June prices for PVC down in the external markets

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

(Mitsubishi Rayon) -- Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd. and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) have announced the formation of a joint venture company, to build and operate two plants - one for Methyl Methacrylate (MMA), and the other for Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) - at one of SABIC's manufacturing affiliates in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The next phase of this project will focus on the basic engineering design, completion of: supply agreements, regulatory approvals and necessary details for the JV incorporation, implementation and execution activities.

The MMA plant will be the largest ever built, with a 250 KTa capacity. It will use Lucite International's (LI) Alpha technology, which was first commercialised with its Alpha 1 plant which began operation in Singapore in November 2008. LI is a subsidiary of MRC acquired in 2009. The PMMA plant will be based on Mitsubishi Rayon technology and will have an annual capacity of 40 KT.

Koos Van Haasteren, SABIC Executive Vice President, Performance Chemicals, commented the joint venture operation would be the basis for a strategic entry into the acrylics business. ⌠We will be building on a breakthrough technology, with a strong partnership and integrated feedstock, he said. ⌠Moreover, the global market for MMA is growing at a rapid pace. New applications are driving this increase in demand and we are committed to meeting our customer growth requirements worldwide.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Japan's Sumitomo Chemical will build a 10 KTa polypropylene compound plant in Dalian, in northeast China's Liaoning province, as per Platts. The PP compound plant, which will be operated by a 50:50 joint venture between Sumitomo Chemical and Zhuhai Sumika Polymer, is expected to begin operations over September-November 2012.

The JV to be called Sumika Polymer Compounds Dalian Company will be incorporated in August. Sumitomo decided to build the plant because it expects demand for PP compounds in automobile production to increase. Zhuhai Sumika Polymer is 55% owned by Sumitomo Chemical and 45% by Japan's Toyo Ink. It already has a 22 KTa PP compounds plant in Zhuhai, in southern China's Guangdong province.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- S-Oil Corp's expanded plant for paraxylene and benzene is now in full operation, at the No. 2 Aromatic Complex in Ulsan. The expansion has more than double S-Oil's annual petrochemical production capacity to 1.6 mln tons of paraxylene and 300 KT of benzene. The two-year expansion project, completed in March, cost the refiner USD 1.2 bln).

⌠The plant is our new growth engine and future driving force that will help us diversify our business areas and establish a solid presence in the areas, as per S-Oil chief executive Ahmed A. Subey. We'll be able to gain a firm foothold in the petrochemical market as well as in the oil refining and lubricant oil markets where we've already secured global competitiveness.

Exporting around 60 percent of total output, S-Oil has been boosting its petrochemical business as a new revenue source over the last few years. S-Oil expects the new facilities to jack up exports by about USD 3.2 bln and sales by about 3.5 trillion won each year, respectively.

MRC