SABIC to launch a JV with Asahi Kasei Chemicals and Mitsubishi Corp

(Reuters) - Saudi Basic Industries Corp 2010.SE, the world's largest chemicals producer, said it will launch a joint venture firm with Japana's Asahi Kasei Chemicals and Mitsubishi Corp. The new company, Saudi Japanese Acrylonitrile Co, will build a plant to produce acrylonitrile and sodium cyanide in Jubail. The facility will have capacity of 200 KTa of the former and 40 KTa of the latter, SABIC said in a statement on Wednesday.

MRC

(Fibre2fashion) -- Toray Industries Inc and Toray Advanced Materials Korea Inc announced that the companies have decided to enter the high-performance polypropylene spunbond business in Indonesia. The companies plan to establish P.T. Toray Polytech Jakarta (TPJ) in the group's site in Tangerang, Indonesia, in September this year and build a production facility with an annual capacity of approximately 20 KT. The new plant is expected to start full-scale operations in June 2013.

Demand for disposable baby diapers is expected to grow at a rapid pace in the ASEAN countries on the back of high economic growth and changes to lifestyle brought about by rising national incomes. Particularly in Indonesia, the market for disposable baby diapers is estimated to grow at a pace of 14% a year, increasing approximately from 1.9 billion diapers in 2010 to 3.7 billion diapers in 2015.

MRC

(ICIS) -- The US holds domestic resources of natural gas of about 2.170.000bn cubic feet (bcf), a record level that is attributed largely to expanding shale gas reserves, the Potential Gas Committee (PGC) said on Wednesday.

The Potential Gas Committee, based at the Colorado School of Mines, said that its 2010 biennial report on the nation's gas resources showed a gain of more than 4% in recoverable gas since the committee's 2008 evaluation.

The committee report said that its new total for available gas supply is the highest in the PGC's 46-year history.

Shale gas resources account for 687.000 bcf of the total, or nearly one-third of US natural gas supplies, the report indicated.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Japan's industrial production slumped in March, shrinking a record 15.3% from February, indicating a severe economic damage wrought by the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the northeastern part of the country last month, official data showed on Thursday.

Compared with the same period last year, March production fell 12.9%. Transport equipment, general machinery and chemicals productions were among the worst hit, according to preliminary data from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

Japanese industries are grappling with rolling blackouts that prevent normal operations, including those of the petrochemical sector, following the 11 March disasters.

But METI expects an improvement in production in April and May, with the growth forecast for each month at 3.9% and 2.7%, respectively.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Asia naphtha prices are expected to reach a three-year high, as robust global crude futures and reduced deep-sea supply from the West will result in a further upside to price levels, traders said on Thursday.

The first-half June naphtha contract rose to USD 1.099-1.102/tonne (EUR 747-749/tonne) CFR (cost & freight) Japan at 12:00 hours Singapore time (04:00 GMT) on Thursday, up USD 11.50-12.50/tonne from the settlement on Wednesday, according to ICIS data.

The last time prices surpassed the USD 1.100/tonne CFR Japan mark was on 18 July 2008, when naphtha hit USD 1.136-1.138/tonne CFR Japan, ICIS data showed.

The backwardation between first half June and first half July contracts has widened to USD 13.50/tonne, the steepest since March as the naphtha market is facing a structural shortfall.

Naphtha cargoes from northwest Europe and the Mediterranean are estimated to be 250 KT for May arrivals in Asia, down sharply from the regular monthly arbitrage imports of around 300 -500 KT, traders said.

MRC