Asia's naphtha price stayed at a two-week low

(Reuters) -- Asia's naphtha price stayed at a two-week low on Thursday, while cracks edged higher and South Korean spot prices flipped to premiums for the first time in about two months, supported by recovering ethylene and plastics prices.

LG Chem bought two open-spec cargoes totalling around 50 KT for second-half September arrival at Daesan and Yosu.

Prices were estimated to be in the range of 50 cents to USD 1 a tonne premium to Japan spot quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.

This is the first time spot prices were in premiums since May 26. The prolonged shutdown of Formosa's 700 KTa No. 1 cracker and an upcoming maintenance at its 1.2 million tpy No. 3 cracker are creating a tighter ethylene market.

MRC

(Gevo) -- Gevo, a leading renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company, announced it plans to work with South Hampton Resources, a subsidiary of Arabian American Development Co, to build a hydrocarbon processing demonstration plant at their facility just outside of Houston in Silsbee, Texas. This demonstration plant is expected to process up to 10.000 gallons of Gevo's isobutanol per month into a variety of renewable hydrocarbon materials including jet fuel for engine testing, isooctane for gasoline, isooctene and paraxylene for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and will supply other potential customers with material for product qualification and evaluation. The demonstration plant is slated for completion before the end of 2011. The contract between the companies is for two years with one-year extensions thereafter.

MRC

(Reuters) -- Japan's JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp will join forces in petrochemicals and lubricating oils with SK Innovation Co of South Korea, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Faced with flagging demand for gasoline and other petroleum products in their respective home markets, the two giants will invest around 120 billion yen (USD 1.52 billion) in a pair of new production ventures in South Korea, the paper said.

A formal agreement on the business partnership is expected as early as Friday. The new petrochemicals and lubricants factories will be built on the grounds of the South Korean group's refinery complex in the southeastern city of Ulsan. JX Energy will invest more than 50 billion yen in the two ventures, the Nikkei said.

In petrochemicals, the JX Holdings Inc unit will form a 50-50 venture with SK Global Chemical Co, a unit of SK Innovation. Production of paraxylene, an oil-based raw material for synthetic fibers and plastics, is expected to begin around 2014, the business daily said.

At an investment of some 90 billion yen, the new facility will have an annual output capacity of about 1 million tons, making it one of the biggest in the world, the daily reported.

This will bring JX Energy's total paraxylene capacity, now at 2.62 million tons a year, to about 3.1 million tons and raise its share of the Asian market to around 15 percent, cementing its position as the top producer in the region, the paper reported.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Kaneka Corporation and Kaneka Belgium N.V. have reached an agreement with Evonik Rohm Gmb of the Evonik Industries AG Group regarding the acquisition of Evonik's acrylic modifier and acrylic sol businesses. As per the acquisition agreement concluded on June 23, the acrylic modifier and acrylic sol businesses of Evonik will be acquired by Kaneka. The acquisition encompasses tangible fixed assets associated with the relevant operations of Wesseling site, and other assets, as well as employees of the manufacturing department and separate contracts with third parties. Kaneka Belgium will carry out sales and production of the acquired businesses while setting up a new company Kaneka Modifiers Deutschland GmbH, at the Wesseling site of Evonik to inherit tangible fixed assets and manufacturing department employees from Evonik. The new entity will be a 100% subsidiary of Kaneka Belgium.

This acquisition is subject to the approval by the German Federal Cartel Office in accordance with German competition law i.e. Act Against Restraints of Competition.

MRC

(BASF) -- BASF, the global leader in catalysis, today announced that it is raising prices worldwide for its activated bleaching clays by 9 %, or as contracts allow. The price increase will be effective September 1, 2011. Bleaching clays are used by vegetable oil refiners, among others, to remove impurities and clarify the oil.


BASF's Catalysts division is the world's leading supplier of environmental and process catalysts. The group offers exceptional expertise in the development of technologies that protect the air we breathe, produce the fuels that power our world and ensure efficient production of a wide variety of chemicals, plastics and other products. By leveraging our industry-leading R&D platforms, passion for innovation and deep knowledge of precious and base metals, BASF's Catalysts division develops unique, proprietary catalyst and adsorbent solutions that drive customer success.

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