Methanex to move one of its shuttered methanol plants to North America

(ICIS) -- Methanex is considering moving one of its shuttered methanol plants in Chile to North America, a company executive said on Wednesday. Speaking at an investor conference, Methanex senior vice president John Floren said that the company also is studying whether to restart one of its three closed plants in the South American country with coal instead of natural gas.


In April, Methanex CEO Bruce Aitken said there was a ⌠low probability that the company's lone methanol plant operating in its Chilean complex might have to be shut down in the coming months because of a low natural gas supply during the southern hemisphere's winter. Aitken said then that Methanex might move the plant in Punta Arenas, Chile.


Floren referred to Methanex's long-term problem in Chile of obtaining natural gas supplies. ⌠It's taking longer for us to be successful there than we first imagined, Floren said. One option for Methanex would be to move the plant to the US or Canada, where Methanex is headquartered, Floren said.


MRC

Asia tyre producers in Asia to use more natural rubber if prices fall

(ICIS) -- Tyre producers in Asia may choose to adjust their formulations to use more natural rubber if prices fall below USD 4.000/tonne (EUR 2.800/tonne), as the product offers a much cheaper alternative to butadiene rubber (BR) as raw material, industry sources said on Thursday. The two products are substitutes for each other in the manufacture of tyres for the automotive industry, with prices moving in different directions.


TSR 20 NR prices at the Singapore Exchange (SGX) have tumbled by more than USD 300/tonne since late May to around USD 4.360/tonne on 23 June. The contract was for delivery in September.


Spot BR prices, on the other hand, increased by USD 175/tonne, or 4.1%, roughly over the same period and was assessed at USD 4.300-4.550/tonne CFR (cost and freight) SE (southeast) Asia on 16 June, according to ICIS.


MRC

PP imports to Russia to grow despite low demand

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Import supplies of polypropylene (PP) to Russia keep on growing despite low demand. In May, PP imports exceeded 18 KT, among it - about 11 KT of homopolymer propylene, according to MRC DataScope.


Over the five months, overall imports of PP made 84 KT which was 55% more compared to 2010. Supplies of homopolymer propylene increased by 61%.


Moderate demand for propylene in terms of stable work of Russian producers and growing imports resulted in considerable stock of PP. Cheaper import of PP from Turkmenistan and Ukraine significantly pressed Russian producers in some regions.


Reduction of prices for PP in Europe (about EUR 100/t per month) and in Asia (over USD 150/t per 1,5 month) as well as significant import of cheaper material made Russian producers decrease prices in June. Compared to May, prices for homo PP decreased on average by 1.500 - 2.000 RUB/t. Current decrease of domestic prices resulted in reduction of homopolymer propylene prices: over 15 days of June, import supplies made nearly 3 KT.


MRC

Berry Plastics added another name to its long string of acquisitions

(Plastics Today) -- Plastics packaging processor Berry Plastics with its most recent purchase it adds another name to its long string of acquisitions. Berry has acquired the beverage and specialty closures business of Rexam PLC, for USD 360m in cash.


Berry's acquisition string began in 1988 with the purchase of aerosol closure molder Gilbert Plastics. The purchases since then include Venture Packaging, the dairy closures product line of Clayton Corp., Poly-Seal Corp., Alcoa Flexible Packaging, Captive Plastics and more; a complete list is at the processor's website. In 2006, the investment groups, Apollo Management and Graham Partners Inc., purchased Berry Plastics from Jack Berry Sr.


The purchase of Rexam's closures business is expected to close in Q3 2011 and is conditional on regulatory approvals. The new Berry business employs about 1500 and is focused on the North American market. Rexam acquired the closures business as part of its acquisition of Owens-Illinois's plastics business in 2007. Rexam's closure business performs both compression and injection molding.


MRC

SKC to expand HPPO plant

(Plastemart) -- SKC announced that it will set up production capacity of 600,000 tons of propylene oxide (PO) by expanding its hydrogen peroxide propylene oxide (HPPO) plant.


SKC plans to double production capacity of the HPPO plant from the current 100 KT to 200 KT by 2013 after completing the construction of an additional PO production capacity of 30 KT by H1-2012.


MRC