Sabic Innovative Plastics launched two new specialty materials

(Sabic) -- Sabic Innovative Plastics launched at the VDI conference two new specialty materials that make creating and maintaining high-quality, attractive automotive interiors much easier. The first new product is a Cycolac acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene/polycarbonate (ABS/PC) resin for elegant, low-gloss parts that eliminates the costs, wear problems and environmental downsides of secondary painting.

The second innovation is a Geloy polycarbonate/acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (PC/ASA) resin that provides permanent anti-static performance for a fresh, clean appearance of interior parts. The new Cycolac and Geloy resin materials - along with other high-tech thermoplastic resins and glazing in Sabic Innovative Plastics' robust and growing portfolio of automotive materials - are on display at its booth, showcasing the company's focus on driving next-generation breakthroughs to help global automotive customers enhance vehicle performance and consumer appeal.

MRC

(Plastics Today) -- Sustainable plastics manufacturer Cereplast (El Segundo, CA) will establish a 100 KTa bioplastics manufacturing plant in Italy, bringing production into the region that generates 85% of its business. The eventual 100 KT (220 million lb) of capacity will be built out in several phases, with 50 KT of initial production expected to start up in late-2012. The second 50 KT phase is planned to begin in mid-2013, based on market demand.

Cereplast said the plant will be developed near Assisi in Umbria at the site of an existing industrial plant and cover 125,000-ft2. The building is currently permitted as a chemical site, which allows Cereplast to utilize existing infrastructure.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Samsung Engineering Co., South Korea's largest industrial plant builder, has said that it has won a USD 230 million order to build a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in western India. Under the deal with ONGC Petro-additions Ltd. (OPaL), a unit of India's state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC), Samsung Engineering will build the plant with an annual production capacity of 340 KT of HDPE by August 2013. The plant will be built at the special economic zone in Dahej, Gujarat.

MRC

(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