In September the Russian producers reduced PVC output

(MRC) -- In September, the Russian producers reduced output of unmixed PVC to 40,700 tonnes, due to limited supplies of ethylene. Over the nine months, overall production of polyvinylchloride exceeded 410,000 tonnes, according to MRC ScanPlast.

In September, the production of suspension PVC decreased to 38,800 tonnes. Sayanskchemplast and Caustic (Sterlitamak) declined the output at their facilities. The main reason for that was limited supplies of ethylene. Last month Angarsk Polymers Plant stopped for a scheduled turnaround, which resulted in reduced ethylene deliveries to Sayanskchemplast.

Caustic (Sterlitamak) short-received ethylene, due to low pressure in the ethylene tube Kazan-Nizhnekamsk-Sterlitamak-Salavat. Recently the company has declared its intention to build a separate ethylene tube in cooperation with Gazprom neftechem Salavat.

In September, PVC-E production at Chemprom (Volgograd) facilities made almost 2,000 tonnes. At the end of this week the company plans to stop its PVC capacities for a week turnaround. Some market participants have already faced the interruptions in the resin supplies to the domestic market.

Over the nine months, Russian production of unmixed PVC made 411,000 tonnes, which was 2% less year on year.Overall PVC-S production over the three quarters of 2011 amounted to 394,400 tonnes. Last year this index made 402,200 tonnes. PVC-E production remained almost the same as last year - 16,600 tonnes.

MRC

(ICIS) -- PTT Global Chemical, the new flagship petrochemical company of Thailand's oil and gas giant PTT, can weather a second round of global recession better given its size and armed with a competitive mixed-feedstock production structure, analysts said on Thursday.

The company, created from the merger PTT Chemical (PTTCH) and PTT Aromatics (PTTAR), will start trading on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) on 21 October, marking the full integration of two PTT affiliates.

With an estimated market capitalisation of more than baht (Bt) 300bn ($10bn), PTT Global Chemical will be the eighth largest listed company on the Thai bourse, analysts said. It will also become the only company in the world to integrate its olefins and aromatics chemical chains with gas-based and liquid-based feedstock sources, said Pongtham Danwungderm, a Bangkok-based analyst at KGI Securities.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- State-owned Petroleos del Peru (Petroperu), is in talks with petrochemicals company Braskem SA, as it explores signing a letter of intent in order to carry out a technical and economic analysis of the viability of a petrochemical project in Peru.

Last year Braskem signed an agreement with Brazil's oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA and Petroperu to assess the feasibility of setting up a large scale polyethylene production project in southern Peru using natural gas.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Rockwood Holdings's CEO expects no upturn in the US housing market next year or the year after, he said on Wednesday. ⌠We are not optimistic about that for 2012 or 2013, said Seth Ghasemi, chief executive at the US-based specialty chemicals firm, in an earnings conference call.
Rockwood makes titanium dioxide (TiO2), a major ingredient in architectural paints and coatings and considered a good chemical indicator of the health of the US housing market.

Housing, in turn, is a large end-market for such chemical products as plastic pipe, insulation, paints and coatings, adhesives, roofing materials and synthetic fibres.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) estimates that each new home built represents $16,000 (┬11,520) worth of chemicals and derivatives used in the structure or in the production of component materials.

While Rockwood's third-quarter sales of TiO2 rose 31%, Ghasemi said the jump stemmed from increased pricing because of higher raw material costs. Actual TiO2 volumes declined 17% from low demand.


MRC

(Bloomberg) -- Kuwait Petroleum Corp. offered to sell naphtha cargoes to Asia from December to November at almost double the premium of supplies for the same period this year, according to two people involved in the negotiations.

The Kuwait City-based company, the largest Middle East exporter of refined oil products to Asia, is offering Full-Range naphtha for December 2011 to November 2012 at $23.50 a metric ton above benchmark prices, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are confidential. The state-owned company has been selling cargoes at $12 a ton over quotes for December 2010 to November 2011 and most recently agreed to receive an $18.50 premium for shipments from August 2011 to July 2012.

MRC