin-wall, injection-molded (TWIM) food applications in the United States. (The grade was introduced in Europe last year under the developmental name of Clyrell EM1791.) "Previously, processors have relied upon the need to add plastomers to conventional PP random copolymers in order to achieve the desired impact and clarity for TWIM applications," said Amit Gupta, customer project manager for Basell's Metocene global business unit.

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Singapore plans to invest US$11 bln in Vietnam

Singapore's SP Chemicals Ltd. Co. plans to invest US$11 bln in a project to build the Hoa Tam Petrochemical Industrial Zone and the Naphtha Cracking Phu Yen Petrochemical Complex in southern Phu Yen province.

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Samsung Engineering receives US$1.1 bln order from Thai PTT

Samsung Engineering Co. has received a US$1.1 bln contract from Thailand's PTT Pcl to build gas plants. The value of this order makes it the biggest Thai order for South Korea's No. 1 engineering company. The US$1.1 bln deal includes Samsung's previous contract with PTT, announced on July 24, to build a chemical plant for US$470 million.

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PTT awards US$170 mln refinery upgrade order to SK Eng

Thailand's state-run PTT Public Co. Ltd. has awarded a US$170 mln contract to SK Engineering & Construction. SK Engineering will build upgrade facilities such as condensate residue splitter and kerosene merox unit that turn benzene, toluene, and xylene residue into naphtha, diesel and jet fuel for PTT's affiliate Rayong Refinery Public Co Ltd (RCC).

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RIL:JV talk in China on the cards?

According to sources, Reliance is reportedly planning a petrochemical project in Eastern China. RIL is reported to be in talks with China Petroleum for a joint venture, and also in talks with other Chinese refineries for JVs.

The company is reported to be evaluating various proposals to set up these petrochemical projects.

Venezuela and Bolivia sign cooperation agreement for petrochemical production

Venezuelan President and his Bolivian counterpart have signed a range of cooperation agreements on petrochemical and cement production, forestry and mining.

As per the deal, the petrochemical complex will be built in the Bolivian city of Cochabamba.

Japanese August ethylene production dips amid maintenance shutdowns

Amid maintenance shutdowns, Japanese ethylene production in the month of August dipped by 1%as against production figures for the same month a year ago. Ethylene production for August this year has totaled to 636,800 tons in August, compared with 643,300 tons in 2006. Two Japanese ethylene units were shut down due to maintenance-related work as compared to only one plant shutdown a year ago.

Total Petrochemicals restarts unit

Total Petrochemicals, USA has restarted a unit at its 232,000 bpd Port Arthur, Texas, refinery. Unit 813 began restarting after maintenance. The restart is expected to be completed by Sept. 19.

Simultaneously, Total has shut down another unit- Unit 804 for maintenance.

LG Chem completes PVC plant in China

LG Chem, South Korea's largest chemicals maker, has completed construction of a PVC plant in China at an investment of US$300 mln (281 bln won). With this new capacity, LG Chem's annual PVC output will total to 920,000 tons.

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Borealis completes sale of Norwegian polyolefins business to Ineos

Borealis has completed the sale of its Norwegian polyolefins business and share of the Noretyl gas cracker to Ineos. The deal, estimated at EUR 290 mln, encompasses a 175,000 tpa polypropylene (PP) unit and a 140,000 tpa low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit, as well as a 50% share of the 557,000 tpa Noretyl gas cracker.

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GAIL completes HDPE plant at Pata

GAIL (India) has achieved mechanical completion of its new 1,00,000 tpa HDPE (high density polyethylene) plant at the petrochemical complex at Pata, based on technology from Mitsui, Japan. With the completion of the new HDPE plant, the polymer capacity of the Pata Petrochemical plant has increased to 4,10,000 tpa. The project was completed within the estimated project cost of Rs 647.38 crore.

IOC to commission 15 mln tpa refinery and petrochemical complex by 2011

Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has received environmental clearance for its project in Orissa on August 6, 2007. IOC will commission a new 15 million tons oil refinery and an accompanying petrochemical complex at Paradip in Orissa by October 2011, at an investment outlay of Rs 25,646 crore.

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HPCL plans partnership for new project in South India

Hindustan Petroleum Corp is considering setting up of a refinery and/or petrochemical project in South India, and take on steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, gas firm GAIL (India) Ltd and/or Oil India Ltd as partners. Mittal's Singapore-based Mittal Energy Investments is HPCL's partner with a 49% stake in a proposed refinery to be set up in Bhatinda in northern India.

Total start maintenance shutdown at Carling cracker

Total Petrochemicals' Line 1 of the steam cracker located in Carling, France has been shut for a 6 week maintenance maintenance wef 3 September 2007. The maintenance and modernisation plan will require an investment to the tune of EUR 62 mln. The plan will comprise a new turbine that will be installed on the propylene compressor together with new ethane crackers.

Coca Cola to invest in US PET bottle plant to bottle recycling plant

As part of its integral goal of recycling or re-using all of its PET bottles in the US market, Coca-Cola plan to invest over US$60 mln in a US bottle recycling plant.

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Thailand uses sugar waste to make biodegradable food packaging

Bagasse, a previously useless waste product from sugar cane, is being used to make biodegradeable packaging for food products in Thailand. The new "bagasse boxes" are made out of agricultural sugar waste, and so decompose after use, claims its Thai manufacturer, the Biodegradeable Packaging for Environment company.

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Partners reach JV agreement on Fujian petrochem project

The three partners in Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Co - Exxon, Sinopec and Saudi Arabian Oil, also known as Aramco have finally reached an agreement. The agreement was reached despite China's policy of capping pump prices, which have brought losses to Chinese refiners because they cannot pass on high crude costs to consumers. Sinopec will own 50% of the joint venture, with Aramco and Exxon holding 25% each.

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Indian petrochemical industry poised to grow at 12-15%

A study on future outlook on the organic chemicals industry by Tata Strategic Management Group states that the Indian petrochemical industry is poised for a growth of 12-15% over the next 5-7 years and this is expected to translate into investments of US$12-15 bln for the chemicals industry.

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Sinopec mulls raising US$5 bln for refinery and ethylene complex JV in Guangzhou

Sinopec is contemplating raising US$5 billion to build its joint-venture refinery in Guangzhou. The JV project has a capacity to refine 15 million tons of oil and produce 1 million tons of ethylene. Sinopec is in negotiations with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), Dow Chemical and Royal Dutch/Shell for the project.

Partners raise US$4 bln finance for Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co

The three partners in Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Co - Exxon, Sinopec and Saudi Arabian Oil, also known as Aramco have raised CNY30 bln (US$4 bln) in funding - representing the largest-ever project financing for a Sino-foreign joint venture in China. Funding was provided by a group of 11 Chinese banks plus Sinopec's finance arm.

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Reliance and Rohm and Haas to close deal on proposed acrylic acid joint venture

Reliance and Rohm and Haas are reported to be on the threshold of finalising the equity structure of their proposed joint venture company. Indian petrochem major RIL, and US based specialty materials company Rohm and Haas, have signed an MoU to construct a large scale acrylic acid plant at Jamnagar. Initial investments in the plant will be approximately US$250-300 mln.

ExxonMobil to awards major contracts for steam-cracking complex in Singapore

ExxonMobil Chemical Company has completed its detailed study of a second world-scale steam cracker complex in Singapore and made the final decision to proceed with construction. The project will be located at and integrated with its existing Singapore site, providing feedstock, operating and investment synergies with both the chemical plant and refinery.

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Polystyrene Market Update in North America, September 3, 2007

The spot Polystyrene market has continued to soften, losing about $.015/lb during the 2nd half of September. While the market is not really over-supplied, costs have eased slightly, which has placed pressure on this resin market. While costs are still historically high, with Benzene prices down in the $3.30s/gal range and Styrene monomer back down around $.57/lb, a little edge has been taken off of the market.

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Polypropylene Market Update in North America, September 3, 2007

The spot Polypropylene market saw limited activity this past week; there was a normal flow of resin, both generic prime and good offgrade. After squeaking out another margin saving $.02/lb price increase in August, there is another $.03/lb price increase nominated for September. The market however, seems to be vulnerable to at least a modest break in prices, so buyers are apprehensive to make any purchases above and beyond their current needs.

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Polyethylene Market Update in North America, September 3, 2007

The spot Polyethylene market was busy during the final week of August. Resin prices had rallied earlier in the month when producers were looking to implement their $.04/lb price increase, but then stabilized when the increase was delayed until September. Market supporting exports slowed into the middle of the month, so even though producers nominated another $.05/lb increase with a mid-Sept target date (totaling $.09/lb), spot Polyethylene prices began to recede, giving back at least early August gains.

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Polymer Market Update in North America, September 3, 2007

It was a fairly busy week for spot resin trading. Contrary to the past few months, this time it was the sellers who were the aggressors into month end. In prior months, buyers had procured additional lots of resin as protective measures ahead of pending price increases; however, the market sentiment has begun to change. Now the general feeling is that even with more price increases nominated, the commodity resin markets might very well have topped and could potentially even move lower.

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Pakistan's sole PVC maker plans PVC plant expansion and a new chlor-alkali complex

Engro Asahi Polymer Chemicals - Pakistan's sole polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer has embarked on an ambitious US$221 mln expansion plan. Engro Asahi has secured loan amounting to US$150 mln, that will be utilized to partly fund expansion of its PVC plant and construction of a chlor-alkali complex adjacent to it.

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TVS Group Company plans bioplastics production

Chennai-based Harita NTI, a TVS Group Company plans to manufacture base resins from bio-mass. Harita NTI, a 50:50 JV between TVS and Northern Technologies International Corporation of the US, will employ polymer energy technology to convert waste plastic to crude oil and biodegradable and biobased plastics.

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Polymer - ABS

A dormant market led to stagnant ABS prices in Asia in the week of Sep 3, 2007, as prices remained at US$1700/MT. Conventionally, these months are high demand season for Christmas, but this year has seen subdued demand for Chinese products as global toy makers chose to recall Chinese toys globally. Buyers preferred to be in the sideline and wait to act in response to the direction of the future market. With the continuance of lull for Made in China goods, producers will attempt to sell more cargoes toward non-Asian countries, instead of lower their offers.

Polymer - GPPS

Price for GPPS rose marginally, and remained range bound between US$1470-1475/MT in Asia in the week of Sep 3, 2007, as PS market sentiments softened. The market remained low key despite a rise in feedstock SM prices. Demand from China continues to be restrained and few transactions have been recorded even at this low price range. This can be because PS demand continues to wane in China as an effect of the global recall of Chinese toys.

Polymer - PVC

PVC prices rose by ten dollars to US$1040/MT levels in Asia in the week of Sep 3, 2007. However, tight supplies in Non Asian markets and strong global demand has led to a hike in price of PVC cargoes to Middle East and other regions for the September shipment supported by. PVC prices are expected to mellow down as global buyers are being watchful in accepting high PVC offer prices ahead on the approaching slow demand season.

Polymer - PP

PP markets remained lackluster and remained a laggard at last weeks' price of US$1400/MT in Asia in the week of Sep 3, 2007. Producers attempted to hike prices, and offers were quoted at US$1410-1425/MT levels, but PP markets remained subdued due to thin transactions on quiet market conditions seen in China.

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POLYMERS - LLDPE

Prices for LLDPE steadied at last weeks' US$11410/MT in Asia in the week of Sep 3, 200. Restrained demand from Chinese buyers did not let prices advance despite a 10-20 dollar hike bid by suppliers. LLDPE offers for September shipment from S.Korea and Taiwan rose to US$1410-1420/MT, but overall buying sentiment remained pegged at no more than US$1390/MT.

POLYMERS - LDPE

LDPE prices steadied at last week's level of US$1550/MT in the week of Sep 3, 2007 in Asia. Sustained by lackluster buying interest, market sentiments for LDPE remained stagnant in Asia. September offers by Asian suppliers were pegged higher by US$20-30/MT, while Middle Eastern offers were pegged about 15-20 dollars higher.

POLYMERS - HDPE

HDPE prices stabilized at last weeks' level of US$1425/MT in Asia in the week of Sep 3, 2007. Selling price was heard quoted 10-15 dollars more, but prices resisted a gain as buyer intentions were pegged lower in anticipation of a price dip as they continue to believe that HDPE market prices have almost peaked and have nowhere to go but southwards.

STYRENE MONOMER

Styrene Monomer prices in Asia stabilized at last weeks' level of US$1390/MT in the week of Sep 3, 2007. Prices continued to maintain themselves despite a fifteen dollar dip in f eedstock benzene prices.

PROPYLENE

Propylene offers ploughed through at around last weeks' level of US$110-1115/MT in Asia in the week of Sep 3, 2007. End user demand has been lame as buyers from China preferred to “wait and watch” for a down-adjustment of offer prices. Downstream PP market continues to lose upward momentum, further reducing demand for propylene. On the supply side- The Chinese market has been affected by the arrival of cargoes from Japan. This supply surplus is being coupled with reluctance to lower prices below last week's levels on behalf of South Korean producers, as they perceive a drop in supplies from Taiwan, as Formosa has delayed the restart of its troubled no.1 naphtha cracker at Mailiao. For the rest of the month, market supply is likely to be tightened on account of upcoming turnaround outages at propylene units in S. Korea and Japan. However, relatively higher inventories available with Japanese traders could balance out the expected supply crunch.

ETHYLENE

Ethylene prices in Asia dropped by almost 40 dollars to US$1240/MT in the week of Sep 3, 2007. Asian ethylene market continued to maintain a downbeat mood on account of several reasons. Serious compressor trouble has forced Formosa to defer the restart of its no.1 naphtha cracker to the third week of this month. However, the market did see increasing supply from Middle Eastern producers, but offer price dipped to as low as 1215/MT as most buyers preferred to wait and watch, on expectations of increasing supply of cargo from Iran. The supply from the Middle East was caused by problems at a MEG plant in Saudi Arabia, leading to a supply glut being diverted as exports to Asia.

EDC

EDC prices in Asia, that had spiked in the last weeks of August, stabilized at US$480/MT in Asia in the week of Sep 3, 2007. Despite stringent supplies across the region, prices did not show much movement as demand from vinyl producers in China weakened on account of planned annual maintenance turnaround at several VCM plants in the region. Sellers indicated prices at least US$40-50/MT lower versus buyer bids at US$460/MT.

POLYMER FEEDSTOCK - VCM

VCM price spiked to US$860/MT level in Asia in the week of Sep 3, 2007. Stringent supplies in the region have led to a 10-20 dollar hike in the price of VCM for the week. Deficient inventories have caused Japan's Tosoh to defer VCM exports for September. Offers for the rest of the month were pegged higher at US$870-880/MT, but buying interest from downstream PVC manufacturers in China waned and caused VCM prices to linger around US$840-850/MT. It seems that the sellers will prevail in this situation of “who will relent first” as they seem unwilling to lower their offers because of limited cargoes.

NAPHTHA

Strong crude oil prices have led to robust naphtha prices in Asia in the week of Sep 3, 2007. Naphtha prices in the Asian market for second half of October delivery closed at USD667/MT this week. Earlier this week, naphtha prices strengthened to US$680/MT levels, but prices closed much weaker at the end of the week.

Price trends of oil, polymer feedstock and commodity polymers in Asia for the we..

SUMMARY Crude oil futures spiked to a four week high, rising to US$74.04 a barrel for October delivery in the week of Sep 3, 2007 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, on account of a sudden drop in inventories. Naphtha rose in line with robust crude prices. Ethylene prices dropped sharply as the market continued to maintain a downbeat mood. Propylene prices rose marginally . S tyrene monomer (SM) prices stagnated despite a drop in benzene prices. EDC prices stagnated at last weeks' level, while stringent supplies in the Asian region have supported a hike in VCM prices . All the polyethylenes, PP and ABS. PVC prices rose in line with higher VCM prices and GPPS prices rose marginally.
CRUDE OIL Spiking by almost 4%, c rude oil for October delivery rose to its highest closing price in over 4 weeks to US$74.04 a barrel in New York, in the week of Sep 3, 2007. A larger than expected drop in US oil and gasoline inventories, reported by the Energy Department, has led crude oil market to a bullish trend. Crude oil strength was also bolstered by concerns about a storm in the Atlantic Ocean- Felix. Felix has rapidly strengthened into a dangerous Category 5 hurricane and churned through the Caribbean Sea on a path toward Central America, where it is forecast to become a "potentially catastrophic" storm.

Oltchim to commence negotiations for acquisition of Petrochemicals Arges

Oltchim Ramnicu Valcea is to commence negotiations for the acquisition of Petrochemicals Arges.Petrochemicals Arges encompasses petrochemical operations of Romanian oil firm Petrom's Arpechim Pitesti refinery.

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Canadian export credit agency lends US$100 million to RIL

Export Development Canada, a Crown corporation that acts as an export credit agency, has announced its US$100 million participation in a 10-year, US$2 billion syndicated loan for petrochemical company Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) of India.

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GE completes sale of plastics business

General Electric Co. has completed the US$11.6 bln sale of its plastics division to Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC). In recent years, GE Plastics' performance results have afflicted by the rising costs of natural gas and raw materials since 2004. Profits for the division fell by 22% to US$674 mln in 2006.

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Active and intelligent packaging demand in the US forecast to grow at 13% pa

Active and intelligent packaging demand in the US is forecast to grow by 13% pa to US$1.1 bln in 2011, as per a report by Freedonia Group.

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USA to see an uptrend in demand for flame retardants

Demand for flame retardants in USA is to rise by 3% pa to 1.2 billion pounds in 2011, at a market value of just over US$1 bln, as per a report by Freedonia.

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Ineos removes force majeure on LDPE from Cologne

Ineos Polyolefins has removed force majeure (FM) on its LDPE production at Cologne, Germany, after repairs have successfully carried out. The force majeure was declared in May 2007 after one of the lines faced problems caused by a minor ethylene leakage at the same time that the other line was undergoing maintenance.

Conference on Fire Resistance in Plastics

AMI is pleased to announce the second edition of Fire Resistance in Plastics, to take place from 19-21 November 2007 in Cologne, Germany. This unique business conference and exhibition is for all companies involved in flame retardancy and offers the opportunity to learn about the latest developments that will influence the industry.

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Antimicrobial acetal copolymers for injection molding and extrusion

Mounting concern over bacterial contamination in many settings has led Ticona, the engineering polymers business of Celanese Corporation, to introduce Anti-Crobe Antimicrobial Polymers, a family of antimicrobial acetal copolymers (POM) that includes two injection molding grades and an extrusion grade.

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Enterprise to expand polymer grade propylene capacity 73,000 bpd

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. has successfully installed its fourth propylene fractionator at the partnership's Mont Belvieu, Texas complex that is now in service.

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Daewoo to build HDPE plant for a unit of PTT PCL

South Korean company- Daewoo Engineering Co has been awarded a US$130 mln order to build a high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant for a unit of PTT PCL , Thailand's biggest energy firm. Daewoo will build the 250,000 tpa HDPE plant in an industrial complex about 200 kms southeast of Bangkok. The project is scheduled for completion by October 2009.

Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) sells naphtha from Kandla and Dahej

State-run Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) has sold 180,000 tons of naphtha to be loaded from Kandla between October 2007 and March 2008 to Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC) at an US$8/ton premium to its price formula, free-on-board (FOB) basis, as per a trading source.

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Oil prices rise to US$73

Oil prices, that steadied at lower levels in the previous session on slower than expected economic growth figures and profit-taking, have moved up marginally to US$73. Light, sweet crude for October delivery inched up to US$73.47 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, early morning in Singapore.

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