BASF is launching the high-performance monomer

(BASF) -- BASF is launching the high-performance product hydroxypropyl carbamate acrylate (HPCA), a crosslinking acrylate monomer. The new specialty monomer shortens the processing time for the manufacture of carbamate based polymers. Compared with currently existing processes, HPCA enables crosslinkable carbamate units to be incorporated into the polymer in just one step. The usual two-step procedure is no longer necessary. In addition to the shorter manufacturing process, HPCA also offers positive features for applications.


HPCA has already proven itself in clearcoat systems for the automotive industry. One-component coatings with HPCA achieve a comparable performance level to two-component coatings, for example with regard to weather and scratch resistance. In contrast to two-component coatings, one-component coatings are easier to use in applications and are more cost efficient.


BASF researchers have successfully manufactured the specific chemical structure of HPCA on a commercial scale with the help of white biotechnology. In the biocatalytic procedure, the specialty monomer is synthesized by applying an enzyme. From HPCA the carbamate-based polyacrylate can be produced then in one step. BASF has used this procedure in industrial production for the first time.

MRC

(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- ConocoPhillips has announced that it will be spinning off its refining and marketing arm into a new business, two weeks after Marathon Oil split itself up in the same way in order to increase returns for investors, according to a Bloomberg report.

ConocoPhillips will divide into two stand-alone, publicly traded operations. The division is expected to be completed in the first half of 2012, the Houston-based company said in a statement. Marathon Petroleum, Marathon's former refining business, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange this month. Marathon rose as much as 11% on the day the split was announced, reports Bloomberg.

ConocoPhillips is the second-largest U.S. oil refiner with capacity of 2 million barrels per day, according to its website. It owns 12 U.S. refineries, and has a two-refinery joint venture with Alberta-based oil producer Cenovus Corp. The plants account for about 10 percent of U.S. refining capacity, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Asia's naphtha market is expected to come under pressure in the next three months, amid uncertainty in the global economy that threatens to dampen downstream petrochemical demand, traders said on Wednesday.

The market shows signs of turning bearish, despite a closed arbitrage window for flows from Europe. The naphtha crack spread was assessed at USD 91.85/tonne (EUR 65.20/tonne) on Tuesday, down sharply from a one-month high of USD 102.38/tonne on 7 July 2011, according to ICIS data. The inter-month spread remained in a contango of USD 1/tonne.

Ethylene margins plunged by USD 135/tonne week on week to USD 215/tonne on 8 July, according to the ICIS data, as a result of a hike in naphtha prices in tandem with global crude futures.

The margins have turned negative as the break-even costs for processing naphtha into ethylene are typically USD 250-300/tonne, traders said.

On a macro level, traders are worried about the state of the world economy and the resulting demand for petrochemicals, typically the yardstick for the health of the economy, traders said.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Spot methanol prices in India have soared to their highest level in more than seven months because of extremely limited spot supply, market sources said on Thursday. Selling ideas were quoted at USD 360/tonne (EUR 256/tonne) CFR (cost & freight) India - levels last seen on 26 November 2010, according to ICIS data.

Prices have been steadily rising over the past three weeks, racking up 11% of gains to an average of USD 350/tonne CFR India in the week ending 8 July, ICIS data showed.

Methanol inventories at Kandla port are very low, at just around 36 KT at the end of June, with expectations that stocks will fall further given few re-exports of the material from southeast Asia, market sources said. This compares with the usual inventories of about 60 KT at Kandla, according to traders.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Stocks in the European chemical sector were being dragged down by a sharp fall in the global markets on Tuesday, as fears over the eurozone's debt problems continued. In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx Chemicals index was trading down by 1.72%, indicating that many of Europe's major chemical companies had suffered some losses.

Among Europe's top producers, German major BASF's shares dropped by 1.60%, while Bayer's fell by 1.62%. Dutch coatings firm AkzoNobel's shares were down by 1.90%, France's Arkema's shares fell by 1.59%, Belgian producer Solvay's plummeted 2.93% and Germany's Kali and Salz (K+S) were down by 2.78%.

European stock markets were reacting to concerns that Italy and Spain - like Greece, Ireland and Portugal before them - will require a bail out from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

MRC