WorleyParsons awarded US$200 mln contract for refinery and petrochem project in Ecuador

Australian engineering and services company WorleyParsons has been awarded a US$200 mln contract for project management consultancy at the US$12 bln Refineria del Pacifico refinery and petrochemicals project in Ecuador, as per Platts.

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PTA, polyester market balance in China key to restoring confidence

Price stability and an equilibrium between supply and demand are key to restore confidence in the Chinese purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyester industry, as per market participants in Platts..

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Mediterranean PVC markets see higher offers out of the US

Recently, several major Mediterranean markets have been seeing higher import offers for American PVC, as per ChemOrbis. This is being attributed to rising export PVC prices from the US and greater buyying interest from PVC buyers in Southeast Asia and India, following the news of Tosoh’s shutdown at its VCM plant in Japan, which has prompted speculation that VCM and PVC supply might tighten in the region.

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Naphtha/Gasoline cracks in Asia at highest level in the month

Naphtha cracks in Asia have peaked to their highest level in a month but weak fundamentals kept the physical timespreads at parity. Traders continue to struggle with a lack of clear direction, as futuure Chinese petrochemical demand remained unclear to most, as per Reuters.

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Idemitsu Kosan plans scheduled maintenance on two naphtha crackers at Tokuyama in 2012

Idemitsu Kosan Co plans to conduct scheduled maintenance on its two naphtha crackers at its Tokuyama plant in September 2012, as per Reuters. The duration of the shutdown has not been set but it will likely be a little less than two months.

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Further dip in European polyethylene contract prices follows spot prices

European polyethylene contract prices for November fell further this week as converters tried to narrow the gap between contract and spot prices, as per Platts. However, net contract prices are still higher than spot material available.

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Softer domestic PP, PE prices put pressure on imports to China

Domestic PP and PE prices are tracking a softening trend inside China as the Chinese economy shows signs of cooling down, while overseas demand remains discouraging and confidence in the global econommic outlook weakens, as per ChemOrbis.

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Polyethylene imports in China fall in October, rise on year

China’s polyethylene imports rose for the year. Low density polyethylene (LDPE) witnessed the sharpest gains of 47.6%, according to data released by the Customs Service. As reported by Platts, China iimported 122,827 tons of LDPE in October, up 39,635 tons over the same period last year.

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Shell on verge of commercializing phosgene-free feedstock link-up with polycarbonate major

Shell is on the verge of commercialising a technology for the production of diphenyl carbonate (DPC) as a feedstock for the production of polycarbonate, as per theengineer.co.uk. Over recent years, Shhell has been in talks with major manufacturers of the engineering polymer, for whom DPC offers a potential replacement to phosgene - a highly toxic feedstock precursor.

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SABIC’s new US based PP compounding operation opened to meet rising automotive OEM demand

SABIC’s Innovative Plastics business celebrated a major milestone with the official opening of its specialty polypropylene (PP) compounding operation at its Bay St. Louis, Mississippi manufacturing siite.

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BP, IOC ink MOU for 50:50 JV in Gujarat

UK-based British Petroleum (BP) and Indian Oil Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to set up a 50:50 joint venture for a 1 mln tpa acetic plant in Gujarat. The plant will come up with associated gassification facilities for production of synthesis gas.

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ONGC sells second December loading cargo from Hazira at marginally higher premiums

Oil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC) has sold a second cargo for December loading from Hazira at marginally higher premiums, as per Reuters. ONGC sold the 35,000 tons for Dec. 17-18 loading at premiums oof US$17-18/ton to Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.

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Chang Chun Petrochemical Group to budget NT$50 bln in massive overseas expansion

Chang Chun Petrochemical Group will budget NT$50 billion in massive overseas expansion, including setting up new plants in Singapore, Changshu, Jiangsu province and Panjin, Liaoning province, China, aas per CENS.

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US sanctions unlikely to impact Iran’s petrochemical sales to Europe

The fresh sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical sector will not stop it selling to European markets but would push up global market prices and generate more export revenues, as per Fars news agency.
"(SSanctions) will certainly lead to an increase in the price of petrochemical products in the global markets and it might unwillingly be a significant contribution to our foreign exchange revenues because Iran will never lose its target markets," Deputy Oil Minister Abdolhossein Bayat told Fars.

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Fall in Q3-2010 petrochemical production in Taiwan

Taiwan's petrochemical production value totaled NT$462.8 billion during Q3 according to a report by Industry and Technology Intelligence Services (ITIS), under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA)..

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Oil prices fall on Europe's persistent debt problems, weaker US economic growth, fresh sanctions against Iran

Oil prices fell hover near US$96 on Europe's persistent debt problems, weaker economic growth in USA and fresh sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
Benchmark crude on the Nymex for Januarry delivery dipped to US$96 after rising to US$98 in New York on Tuesday.

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Formosa Petrochemical plans 80% run rates in Dec-Jan at three Mailiao steam crackers

Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical plans to operate its three naphtha-fed steam crackers at Mailiao at about 80% of their capacities in December and January, as per Platts. The runs were reduced to 80% frrom 100% at the end of October due to poor downstream derivative demand and production margins.

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Perstorp, PTT Global Chemical plan JV to serve polyurethane industry

Specialty Chemicals company Perstorp and PTT Global Chemical plan to launch a joint venture dedicated to the manufacturing and sales of aromatic (TDI) and aliphatic (IPDI, HDI & derivates) isocyanatess; serving the polyurethane industry.

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Downward correction in styrene leaves European PS producers without support

The earlier gains in European spot styrene prices had caused sentiment in Italy’s PS market to firm up last week, with several European PS sellers voicing hike targets for December, as per ChemOrbis. An earlier jump of around US$150/ton (€112/ton with the recent parity) in spot styrene prices compared to the early November level had encouraged PS sellers to attempt to pull the market out of a three-month long bearish trend last week.

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CP Chem restarting Sweeny olefins complex after power and steam outage

Restart of ChevronPhillips Chemicals’ ethylene production at its olefins complex in Sweeny, Texas, is underway. The complex was shut following a power and steam outage overnight, as per Platts. It is unclear how many crackers were in restart mode.

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