European PP buyers are still paying record-high prices

(ICIS) -- European polypropylene (PP) buyers are still paying record-high prices as relief from a relentless round of price increases fails to materialise, sources said on Tuesday. Net homopolymer injection prices are currently trading on either side of EUR 1.400/tonne (USD 2.000/tonne) FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe), recording an almost constant price rise from a low of EUR 600/tonne at the end of 2008.

The expected flood of imports from new production in the Middle East has still not arrived, and sources do not expect this situation to change in the short term.

Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical (Petro Rabigh) is planning to shut its 700 KTa PP plant at Rabigh, Saudi Arabia, at the end of April for approximately two months of maintenance.

Egypt's Oriental Petrochemical Co (OPC) is running its 160 KTa PP unit at about 80% because of a lack of propylene supply from Libya.

Pricing in Europe for April PP has been mixed, with producers taking a different approach to the market depending mainly on their stock position, but there has been no hint of a price reduction from European suppliers.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Brazil-based petrochemical and polymers company Braskem is considering a greenfield investment in an ethylene cracker and a polyethylene (PE) plant in the US, its CEO said on Tuesday. ⌠In PE as well as PVC [polyvinyl chloride], we see opportunities for greenfield investment in the US, especially with the shale gas feedstock, said CEO Carlos Fadigas at a media event at the New York Stock Exchange.

Braskem produces PE in Brazil, but has no capacity for the resin in the US. The company is a major player in US polypropylene (PP) after it bought Sunoco's PP assets in 2010.

While Braskem is considering a major project in the US, Fadigas noted that ⌠all petrochemical companies are contemplating greenfield PE capacity in the US.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Japan's chemicals exports grew 6.7% year on year to USD 7.88bn in March while overall exports declined for the first time in 16 months, falling 2.2% from a year ago, data from the Ministry of Finance showed on Wednesday. Exports of organic chemicals rose 12.1% year on year to Y194.5bn in March, but plastics exports slipped 1.1% to Y206.5bn, the preliminary trade data showed. Japanese export volumes of plastic materials fell 5.6% year on year to 610,269 tonnes in March, according to the data.

Meanwhile, exports of motor vehicles slipped 27.8% year on year to Y601.5bn in March, making it the largest contributor to the decline in total exports, according to the data.

The Japanese automobile industry has been affected by the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeast region of the country on 11 March, with automakers struggling to restore pre-quake production levels on the back of power cuts and parts shortages.

All of Japan's major car production facilities are operating again, but many car factories are running at lower production rates, according to local media reports.

MRC

(Plastics today) -- Kuraray's Research and Technical Center in Pasadena, TX has installed a Davis-Standard cast coextrusion film-and-sheet pilot line for its EVAL group to test and develop film structures from seven to 21 layers using a Cloeren NanoLayer feed block. The custom-engineered line features five extruders and is capable of producing cast film and sheet in thicknesses ranging from 1 to 60 mils (25 to 1524 microns) for applications in food packaging, medical, agricultural fumigation, crop protection, and building and construction. The line is also equipped with full gravimetric control via Davis-Standard's EPIC III supervisory control system. Kuraray had existing coextrusion capabilities, including technology for producing seven-layer blown film and multilayer PET/EVAL barrier containers.

MRC

(Cereplast) -- Cereplast, Inc., a leading manufacturer of proprietary biobased, compostable and sustainable plastics, today reported preliminary revenue for its first quarter ended March 31, 2011.

Cereplast expects to report first quarter 2011 revenue of USD 7.2 million, exceeding the high-end of its previous first quarter guidance of USD 5.0 million to USD 6.5 million for the quarter. Based on these preliminary results, the company has raised its full-year 2011 revenue guidance to USD 28.0 million to USD 34.0 million, from its previously stated 2011 guidance of USD 24.0 million to USD 32.0 million, representing a significant increase over its 2010 revenue of USD 6.3 million.

Cereplast, Inc. designs and manufactures proprietary bio-based, sustainable plastics which are used as substitutes for petroleum-based plastics in all major converting processes - such as injection molding, thermoforming, blow molding and extrusions - at a pricing structure that is competitive with petroleum-based plastics.

MRC