EU new car registrations in January-October drop by 1.2% - ACEA

(ICIS) -- New registrations for passenger cars in the 27-member EU (excluding Cyprus and Malta) from January to October fell by 1.2% compared with the same period last year, an industry body said on Wednesday. According to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), 11,126,436 new passenger cars were registered in the first 10 months of 2011.

⌠From January to October, Germany was the only major market to post significant growth (+9.8%). France saw its demand slightly increase by 0.4%, while the UK (-4.5%), Italy (-10.8%) and Spain (-19.7%) all faced a downturn, the ACEA said. New registrations for passenger cars in the EU during October were down by 1.8%, compared with the same month in 2010, to 1,005,976 units.

⌠In October, the French and British markets performed similarly, posting 2.4% and 2.6% growth respectively. Demand in Germany, the largest market, remained stable (+0.6%), while results in Italy (-5.5%) and Spain (-6.7%) were negative, the association added. A wide variety of chemicals markets depend on demand from the automotive industry, which has suffered badly from the effects of the global economic crisis.

Perspectives of development of polymer markets, pricing issues and other important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit will be organized by MRC with the support of ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an access to the live video of the Summit, speakers" presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit partcipant.

MRC

(ICIS) -- There are big opportunities for local growth in BOPP film production in Africa, but also many challenges that need to be overcome, event chairman Patrick Munyembate said on Wednesday at the IQPC plastics and packaging conference.

Biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) film installed production capacity in Africa is 70,000 tonnes/year, while demand is at 180,000 tonnes/year. Africa's population is projected to reach 2.5bn by 2050 from its current level of 1.2bn, and the continent's population growth runs high at 26% a year.

BOPP film usage is high in food packaging and several delegates said there was no going back on growth in this area if food waste was to be avoided.

The middle class in South Africa is also growing fast, and shopping behaviour has changed, leading to the necessity of improved food packaging that can lead to easily transported packs for supermarket shelves.

Perspectives of development of polymer markets, pricing issues and other important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit will be organized by MRC with the support of ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an access to the live video of the Summit, speakers" presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit partcipant.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Tronox expects titanium dioxide (TiO2) demand in the fourth quarter to moderate from levels seen in the previous two quarters, the US-based titanium dioxide (TiO2) producer said on Tuesday. ⌠We expect demand for TiO2 to continue to grow globally in a market in which both feedstock and pigment supplies are limited and will remain so for a considerable period of time, said Tronox chief executive Tom Casey during the company's third-quarter earnings conference call.

⌠That being said we anticipate in the fourth quarter of this year, global demand will moderate from the levels we saw in the third quarter as the traditional seasonality and downstream inventory management combines with a slowing of orders from China and Thailand in particular, he added.
The Chinese government has recently imposed limitations on credit limits and lending policies of its banks to help stem inflation, while Thailand has been coping with the devastation from a recent flood.
Casey said the Chinese New Year, which is in the third week of January, will also add to the softness in demand.

Casey said he believes these are only temporary roadblocks to demand growth, which will allow the company to restore depleted inventory levels. ⌠It will allow us to be more responsive to meeting the needs of our customers as well as perform the appropriate maintenance with less disruption to production, he said. ⌠We continue to be bullish on the mid- to long-range condition of our market.

Perspectives of development of polymer markets, pricing issues and other important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit will be organized by MRC with the support of ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an access to the live video of the Summit, speakers" presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit partcipant.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Butadiene (BD) spot prices in Asia may bottom out soon and stage a rebound in December because of tightening supply, as regional crackers cut production, industry sources said on Wednesday. BD values have tumbled by more than 60%, shedding $2,700/tonne (┬1,998/tonne), from July to $1,550-1,600/tonne CFR (cost and freight) northeast (NE) Asia in the week ending 11 November, according to ICIS.

Major BD producers in the region, including South Korea's Yeochun NCC (YNCC) and Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC), have reduced the operating rates at their crackers to about 80% of capacities.

In South Korea, YNCC plans to run its 240,000 tonne/year BD plant at reduced rates of 70-80% for 10 days from 20 November. The plant is currently running at full capacity. In Taiwan, Formosa is maintaining the operating rates at its three crackers in Mailiao at 80% of capacity.

Perspectives of development of polymer markets, pricing issues and other important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit will be organized by MRC with the support of ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an access to the live video of the Summit, speakers" presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit partcipant.

MRC

(Arabian oil and gas) -- The South Rub Al-Khali Company Limited (SRAK) is pleased to announce that it has received the approval of Kidan area appraisal plan from the Saudi Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources on the 20th of September 2011. As a result of this approval, SRAK will be drilling up to three appraisal wells and conducting extensive studies aimed at further defining development concepts for the field. The venture has committed to completing the appraisal of Kidan area by end 2013.

SRAK successfully concluded its First Exploration Period and embarked on the Second Exploration Period as of July 26, 2010 in its Contract Area in the Rub Al Khali, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Company also completed its commitment for the First Exploration Period in May 2010, which included the drilling of seven exploration wells, the acquisition of approximately 25,000km2 of 2D seismic data, and 750km2 of 3D seismic data.

Perspectives of development of polymer markets, pricing issues and other important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit will be organized by MRC with the support of ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an access to the live video of the Summit, speakers" presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit partcipant.


MRC