In India SBR prices to weaken further in the fourth quarter

(ICIS) -- Prices of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) in India are set to weaken further in the fourth quarter as feedstock butadiene (BD) prices tumble and car sales fall, industry sources said on Tuesday. Prices of non-oil grade 1502 SBR have plummeted by $700/tonne (┬511/tonne) since mid-September to $3,400-3,500/tonne CFR (cost & freight) India in the week ended 12 October, ICIS data showed. This is in line with the more than a $800/tonne drop in feedstock BD prices to $2,300-2,400/tonne CFR NE (northeast) Asia during the same period. Market players expect prices of SBR 1502 to fall further to around the $3,000/tonne level.

MRC

(Sabic) -- Visitors to this year's Fakuma plastics exhibition will have an opportunity to see several of SABIC's latest polypropylenes running on different injection moulding machines of its machine manufacturing partners, producing thin-walled packaging and medical components. The grades presented at Fakuma are supplied on a global scale from our facilities in Europe, Saudi Arabia and Asia.

SABIC's new grade for thin-wall injection moulded packaging, SABIC PP Flowpact FPC 100, will have its public premier at the show. Stork Plastics Machinery B.V., the Dutch specialist in high-speed injection moulding machines, will use it to make margarine tubs with 0.45-mm wall thicknesses in a four-cavity mould installed on a Stork E 2500-850 full-electric machine with a 2500-kN electric clamp unit.

KrausMaffei will be running SABIC QR673K, part of the SABIC PP Qrystal grade family, at their stand. The material has state-of-the-art part aesthetics and a broad processing window which enables lower processing temperatures, thus reducing energy consumption and cycle times.

SABIC PP Flowpact FPC 100 will also be used by ARBURG GmbH + Co KG, to make in-mould labelled 1.2-litre pails. A two-cavity mould will be running on an Arburg Allrounder 720 H with a clamp force of 3200 kN.

MRC

(Arabian oil and gas) -- Sahara Petrochemicals Company has signed a bridge loan agreement with Riyad Bank with the value up to $267m, te company said in a statement. ⌠This value will be used to finance the new projects that are currently under implementation, and future projects of the company, the company said in a statement.

The company said that it will repay this loan to Riyad Bank after completion of the company's capital increase/Rights Issue and from the future earnings of the Company with maximum period of 12 months.

The company has recently signed MoU with Chemanol for new Neopentyl glycol (NPG) project. According to the MoU, Chemanol will provide formaldehyde, the necessary feedstock for this product. SAHARA also signed a heads of agreements with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical and Sojitz Corporation from Japan to provide the necessary technology to develop and build the NPG plant, with a total cost of $125.3m.

Sahara Petrochemicals produces mainly polypropylene and polyethylene through its subsidiaries Al Waha and Saudi Ethylene and Polyethylene Company.

MRC

(ICIS) -- China's demand for prilled and powdered polypropylene (PP) has been slowing, with the full-year import volumes of the polymer expected to fall while its domestic production will have a moderate increase, industry sources said on Tuesday.

Consumption of the material from downstream industries weakened significantly amid a domestic credit crunch, as China continues with its monetary tightening policy to tame inflation, they said.
China's demand for PP resins is estimated to grow by 5.7% this year to 16m tonnes, just about a third of the 15.6% growth recorded last year, according to Chemease, an ICIS service in China.
The country consumed 15.2m tonnes of PP in 2010, of which 4.8m tonnes or about 32% were imported, data from Chemease showed. This year, Chemease expects China to take in 3% less PP from abroad at 4.66m tonnes.

Meanwhile, China's PP output is estimated to rise by 10% to 11.4m tonnes this year, slowing from a 28% increase in output last year at 10.3m tonnes, according to Chemease. Of the total PP output in 2010, China exported 940,000 tonnes, the data showed.

MRC

(Arabian oil and gas) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) announced on October 17, 2011 at a press conference held at its headquarters in Riyadh, its financial results for the third quarter of 2011. SABIC achieved US$2.186 billion (8.2 billion Saudi Riyals) in net profit for the 3Q2011. These are another record result in the history of the company, for this quarter ended on 30 September, 2011. The company's nine month profit jumped 52% year on year, reaching $6.39bn compared to $4.29bn during the same period 2010.

During the press conference, Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO, emphasized that SABIC has achieved positive results in the third quarter and maintained its pace of growth based on the reliability of its performance and sound operations. This has been achieved thanks to the efforts of SABIC employees and recent programs that have transformed SABIC into an integrated global company.

Al-Mady also attributed the positive results to increased production and sales, as well as to the reduced cost of funding. He also gave credit to the diversity of SABIC's markets, and its strong presence in global production hubs, especially in the markets of developing economies such as China, India and Saudi Arabia. In these markets, it has maintained its competitive position and continued to succeed and grow.

MRC