Mexico PE complex more expensive than planned

(PlastEurope) -- Braskem Idesa, a joint venture between Brazilian producer Braskem and Mexico's Idesa, is making good progress on its ⌠Ethylene XXI cracker and PE project. Located in the Coatzacoalcos / Nanchital region in Mexico's Veracruz state, the complex is on track to begin production in 2015. However, the construction will be obviously more expensive than expected. When the project was announced two years ago, the amount to be invested was USD 2.5 bn. Now the company expects costs of more than USD 4 bn, as South American media report under reference to Roberto Bischoff, CEO of Braskem Idesa.


Braskem Idesa expects to secure a financing package for the project by the first quarter of 2012. According to media reports, about 70% of the cost is expected to be financed with debt.


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

The Bayer Group to expand its production, distribution network and research activities in Asia

(Bayer) -- The Bayer Group plans to further expand its production, distribution network and research activities in Asia and considerably increase its sales in the region in the coming years. ⌠We aim to achieve a more than 60 percent increase in our sales in Asia by 2015, Management Board Chairman Dr. Marijn Dekkers said on Wednesday at Bayer's international press conference ⌠Perspective on Growth in Asia, held in Shanghai, China. This would mean annual sales of well over EUR 11 billion by 2015 at today's exchange rates. Of this figure, Greater China is planned to account for some EUR 6 billion. Dekkers officially inaugurated a new production facility for TDI - a raw material for the production of flexible foams - at the Bayer Integrated Site Shanghai.


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

Japanese Nishiuchi Seisakusho developed the Floating Self-Centering Mold System

(PlasticsToday) -- Japanese toolmaker Nishiuchi Seisakusho (Kiryu) developed what it calls the Floating Self-Centering Mold System that does away with guide pins altogether, while enabling the molding of precision components such as connectors with wall thickness down to 0.09 mm and core hole width of 0.12 mm.


Explaining the concept of the system at the recent IPF show, Nishiuchi Seisakusho CEO Kenji Nishiuchi presented a marker pen and repeatedly took off the cap and placed it back on. "Essentially, that's what's happening when the our tool opens and closes, and it does so with precision of 0.5 micrometers," he says. "The cavity half on the moving platen is attached via rigid springs and this enables it to mate perfectly with the half on the fixed platen during clamping," says Nishiuchi.


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

US propylene contract prices for November settled down 6 cents/lb

(ICIS) -- US propylene contract prices for November settled down 6 cents/lb ($132/tonne, ┬95/tonne) from October as inventory levels remain high, market participants said on Monday.
The decline, took polymer-grade propylene (RGP) contracts down to 58 cents/lb, and the chemical-grade propylene (CGP) contract down to 56.50 cents/lb.


Initial settlements were first heard on Friday for PGP, but the CGP contract was still in negotiations.
Producers had nominated declines of 3.5 and 4 cents/lb for the month while a buyer predicted contracts would drop by as much as 6 cents/lb.


The settlement came as US propylene inventories gained 2% to 3.786m bbl in the first week of November from the previous week, continuing the increase that began in mid-September, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).


Major US producers of PGP and CGP include Chevron Phillips Chemical, Enterprise Products, ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, Petrologistics and Shell Chemical. The main buyers include Dow Chemical, INEOS, Ascend Performance Materials and Total.


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

MEG prices in China may continue falling

(ICIS) -- Monoethylene glycol (MEG) prices in China may continue falling, after declining by about 20% over the past two months because of weakening demand from the downstream polyester sector, industry sources said on Tuesday.


Spot domestic prices declined to yuan (CNY) 8,350/tonne ($1,315/tonne) on 14 November from CNY10,400/tonne in mid-September, according to Chemease, an ICIS service in China. The price represents a rebound from last Friday's assessed price of CNY8,200/tonne, which is the lowest recorded this year according to ICIS pricing data, but downward pressure remains.


MEG is primarily used in textile production. Textile factories in China secured fewer orders from abroad because of the poor global economic environment, with the eurozone entangled in a debt crisis and the US - the world's biggest economy - still in a fragile state.


Textile makers are currently not building up their polyester inventory and are instead procuring cargoes on a need-to basis, market sources said.


Demand for MEG from downstream polyester producers usually peaks in September and October - the busy production months for the textile industry heading towards the year-end holidays. China's polyester producers had a sales-to-output ratio of 50-60% in early November, down from 80-90% in October, according to data from Chemease.


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