Evonik doubled acrylic molding compound capacity in Shanghai

(PlasticsToday) -- Last quarter of 2011 has seen phase-two expansion of Evonik's PMMA plant in Shanghai completed and put online, thereby doubling the supplier's regional manufacturing capacity for molding compounds made of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) to around 40,000 tonnes per annum. This latest expansion of the PMMA plant also makes accommodations for growing demand in Europe as it helps to better secure supply availability of Plexiglas molding compounds for customers outside of Asia.

Evonik (Essen, Germany) sells PMMA molding compounds under the Plexiglas brand name. It supplies an extensive range of the compounds to a variety of industries, among them automotive and electronics manufactures and the lighting industry.

Perspectives of development of the polymers 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 is 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) -- Weak demand and aggressive offers in the spot market are pulling down European acrylate prices as the year draws to a close, sources said on Monday.

A ┬55/tonne ($74/tonne) reduction for feedstock propylene in November added some downward pressure to the market, but players largely agreed that the key factor is the combination of current downstream bearishness with low spot numbers.

⌠It is the distribution side of the business that is bringing the price levels down, said one producer. ⌠There are a lot of sources in the market now that we have not seen in the last 18 months. While it is usually competitively priced material from Asia that makes its way into Europe, both buyers and sellers confirmed that material from Russia was currently the key driver behind the lower numbers.

Other players felt that a generally bearish sentiment amongst traders was forcing them to destock, which was in turn leading to lower prices, in particular for ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate. ⌠Spot numbers are disastrous right now, said another European supplier, adding that this was leading to a wide range of November contract prices.

Perspectives of development of the polymers 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 is 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) -- Kuwait-based EQUATE has ramped up its high density polyethylene (HDPE) production last week after restarting its 850,000 tonne/year HDPE/linear low density PE (LLDPE) swing plant at the end of October, a source close to the company said on Monday. The exact date of the restart is not available.

The plant, located at Shuaiba, was shut for a few days at the end of October because of technical problems, the source said. However, after the plant was restarted, it continued to face technical issues which kept the operating rate low, the source added.

The plant was producing LLDPE from 15 August until the shutdown. There are no details on the exact operating rate. EQUATE officials could not be reached for comment.

Perspectives of development of the polymers 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 is 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) -- UK-based Vitafoam had no immediate comments late on Friday regarding a proposal to pay up to $15m (┬11m) to settle allegations that the company fixed prices on polyurethane (PU) flexible foam.

Under the proposal, Vitafoam would pay $9m with a possibility of paying up to $6m more, for a total worth up to $15m, according to court documents. In addition, Vitafoam offered to cooperate with the polyurethane-foam customers in their lawsuit against other producers. In proposing the settlement, Vitafoam denied all allegations that it has done anything wrong. The proposal still needs to be approved by the court.

Vitafoam is among several polyurethane producers accused of fixing prices. Others include Carpenter, Flexible Foam Products, Future Foam, FXI - Foamex Innovations, Hickory Springs Manufacturing, Inoac, Leggett & Platt, Mohawk Industries, Otto Bock Polyurethane Technologies, Plastomer, Scottdel, Valle Foam and the Woodbridge Group. Leggett & Platt and Otto Bock have both denied the allegations. In the lawsuit, the foam buyers allege that the producers had been fixing prices since at least 1 January 1999. As a result, the buyers said they had paid too much for foam as the market was no longer competitive.

Perspectives of development of the polymers 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 is 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) -- Naphtha spot prices in Asia are likely to move sideways this week because of weak demand, ample supply from Indian refiners and negative petrochemical margins, traders said on Monday. The open spec Asian naphtha contract for the first half of January fell by $11/tonne (┬8/tonne) from Friday to $857.00-860.00/tonne CFR (cost and freight) Japan on Monday, ICIS data showed.

The naphtha crack spread versus January Brent crude futures was assessed at $52.68/tonne on Friday, down from $36.75/tonne in the previous week.

The crack spread narrowed from $57.05/tonne on Thursday, which was the highest since 1 November because of the strength in Europe naphtha prices then which in turn was underpinned by firm gasoline prices.

⌠The (naphtha) market does not have strength. In fact, it is limping, said one trader.
The spread between the naphtha contracts for the first half of January and the first half of February was assessed unchanged at parity on Friday, ICIS data showed.

Perspectives of development of the polymers 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 is 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