Asian petrochemical shares declined on Friday

(ICIS) -- Asian petrochemical shares declined on Friday along with product prices, following heavy sell-offs in the equities and commodities markets overnight on heightened concerns that the global economy is heading towards another recession.


Markets are on their second day of rout, following the US Federal Reserve's comment that the US - the biggest economy in the world - faces ⌠significant downside risks. Asia's stock markets are reacting on Friday to the 3.51% decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average overnight.


At 13:29 hours Singapore time (06:29 hours GMT), South Korean producer LG Chem was down by 5.07%, SK Innovation declined by 6.96% and Honam Petrochemical fell by 6.19% as the KOSPI composite index dropped by 5.56% to 1,700.47. Japanese markets are closed on Friday for a public holiday.


In Malaysia, PETRONAS Chemicals Group was down by 1.08%, with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia down by 1.11% at 1,372.37.


Thailand's petrochemical major PTT Chemical was down by 5.99%, while Siam Cement Group fell by 4.41%. The Thai SET index fell by 4.30% at 947.98.


MRC

August PVC-S imports to Russia hit next record

(MRC) -- August hit another record in the Russian PVC market. Following August results, import volume made more than 57KT. In general, over the first eight months, total suspension import to Russia approached 360 KT, according to MRC DataScope.


As before, a major share of total imports falls on the U.S. and Chinese producers. In general, the structure of suspension imports by major exporting countries is as follows: the U.S. - 24.5 KT, China - 17.3 KT, Ukraine - 3.4 KT.
Over the first eight months, total imports of PVC-S made nearly 360 KT, which was by 66% more year on year. Import resin supplies have already exceeded Russian producers' output. Over the eight months, Russian PVC-S production made nearly 356 KT.


Ongoing devaluation of the ruble and a seasonal decline in November-December will result in a serious drop of PVC-S imports to the Russian market. In September - October, imports decline is expected to make 35-45 KT per month.


MRC

SK Engineering & Construction secured a contract to build a petrochemical plant in Egypt

(Plastemart) -- South Korea's SK Engineering & Construction Co. (SK E&C) has secured a USD 3.5 bln contract to build a petrochemical plant in Egypt. The agreement has been made with Egypt private company Carbon Holding- a JV between SK E&C and U.S. engineering firm Shaw Group Inc.


The petrochemical complex to be built in Ain Sokhna, around 120 km east of Cairo, will have ethylene production capacity of 1.35 mln tpa. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2012 and be completed by 2016.


MRC

DNO receives second payment for Kurdish production

(Arabian oil and gas) -- Norwegian firm DNO International has announced that it receved its second part payment for exports of cruide from Iraqi Kurdistan. The company yesterday received USD 60 million from the Kurdistan Regional Government in respect of oil exports from the Tawke field operated by the Company in northern Iraq, following an initial delayed payment of USD 103.7 million made in June this year.


The Company had previously reported temporary reductions in production from the Tawke field to permit field performance evaluation. Reservoir monitoring efforts are ongoing but production has now been increased to 55,000 barrels a day.


Drilling and testing of exploration wells continue on other DNO blocks in Kurdistan as do engineering studies to increase output capacity of the fields in the Tawke and Erbil licenses.


DNO - and the other producers in the region - are likely to have to wait until the stymied hydrocarbon laws are passed before received payment for profit oil.


MRC

Austrian oil firm OMV tilts to E & P

(Arabian oil and gas) -- Austrian oil firm OMV wants exploration and production to account for the majority of its business within ten years, up from just over a third now, Reuters quoted its new chief executive Gerhard Roiss as saying.


The company added it could divest up to 1 billion euros (USD 1.37 billion) worth of refining and marketing assets by 2014, and expects production growth of up to 4%, including acquisitions, by 2016.


OMV had said on 10 August that production this year was expected to remain below the 2010 level of 318,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, due to civil unrest and conflict in North Africa. The Libyan conflict hit OMV hard, as the country accounts for around 10% of OMV's total production.


MRC