Chinese adipic acid prices shed 36% over the past two months

(ICIS) -- Adipic acid prices in China have shed 36% over the past two months because of weak demand that will likely to continue for the remainder of the year, market sources said on Monday.
Spot values declined by around yuan (CNY) 7,000/tonne ($1,104/tonne) from end-August to CNY12,200/tonne at the end of October, according to ICIS data.

Surplus adipic acid supply in the international markets found its way into China in the months of August and September, dampening domestic prices of the material given lacklustre demand, market sources said.

China imported a total of 9,664 tonnes of adipic acid in September, up 31% month on month and more than triple the volume recorded in August, data from China Customs showed. Domestic production was lower than usual since August but this failed to halt the slide in prices of adipic acid.
For the three months covering August-October, China's output of adipic acid totalled 168,100 tonnes, according to Chemease, an ICIS service in China.


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(Bloomberg) -- Cnooc Ltd. (883)'s deal to buy BP Plc (BP/)'s $7.1 billion stake in Argentine crude producer Pan American Energy LLC collapsed, 10 days after Argentina's president ordered oil companies to repatriate export revenue. BP will repay a $3.5 billion deposit it had received for the sale by Nov. 14, the company said after Bridas Corp., equally owned by Cnooc and the billionaire Bulgheroni family, announced Nov. 5 that the deal was canceled for ⌠legal reasons. Bridas owns 40 percent in Pan American and the purchase of the remaining 60 percent was pending Argentine antitrust approval.

The failure of the deal to buy Argentina's biggest oil exporter means Cnooc, China's largest offshore energy explorer, may struggle to meet its production growth targets next year, according to Gordon Kwan, Mirae Asset Securities Ltd.'s head of regional energy research in Hong Kong.

⌠It's going to be very challenging for the company, Simon Powell, a CLSA Ltd. analyst, said by phone today from Hong Kong. ⌠Cnooc is going to have to try do more M&A deals globally to make up for it.

Cnooc dropped 2.2 percent to HK$14.92 in Hong Kong, taking its decline this year to 19 percent. BP fell as much as 2.2 percent in London trading.

The decision comes less than two weeks after Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, re-elected on Oct. 23, ordered energy and mining companies to repatriate future export revenue in a bid to slow accelerating capital flight from South America's second-biggest economy.

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(IMCDGroup) -- IMCD Business Group Plastics announces extension of its current product portfolio with the two new compounds from Teknor Apex Company. Apex P-55003 and P-55004 are jacketing compounds based on blends of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) that provide outstanding resistance to the aggressive end-use conditions often encountered by industrial cables.

Apex P-55003 and P-55004 compounds not only have advanced abrasion resistance and excellent tensile properties associated with TPUs, but they also provide resistance to oil and chemicals, toughness at low temperatures, and elevated oxygen indices. The two new compounds are therefore recommended for applications such as factory automation networks, industrial robots, and other plant systems that call for data or control cable.

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(PlastEurope) -- At an investment cost of about SEK 30m (EUR 3.3m), the Medical division of Nolato is to expand its production site in Mosonmagyarovar/Hungary. The Swedish group plans to build a new hall with a production area of 3,500 m2. Subsidiary Nolato Magyarorszagdie will be able to use the new space, which includes additional clean room capacity, from 2013 onwards. According to local media reports, the expansion will result in raising current employee levels from 400 to around 450.

For the nine months up to September 2011, Nolato has seen sales decline by 11% to SEK 2.243 bn (EUR 248m). Operating income (EBITA) slipped by 24% to SEK 151m.

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(Plastics Today) -- Foams made from polystyrene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, and even biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) will play a key role in vehicle lightweighting moving forward according to foam bead supplier and molder JSP Corp. (Tokyo, Japan). The company sees potential for another 10 kg of foam use in addition to the 5-6 kg that is estimates is currently used.

On show at the IPF show in Japan was a concept foam sandwich door, with partially bio-derived unsaturated polyester (UP) resin covering both sides of an expanded PLA foam. While the UP resin is currently glass fiber, theoretically natural fiber could also be used as a reinforcing material according to Hidehiro Sasaki, General Manager of the Development Department at JSP. The door weighs in at 9 kg, including around 1 kg of PLA foam.

Prototype door module comprises unsaturated polyester sandwiching polylactic acid (PLA) foam. Polycarbonate foam (orange tag) may join expanded polypropylene (blue tags) in auto applications.
Rear seat bases represent a substantial potential market for foamed plastics.

Expanded polystyrene finds use as a protective packaging material for automotive components. Fellow IPF exhibitor Sekisui Chemical (Osaka, Japan) pegs foam usage at 10 kg per vehicle for the OEMs that it serves. The company's strategic product is a blend of PS foam and polyethylene foam, Piocelan, that exhibits superior compression strength as compared to EPP foam and can be molded on conventional EPS machines.

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