Soda ash prices in Asia are driven by soaring raw material costs

(ICIS) -- Soda ash prices in Asia are expected to continue rising in the near-term, driven by soaring raw material costs, and with demand likely to pick up in the summer months amid decreasing supply, market players said on Thursday.

Spot prices rose by 20% from mid-April to around USD 300/tonne (EUR 213/tonne) CFR (cost and freight) Asia on 25 May, led by the Chinese market, according to ICIS data.

In the domestic Chinese market, dense soda ash prices have gone up by around yuan (CNY) 200-300/tonne (USD 30.8-46.2/tonne) to CNY2,050-2,150/tonne DEL (delivered) over the same period, market sources said.

Prices of dense 99% purity bulk soda ash parcels had increased to USD 280-310/tonne FOB (free on board) China in the week ending 25 May, according to ICIS.

The price spikes are in line with escalating costs of raw materials - salt and petroleum coke, and crude prices, they said.

MRC

(BASF) -- BASF will build the world's largest single-train TDI (toluene diisocyanate) plant in Europe. The plant will have a capacity of 300 KTa and will be fully integrated with precursor production. The TDI plant will be located at one of the company's integrated Verbund sites in Antwerp, Belgium or Ludwigshafen, Germany and will start production in 2014. Engineering is underway and the final site selection will be announced shortly. TDI is a key component used for polyurethane foams.

TDI is a key component for the polyurethanes industry. To a large extent it is used in the automotive industry (e.g. seating cushion and interior applications) as well as in the furniture segment (e.g. flexible foams for mattresses, cushions or wood coating).

BASF is a leading supplier of basic products for polyurethanes and operates TDI plants in Geismar, Louisiana; Schwarzheide, Germany; Yeosu, Korea; and Caojing, China.

MRC

(ICIS) -- US acrylic acid and acrylate esters contract prices for May rose by 5 cents/lb (USD 110/tonne, EUR 78/tonne) on snug supply and upstream pressure from feedstock chemical-grade propylene (CGP), sources said on Wednesday. The increase took glacial acrylic acid (GAA) to a range of USD 1.50-1.55/tonne, as assessed by ICIS. May acrylates contract prices had been proposed up by 5-8 cents/lb. Individual increases for butyl acrylate (butyl-A) were heard as low as 3 cents/lb and as high as 8 cents/lb, but posted gains of 5 cents/lb reflected market consensus.

Supply was still snug, some sources said, while others said supply was ample, partly because large volumes of GAA are available from Asia.

Most sources said the market would be balanced within the next few months.

Besides additional Asian material, weaker-than-expected demand was another reason cited for longer supply. ⌠I don't see demand as much different than last year, another buyer said.

Several sources noted that downstream demand had weakened because of a late start in the US spring coatings season. Also, severe supply constraints on methyl methacrylate (MMA) have diminished demand for butyl-A and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA), buyers and sellers said.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Huntsman Corporation has signed a license agreement with Chinese chemicals manufacturer Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes Co. Ltd., for the production of Propylene Oxide (PO) and Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) - a co-product of PO. The financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.

Yantai Wanhua, a leading Asian polyurethanes (PU) producer, plans to leverage the license to build a worldscale PO/ MTBE plant at its facility in Yantai, Shandong province, with construction expected to commence later this year and beneficial production due in late 2013.

Huntsman's PU division has world scale production facilities in the U.S., the Netherlands and China, including a 240/750 KTa PO/ MTBE plant in Port Neches, Texas and is a global leader in PO technology.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Figures indicate that chemical and petrochemical industries are undergoing an testing time, with a somewhat bleak outlook. President of the Venezuelan Chemical and Petrochemical Industry Association (Asoquim), commented that in 2010, value of the petrochemical sector's gross sales rose by 10.3%, thanks to a 37.7% hike in exports. However, the domestic market only grew by only 1%. Total sales reached USD 3.63 bln in 2010. However, the trade balance showed a deficit, as imports totaled USD 3.24 bln and exports amounted to USD 1.16 bln in 2010.

As reported by Asoquim, "production aimed at the domestic market has weakened, whereas exports have been kept to a minimum." At the same time, imports have soared in order to offset the lower domestic supply of goods that are no longer produced in the country such as PET bottles for soft drinks and other beverages. 71% of companies in the petrochemical sector (about 300) made operational investments for replacement of machinery, equipment, spare parts and maintenance in 2010.

MRC