China's manufacturing sector expands slower in May

(ICIS) -- China's manufacturing sector grew at a slower pace in May, with the purchasing managers' index (PMI) at its its lowest level in nine months at 52%, official data showed on Wednesday. PMI, a barometer of the monthly performance of China's factories, slipped 0.9 percentage point from 52.9% in April, according to China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing (CFLP).

Except for a slight rebound in March, the PMI has been falling continuously since September 2010, when China turned more aggressive in its monetary tightening policy in response to spikes in inflation.

In the oil and petrochemical industry, producers opted to destock cargoes in April and May instead of building more inventory, discouraged by declines in commodity prices, said Wu of Changjiang Securities.

Inflation is expected to remain high at 5.4-5.5% in May, with price pressures on food being aggravated by drought affecting a huge swathe of farmlands in China, he said.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Lanxess is planning to build the world's largest neodymium polybutadiene rubber plant in Singapore, the German specialty chemicals maker said on Wednesday. The 140 KTa plant will be built at a cost of EUR 200m (USD 290m) on Jurong Island, next to Lanxess' new 100 KTa butyl rubber plant, which is currently under construction and is scheduled to come on stream in the first quarter of 2013, the firm said in a statement.

Neodymium polybutadiene rubber is part of a tyre's compound and reduces energy consumption more efficiently than many other tyre rubbers, according to the statement.

Construction of the 100 KTa butyl rubber plant is progressing according to schedule, it said. The new neodymium polybutadiene rubber plant is expected to start up in the first half of 2015, the statement added.

Lanxess has signed an agreement with the Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore (PCS) on the long-term supply of butadiene feedstock via pipeline. Butadiene is the key raw material for the production of neodymium polybutadiene rubber.

MRC

(Net Composites) -- Use of Sabic Innovative Plastics' composite materials has contributed to a weight reduction in both Land Rover and Chang'an new vehicles. Land Rover estimates that the new Range Rover Evoque is capable of a sub- 130g/km carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions level. The automaker applied a range of advanced lightweight materials to make the Evoque the lightest Range Rover ever at just under 1,600kg. Land Rover used Stamax long glass fibre polypropylene (LGFPP) from Innovative Plastics for the instrument panel and inner door modules, as well as several resins for various applications to support improved fuel consumption and lower emissions, such as Noryl GTX resin for the front fenders and Xenoy iQ resin for the pedestrian energy absorber.

Sabic's work with Land Rover and its suppliers demonstrates the benefits of using lightweight, high-performance thermoplastic materials to meet global regulatory requirements and consumer expectations for reduced environmental impact. The cross-coupe is described by Land Rover as a ⌠step change in delivering reduced CO2 emissions.

Sabic has also been used in Chang'an Automobile's CX30 vehicle which has a composite front-end module using Sabic Stamax long glass fibre polypropylene (LGFPP) resin, cutting part weight by up to 40 percent and total vehicle weight by about four kilograms.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- June prices for PVC in Europe and North America insignificantly decreased after steady growth over last three months, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

PVC quotations over the three months have been rapidly growing. Export prices for North American resin grew more than by USD 200/mt, in Europe prices were EUR 60-80/mt up along with strengthening of euro-dollar cross-rate. Decrease of oil quotations, that started in early May, resulted in decreased prices for ethylene in June and insignificant decrease of PVC quotations.

Contract price for ethylene in Europe in June decreased by EUR 45/mt. European producers were forced to reduce export prices for PVC by EUR 20-30/mt.

High level of export prices for North American PVC that was partially stipulated by tsunami and earthquakes in Japan and FM at Georgia Gulf production, resulted in significant reduction of exports. Export prices for resin from USA in June for CIS declined on average by USD 50-60/mt compared to May.

Now Russian producers split into two groups: those who left May contract prices for June and those who increased prices.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- PT Yokogawa Indonesia has received an order from PT. Chandra Asri Petrochemical to replace the legacy distributed control system (DCS) and safety instrumented system (SIS) at its ethylene and polyethylene plant in Cilegon, in Banten Province. This CAP facility is Indonesia's premier petrochemical plant, incorporating world class, state-of-the-art technology and supporting facilities. The plant's naphtha cracker produces high quality ethylene, propylene, crude C4, and pyrolysis gasoline (Py-gas) for the Indonesian as well as regional export markets.

Yokogawa Indonesia has also received an order from the CAP subsidiary PT Styrindo Mono Indonesia (SMI) to replace the legacy DCS at the company's styrene monomer plant, which is about 40 km from the CAP plant and has an annual output of 340 KT.

MRC