Average 2012 Europe PET prices similar to Sept '11 - customers

LONDON (ICIS) -- The average 2012 price of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in Europe is unlikely to vary much from current levels, customers predicted at a PET industry forum on Thursday.

⌠Speculation is affecting prices... The market is finding a new level around ┬1,300/tonne ($1,733/tonne), a buyer said.
Various customers at Global Service International's (GSI) ninth annual ⌠PET day in Artimino, Italy, estimated the PET price would average ┬1,375/tonne FD (free delivered) Europe.
The September 2011 price is assessed at ┬1,350-1,390/tonne, up ┬50-70/tonne compared to August, according to ICIS.

Converters agreed that 2012 would see the ┬1,300s/tonne and between them came up with an average of ┬1,335/tonne in a pole conducted during the conference.
Bottlers, however, envisaged PET prices averaging at ┬1,275/tonne in 2012.
Based on a raw material calculation using paraxylene (PX) and monoethylene glycol (MEG), PET was pegged in the same pole at ┬1,430/tonne for next year.

In the short-term, those customers willing to comment are expecting to see some sort of an increase in October because of potentially higher feedstock prices.

MRC

October/07/2011

LONDON (ICIS)--The average 2012 price of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in Europe is unlikely to vary much from current levels, customers predicted at a PET industry forum on Thursday.

⌠Speculation is affecting prices... The market is finding a new level around ┬1,300/tonne ($1,733/tonne), a buyer said.
Various customers at Global Service International's (GSI) ninth annual ⌠PET day in Artimino, Italy, estimated the PET price would average ┬1,375/tonne FD (free delivered) Europe.
The September 2011 price is assessed at ┬1,350-1,390/tonne, up ┬50-70/tonne compared to August, according to ICIS.

Converters agreed that 2012 would see the ┬1,300s/tonne and between them came up with an average of ┬1,335/tonne in a pole conducted during the conference.
Bottlers, however, envisaged PET prices averaging at ┬1,275/tonne in 2012.
Based on a raw material calculation using paraxylene (PX) and monoethylene glycol (MEG), PET was pegged in the same pole at ┬1,430/tonne for next year.
In the short-term, those customers willing to comment are expecting to see some sort of an increase in October because of potentially higher feedstock prices.

MRC

(RIA Novosti) -- Belarus and China are to take part in the development of an oil field in Venezuela, Belarusian state television said on Wednesday. The project was discussed during a visit by a delegation of Belarusian officials to the Latin American state late last week, the report said.

"We have received approval to work in a large oil-rich region together with Venezuela and China and extract hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day," Belarusian presidential aide Viktor Sheiman was quoted as saying.

In line with the agreement, the Belarusian-Venezuelan joint oil production company Petrolera BeloVenezolana will develop two more oil deposits in Venezuela, he said, adding that oil production will "increase many times" as a result.

Belarus is currently involved in oil production at seven oil and six gas deposits in the Latin American country. By 2011, the extraction of oil is expected to reach 1.2 million tones, while gas extraction is planned at 1 billion cubic meters.

MRC

(PlastEurope) -- In Saudi Arabia, flexible packaging and technical film manufacturer Bischof + Klein is planning to build a second plant in the Rabigh petrochemicals complex. "The Saudi Arabia region is developing into an important location for the production of plastics," said Volker Pfennig, managing director of the B+K Group. "We want to share in this growth."

The German packaging and film company has been represented in the Arabian Peninsula region for ten years through B+K Middle East Company. The joint venture with the Saudi companies H.A. Al-Zamil & Bros Co, Al-Rajhi House Enterprises and Ahmed A.M. Al-Ohali produces FFS packaging solutions on the basis of co-extruded films as well as stretch hood and shrink films in Al-Khobar near Dammam. According to data from market research company Applied Market Information, B+K holds a 30% stake in the jv. Its biggest customer is the petrochemicals group Sabic, but it also supplies companies in the neighbouring states.

At the end of October, B+K Mec will start up two additional FFS film lines, making a total of eleven FFS lines and two machines for the "SmartFlex" stretch hood range. The capacity will then rise to 24,500 t/y of FFS film and 5,400 t/y of stretch film.

MRC

(Platts) -- Saudi Polymers will bring online its new integrated polyolefins complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, within a month -- pending ongoing safety checks -- a source close to the company said Tuesday. "The complex can start up anytime now," said the source. "It's undergoing safety procedures and checks."

The complex is built around an ethane/propane-based steam cracker, with the capacity to produce 1.165 million mt/year of ethylene and 445,000 mt/year of propylene. The entire olefins production is slated for captive use.

Saudi Arabian petrochemical producers are weaning off from their dependence on gas feedstocks due to tightening supply. The next major petrochemicals project on the table by Dow and Saudi Aramco, called Sadara, involves building a world-scale steam cracker that will be able to use a range of feedstocks when it comes online in 2014.

Downstream from the steam cracker, Saudi Polymers has a 1.1 million mt/year high density polyethylene plant, a 400,000 mt/year polypropylene plant and a 200,000 mt/year polystyrene plant at the new complex.

MRC