Complete restart of YNCC’s cracker expected toward end of week

Complete restart of YNCC’s naphtha cracker is expected toward end of week- or Thursday at the earliest. YNCC has started feeding naphtha for the largest of its three naphtha crackers after a brief shuutdown due to a technical glitch, as per Reuters.

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European Commission speeds regulatory approval of Ineos’ takeover of PS, EPS JV operated with Nova

The European Commission has fast-tracked regulatory approval of UK-based Ineos’ planned takeover of a polystyrene and expanded polystyrene joint venture operated with Canada’s Nova since 2005, as per prw.

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Lotte Group mulls US$5 bln investment in petrochemicals in Indonesia

South Korea's Lotte Group is considering a US$5 bln investment in petrochemicals in Indonesia’s Java island, as per Reuters. Lotte currently owns two petrochemical production facilities in Indonesia tthrough Titan Chemicals, that Lotte acquired last year via unit Honam Petrochemical.

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Sharp hike in US benzene prices follows escalating crude prices

Benzene prices in USA witnessed a sharp hike as crude oil values escalated in line with monting tensions in Libya, as per Platts. Benzene price was approaching record highs set in August 2008- March bbenzene was heard bid at 447 cents/gal FOB USG, with offers at 465 cents/gal FOB USG.

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Brent crude hovers below US$108

Brent crude traded at US$107.6 supported by concerns that the revolt in Libya is likely to spread in more nations of the Middle East, likely to cross US$110 if the turmoil in the Middle East continuess, as per Bloomberg.

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Naphtha prices in Asia at over two year highs in line with robust Brent crude

Open spec naphtha for front-month H1-April spiked by over 30 dollars to US$927/ton in line with robust Brent crude values. This is the highest level that Asian naphtha has peaked to since Sept. 4 20088 at US$946/ton.

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Price trends of oil, polymer feedstock and commodity polymers in Asia for the week ended February 21, 2011

CRUDE OIL
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March rose by over a dollar to US$87.3 in the week of February 21, 2011, while Brentt crude crossed US$103 on concerns fuelled by rising tensions in Libya.

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Volatility continues in NGL, downstream petrochemicals markets after fire at Enterprise Products

Price volatility continues in the NGL and downstream petrochemical markets after an explosion that occurred on February 8 forced a shutdown at Enterprise Product Partners' Mont Belvieu West Storage faacility, as per Platts.

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LyondellBasell plans restart of olefins unit at La Porte chemical plant in Texas

LyondellBasell Industries NV planned the restart of its olefins unit at the La Porte chemical plant, Texas, as per Bloomberg. The unit encountered an unrelated issue while increasing operating rates aand had to be temporarily shut down.

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KPC seals contract for April 2011-March 2012 naphtha at premiums of US$18/ton

Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) has sealed a naphtha contract for April 2011 to March 2012 with at least one Asian customer at premiums of about US$18/ton to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) baasis, after a week of discussion in Singapore, as per Reuters.

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No buyer acceptances for April 2011-March 2012 naphtha for Middle Eastern naphtha

Naphtha buyers in term talks with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) are locked in a standoff over what they deem to be high premiums for the supply of naphttha over the April 2011-March 2012 cycle, as per Platts.

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Japan's naphtha imports for petrochemical rise 4% in January 2011 yoy

Japan's naphtha imports for the petrochemical sector rose 4% in January 2011 vs January 2011 as per Reuters. Imports of naphtha for ethylene production amounted to 2,209,789 kilolitres (1,533,498 tonss) last month, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.

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Iran's petrochemical capacity to cross 95 mln tpa by end of Fifth development plan in 2016

With the implementation of Bushehr and Marjan petrochemical complexes construction projects Iran's petrochemical production capacity will cross 95 mln tpa by the end of the fifth development plan (20011-2016), Shana news agency reported quoting Iranian minister of petroleum Seyed Masoud Mirkazemi.

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Clariant bidding to acquire Süd-Chemie AG

Clariant is bidding to acquire Süd-Chemie AG in a €2 bln (US$2.67 bln) deal with a particular interest in the German chemical company's catalyst and adsorbents businesses, as per Plasticstoday.com. IIn a presentation to analysts, Clariant called the catalyst and adsorbent units "attractive, high margin businesses" that provide "future technologies with high long-term growth potential.

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BP to increase production capacity of purified terephthalic acid in Guangdong Province

BP Plc is to increase production capacity of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) in China’s Guangdong Province to about 1.7 mln tpa fom the current 1.5 mln tpa. The expansion is expected to be fully operrational in Q1-2012.

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Naphtha prices climb, cracks near 5 month lows in Asia

Asia's naphtha price climbed to a two-session high from a two-session low the previous day, but cracks remained depressed, nearing a five-month low on weak fundamentals, as per Reuters. Gulf supplierss Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) and ADNOC persevere with their talks with buyers, as both sides remain entrenched in their own price ideas.

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Royal DSM N.V to acquire majority shareholding in Chinese UHMWPE fiber maker

Royal DSM N.V., the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company has signed an agreement to acquire majority shareholding in Shandong ICD High Performance Fibre Co Ltd. ("ICD"), based in Laiwu,, Shandong province, China.

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India to host its first International Conference on Sustainable Development of Plastics

A majority of trends witnessed by the global plastics industry in the recent past are focused towards sustainability and green development. These trends are slowly but surely shifting their focus towaards economic benefits as well.

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European Union threatens to impose tariffs against PET from Saudi Arabia and Oman

The European Union (EU) has threatened to impose tariffs against PET from Saudi Arabia and Oman, saying EU producers may be victims of subsidies and price undercutting, as per Bloomberg. The EU openedd probes into whether Saudi and Omani makers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) get trade-distorting government aid and sell in the Euro 3 bln (US$4.

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LLDPE prices losing premium over HDPE in China

LLDPE film prices in China’s import market are beginning to lose premium over HDPE film prices as per Chemorbis. For much of H2-2010, LLDPE film prices gained ground against HDPE film on comparativelyy better demand for LLDPE film combined with limited availability.

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