Barge traffic on the Mississippi river is halted by flooding

(ICIS) -- Flooding on the Mississippi river has begun to halt barge traffic significantly and back up chemical supplies, with some deliveries to Houston already delayed by two months, shipping brokers and other sources said on Friday. Several chemical plants and refineries are on the lower Mississippi river in Louisiana. Houston is the petrochemical hub of the US.

Brokers said shipments were being delayed or cancelled in some cases because of the surging river. One broker said customers in Houston who get monthly barge loads from the Mississippi river have had to delay May and June cargoes to July or August.

The shutdown of freight terminals and ports and partial closures along the river has made the shipment and distribution of goods difficult and, in some cases, impossible.

The rising water is also putting pressure on chemical producers. Georgia Gulf put its phenol and acetone customers on allocation Friday because it cannot move feedstock cumene to a plant in Plaquemine, Louisiana.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Iran plans to raise its petrochemical capacity to 100m tonnes/year by 2015, a source at state-owned oil and petrochemical major National Petrochemical Co (NPC) said late on Sunday. The source was speaking on the sidelines of the two-day Iran Petrochemical Forum which ended on 22 May. ⌠Around 70m tonnes of this total capacity will be NPC's contribution. The rest will be accounted for by private companies in Iran, the source said.

The products being looked at are methanol, ethylene, urea, polymers and aromatics (see table below). The current installed capacity is around 51m tonnes/year, he added.

In 2011 alone, NPC is looking at petrochemical projects totalling 8m tonnes/year, he said. But some industry sources said they think NPC may not be able to achieve its expansion target on time because of the difficulties in obtaining the technology and financing.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Arkema is on schedule to lift its declaration of force majeure on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) supplies from its unit at Lavera, France, while LVM will shut down one PVC line at its unit in Beek, the Netherlands, at the end of June, company sources said on Friday.

Arkema plans to resume production at its oxychlorination and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) unit in Lavera, France, by the end of May, a company source said. If there are no problems, the company should be in a position to lift its declaration of force majeure on PVC supplies from Lavera at the end of May or early June, the source added.

LVM, part of the Belgium-based Tessenderlo Group, plans to carry out maintenance at its 225 KTa unit in Beek, the Netherlands, which has four lines, a company source said. One of the lines will be shut down for one week at the end of June, which is unlikely to have any significant impact, the source added.

The source said there is no exact date yet for the start of the shutdown, during which time all contractual obligations will be met. Buyers and sellers said it is quite likely that LVM's maintenance could be carried out ⌠unnoticed.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Seasonal growth of demand along with reduced production and imports contribute to deficit of suspension PVC with К=70 in the Russian market, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report. In February-March, overall imports of suspension PVC with К=70 made on average 1.3 KT. In April, it grew to 1.6 KT.

In April, Sayanskchemplast suspended production of soft compounds - their monthly output made on average more than 1 KT. Starting from June, the company plans to suspend output of PVC with К=70. The biggest Russian producer made on average 3 KT of resin with К=70 a month.

In May, Russian companies increased imports of resin with К=70 (over 2.4 KT for 20 days), but the deficit was caused by nearly complete absence of PVC supplies from Sayanskchemplast and growing seasonal demand. Some Russian converters partially reoriented at resin with К=67, some companies started active contracting in Europe and North America.

Quite possibly, that in June, at the expense of growing capacities utilization, Kaustik (Sterlitamak) will increase resin output and partially decrease deficit in the domestic market. Now Russian converters are forced to limit the level of capacities utilization.

MRC

(Plastics Today) -- DuPont will increase capacity for its DuPont Zytel HTN high-performance polyamide with a polymerization facility at its Sakra, Singapore facility and the addition of compounding equipment in Shenzhen, China. The Sakra facility will be able to produce 20 KT of the engineering polymer by 2013, while the compounding investment in Shenzhen has added 10 KT of Zytel HTN capacity.

Zytel HTN PPA targets metal replacement in the automotive industry focusing on underhood applications and in hybrid and electric vehicle electrical and electronic applications. Structural grades of Zytel HTN are used in hand-held devices, electrical and electronic applications, and consumer products.

DuPont markets four grades of the polyphthalamide (PPA) based material: Zytel HTN92 (long-term retention of mechanical properties), Zytel HTN51 (stiffness and strength retention under high temperatures and chemical exposure), Zytel HTN52 (molds in water-heated tools), and Zytel HTN54 (increased toughness and improved retention of mechanical properties with moisture).

MRC