Russia to be the forth global net importer of PVC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia becomes the forth global net importer of PVC, Sergey Yaremenko, MRC said during the 6th Global Chlor-Vinyl Conference.

Consumption of PVC in Russia in 2010 reached historical peak of 1 million tons. This growth was conditioned by dramatic increase of import PVC in profile industry. Net import of PVC in 2010 exceeded 0.5 million tons.

Currently USA is the biggest foreign PVC supplier. During 4 months of 2011, the Russian PVC market grew by 29%. The share of imported PVC in Jan-Apr of 2011 was 62%.

Russian market remains a regional imbalance. Moscow region alone consumes PVC in the volume which is equal to consumption of Polish market and is 6 times bigger than consumption of Hungarian market.

MRC

(ICIS) -- The balance of trade in chemicals between the 27 EU member states and Russia has soared over a decade to reach EUR 11.1bn (USD 16.1bn) in 2010 from EUR 761m in 2000, statistics office Eurostat said on Thursday.

EU chemical exports to Russia jumped to EUR 15.8bn in 2010 from EUR 3.28bn in 2000. Imports from Russia into the region were up by 86.8% to EUR 4.71bn in 2010, from EUR 2.52bn in 2000, said the statistics office.However, the EU's overall trade with Russia remains in deficit. The EU trade deficit with Russia increased from ┬41.0bn in 2000 to ┬71.9bn in 2010.

In 2010, Russia was the EU's third most important trading partner after the US and China, accounting for 6% of EU exports and 11% of EU imports.

MRC

(ICIS) -- EU chemicals production in March increased by 4.3% year on year amid a robust first quarter for the sector, European chemicals trade group Cefic said on Friday. According to the latest Cefic chemicals trends report, production in March increased by 1% from February, while prices rose by 10.5% year on year. Production expanded by 5.3% during the first three months of 2011.

Petrochemicals production in March increased by 8.1% year on year, while basic inorganics output rose by 5.6%, Cefic said.

Consumer chemicals production in March rose by 4.5% year on year, polymers grew by the same percentage, and speciality chemicals increased by 2.2%.

Petrochemicals prices in March registered a 17.4% year-on-year increase, basic inorganics prices rose by 11.4%, plastics rose by 14.1% and consumer chemicals increased by 1.7%.

MRC

(ICIS) -- BP plans to restore commercial production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) at its sites in Decatur, Alabama, and Cooper River, South Carolina, by the end of next week, a company source said on Thursday.

BP's 1.15m tonne/year Decatur plant went down on 28 April following a storm-related power outage, while a unit at its 750-800, KTa Cooper River site did not restart on schedule after planned maintenance work.

As a result, UK-based BP declared force majeure (FM) on PTA on 28 April, imposing a supply allocation of 50%. On 1 June, this was cut to 25%.

The process of restarting the Cooper River unit should begin on 10 June, with BP estimating commercial production by 13 June.

Once the unit is operational again, it should be possible for BP to remove its 25% allocation on US PTA supply, the source said.

MRC

(BASF) -- At the Intersolar trade fair, Schott Solar and BASF are presenting a new roof-integrated photovoltaic concept based on the Schott Advance Series. The concept employs only two parts: a specially developed, multi-functional pan made from the BASF resin Ultramid B High Speed and a frameless double-glazed module from Schott. The product has been designed for large roof areas on industrial or agricultural buildings and is very light and easy to install.

The PV module from the Schott Protect Series employs proven double-glazing technology for reliable protection against rain, hail and other adverse weather conditions. To ensure safe handling of the double-glazed module, handles that are also made from Ultramid are provided on the back. This makes it easy to carry the PV module, place it on the integrated support edges of the plastic pan and simultaneously secure it at all four attachment points quickly and without the need for tools by sliding the module into the latching mechanism on the pan. Moreover, the new bayonet connection and screw-free attachment to the pan provide automatic tolerance compensation. The pan itself is stackable, thus minimizing shipping volume.

MRC