European acetone spot prices drifted lower this week

(ICIS) -- European acetone spot prices drifted lower this week with many market participants on Friday blaming a tip in the supply/demand balance as well as concerns over an economic slowdown.
While some sellers said their demand was steady and "as expected" for September, others spoke about a much slower-than-expected start to September.

In terms of pricing, spot numbers have been on a gradual decline since peaking in April this year at ┬1,100-1,185/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe).

During this time, spot business hit a record high of ┬1,400/tonne ($1,944/tonne) into Italy. However, this week prices dropped to the mid-to-low ┬700s/tonne in parts of northwest Europe.

But in the trade and distribution sector, a reseller said levels of ┬750-780/tonne FD NWE, were ⌠old numbers and that in order to move any cargoes now he would have to offer at a lower level.
Another Netherlands-based reseller said that to move any material it would have to buy at ┬680-690/tonne on a free carrier alongside (FCA) basis.


MRC

(BASF) -- To show its commitment to the growing importance of lightweight design in the automotive industry, in mid-2011 BASF established a lightweight composites team. The group focuses on the development of marketable materials and technologies that are suitable for manufacturing high-performance fiber-reinforced parts for automotive applications. More metal can be replaced only through use of lightweight yet strong composite materials and parts, and in this way - regardless of the propulsion system in the vehicle - reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions even further.


Via its broad product portfolio, BASF is able to investigate three different plastic matrix systems simultaneously and intends to develop tailor-made formulations in close cooperation with customers. "We can build here on BASF's know-how in the areas of epoxy, polyurethane and polyamide chemistry, want to exploit the synergies in the team and will be making a double-digit million euro investment in development in the coming years", explained Willy Hoven-Nievelstein, BASF's head of the Engineering Plastics Europe business unit.


MRC

(ICIS) -- US-based ConocoPhillips confirmed on Thursday its plan to include its Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem) stake in the spinoff of its refinery business. That spinoff will become a new downstream company that will combine three of ConocoPhillips's core businesses: refining, marketing and transportation (RM&T); chemicals; and midstream.

ConocoPhillips laid out its plans for the downstream spinoff, which it plans to complete by the second quarter of 2012, during the Barclay's Energy Conference in New York City. The new downstream company's portfolio will include about $50bn (┬36bn) in assets.

The RM&T segment has 16 refineries, 12 of which are in the US, with a Nelson complexity average of 12. They have a capacity of 2.4m bbl/day, and about 10,000 branded marketing outlets.
The chemicals segment, which includes the CP Chem stake, is North America's largest producer of high density polyethylene (HDPE), the company said. It is also North America's fourth largest ethylene producer. CP Chem is a 50:50 joint venture made up of ConocoPhillips and Chevron.


MRC

(PlasticsToday) -- Japan's Sekisui Plastics (Osaka) became the third company in the space of two days to announce a major investment in automotive plastic components in the state of Tennessee when it announced plans to invest USD 3 million in a second manufacturing facility for foam plastics, primarily used in automotive safety components, in Mount Pleasant on August 31. The previous day, ABC Group Fuel Systems (Toronto, ON) and NYX, Inc. (Livoni, MI) also announced major investments for molding plastic auto parts in the state

MRC

(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- Technip, in consortium with the UAE's NPCC has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction lump sum contract, worth a total of approximately USD 500 mln for the offshore Satah Full Field Development project.

This Satah field is located 200 kilometers northwest of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, is owned by ZADCO and is slated to produce 25,000 barrels of oil per day over 25 years.

The Satah Full Field Development project's objective is to maximize crude oil production and oil recovery by reducing the well heads' back pressure and introducing of gas injection and gas lift facilities.

The project scope involves offshore brownfield works to the existing well head platforms and production manifold platform, installation of infield pipelines, as well as modifications and installation of new facilities at the Onshore Satah plant at Zirku Island.

MRC