China's manufacturing growth eased in April

(ICIS) -- China's manufacturing growth eased in April as the government's measures to tighten monetary policy started to show signs of helping to slow domestic demand, industry sources said on Tuesday.

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) declined by 0.5 percentage points from March to 52.9% in April, according to a report from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) released on 1 May. The PMI fell after rebounding in March from three consecutive months of slowdowns.

The index for new orders fell by 1.4 percentage points month on month to 53.8% in April, with the import order index at 50.6%, a fall of 1.4 percentage points. The export index was 51.3%, a slide of 1.2 percentage points, according to data from CFLP.

The production index was 55.3% in April, a fall of 0.4 percentage points month on month, while the purchasing index dropped by 2.1 percentage points to 66.2%, according to the data.

China has raised interest rates four times since last October and has hiked the reserve requirement ratio ten times since early 2010.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Dow Chemical failed to restart its No 1 cracker at Terneuzen, the Netherlands, over the 30 April-1 May weekend following planned maintenance, a company source said on Tuesday. ⌠During the start-up there was an issue detected and [the cracker's restart] has been postponed until this equipment is opened up and repaired, the source said. The cracker will be restarted as soon as the issue is resolved, the source added.

The cracker, which has the capacity to produce 580 KTa of ethylene (C2), is one of three that Dow Chemical operates at its Terneuzen site.

Planned maintenance work on the cracker, as well as on the associated butadiene (BD) extraction unit, began around 11 March.

The 180 KTa BD extraction unit has already been restarted and is expected to ramp up operating rates upon the successful restart of the cracker, according to another company source.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Record US prices for propylene could encourage more producers to crack larger amounts of propane and butane, a consultant said on Tuesday. US propylene prices are at all-time highs, and more records could be set in the upcoming weeks.

In April, US propylene contracts rose by 15 cents/lb (USD 331/tonne, EUR 221/tonne) in a record-breaking settlement that put polymer-grade propylene (PGP) at 87.50 cents/lb and chemical-grade propylene (CGP) at 86.00 cents/lb.

For May, US propylene producers nominated increases as high as 12.50 cent/lb.

This price run-up is threatening margins for several propylene derivatives. For integrated producers, making more propylene could help protect those margins.

MRC

(ICIS) -- US ethylene contracts for April were mostly settled at 57.25 cents/lb (USD 1.262/tonne, EUR 846/tonne), rising by 3.50 cents/lb from March on higher spot prices and increased production costs, market sources said on Tuesday. US ethylene contracts usually settle at the beginning of the month for the previous calendar month.

Two settlement participants confirmed the April increase that put contracts at 57.25 cents/lb. The April increase is the third in as many months for the US monomer.

Ethylene in March settled at 53.75 cents/lb, rising by nearly 10% from February, also as a result of increased spot prices and higher production costs.

MRC

(ICIS) -- China's ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) prices will remain high in May and will possibly begin falling only in June, as major producers have yet to face inventory pressure despite weakening demand, industry sources said on Wednesday.

The price of EVA type 5110J was CNY20.600-20.700/tonne (USD 3.169-3.184/tonne) EXW (ex-works) in south China on 7 March and settled at the current high level of CNY21.000-21.100/tonne on 13 April, according to data from Chemease, an ICIS service in China.

The price of EVA type 7350M was USD 2.780/tonne on 28 March. It moved up USD 50/tonne on 29 March to USD 2.830/tonne CFR (cost & freight) CMP (China Main Port) and has remained stable, according to data from Chemease.

A supply crunch has exerted upward pressure on EVA prices since the third quarter of 2010 and widened the buy-sell gap.

Major producer Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC) is operating its 240 KTa EVA plant in Mailiao at nearly full rates, following a turnaround from 1 to 21 March, a company source said.

Besides downstream sectors such as footwear, EVA is used as a solar encapsulation resin in the manufacture of membranes in solar photovoltaic panels.

MRC