BR prices in Asia are likely to continue sliding down

(ICIS) -- Butadiene rubber (BR) prices in Asia are likely to continue sliding down because of plunging values of feedstock butadiene (BD), industry sources said on Friday. In the week ended 3 November, spot BR prices were assessed at $3,100-3,200/tonne (┬2,232-2,304/tonne) CFR (cost and freight) southeast (SE) Asia, down by about $800/tonne from early October, according to ICIS data.

⌠The feedstock BD prices have plunged to around $1,700/tonne CFR NE Asia and are expected to fall further, so we expect BR prices to follow suit and drop below $2,700/tonne CFR NE Asia, a tyre maker said.

On 28 October, average spot BD prices were assessed at $1,950/tonne CFR NE Asia, down by $800/tonne or about 30% from end-September, according to ICIS.

Traders or sellers with BR stocks-in-hand are under mounting pressure to clear their stocks before the end of the year, prompting some suppliers to cut their offers for fresh November shipments to $2,900-3,000/tonne CFR SE Asia, industry sources said.

MRC

(PlastEurope) -- Originally scheduled for commissioning in Q1 2011 Sabic Innovative Plastics on 1 November 2011 officially inaugurated its new PP compound plant in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, USA. The compounding plant, which turns out both PP compounds and ⌠Stamax long glass fibre-filled PP, was modeled after Sabic's compounding facility in Genk, Belgium, which has a capacity of 140,000 t/y and was started up in June 2010.

Output of the new facility is geared towards the North American automotive market. ⌠With the investment in Bay St. Louis, we have taken the expertise that we have accumulated in Europe and the rest of the world and added it to North America, Leon Jacobs, PP global leader Innovative Plastics, Automotive, said.

MRC

(PlastEurope) -- Belgian chemicals and plastics giant Solvay increased its REBIT (recurring earnings before interest and taxes) from continuing operations by 13% to EUR 254m in the third quarter of 2011, as comparative growth against 2010 slowed. In the first half year, earnings rose 22% year-on-year against the 2010 period. Sales in the third quarter were only 5% ahead of last year's period, at EUR 12.5 bn, after 13% growth from July to August last year.

MRC

(Lukoil) -- Lukoil ranked 5th among the oil and gas companies of Europe, Middle East and Africa, and placed 10th among the world's majors in the 2011 list of Top 250 Energy Companies' compiled by the American energy agency Platts. All companies were ranked by four main criteria: asset value, revenues, profits and return on invested capital. The valuation was performed based on Standard & Poor's database which is, like Platts, a unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

A year ago, in the 2010 list of Top 250 Energy Companies' by Platts, Lukoil placed 5th in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and was 10th in the world.

MRC

(PRNewswire) -- LyondellBasell Industries N.V. today announced that it is planning to issue an aggregate principal amount of up to $1.0 billion of senior notes due 2021 (the "notes") to qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and to certain non-United States persons in offshore transactions in accordance with Regulation S under the Securities Act.

LyondellBasell intends to use the net proceeds from the offering of the notes, together with available cash, to pay a special dividend in the aggregate amount of up to approximately $2.6 billion. The notes are expected to be guaranteed on a senior basis by, subject to certain exceptions, each existing and future wholly owned United States subsidiary of the Company that is an issuer or co-issuer in respect of, or guarantees, any debt securities issued in the capital markets by the Company or any subsidiary.

MRC