In Asia naptha spot prices are likely to move sideways this week

(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

(Plastemart) -- AkzoNobel announced its intention to invest EUR45 mln in a new Dicumyl Peroxide (DCP) plant at its Ningbo multi-site in China to meet a growing local, regional and global demand. Widely used as cross-linking agent for various polymers and copolymers, DCP can be found in a variety of products like shoe soles, cable insulation and construction insulation. The new facility will expand AkzoNobel Functional Chemicals' DCP production capacity by over 30% to 25,000 metric tons and allow for future expansion as the market continues grow. Expected to be completed by mid-2014, it will be the fifth plant built on the multi-site and benefit from the shared infrastructure and state-of-the-art facilities.

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 and supported by 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-MRC) -- The Polymers Summit-2011 will be held on November 30, 2011 in The Ritz-Carlton, Moscow. The Summit is organized by MRC and supported by ICIS. Among the speakers of the Polymers Summit-2011 will be Linda Naylor (ICIS), Geert Drummen (SABIC), Myron Gorilovskiy (POLYPLASTIC Group), Vasiliy Tkachev (TekhnoNIKOL), Sergey Yaremenko (MRC), Sergey Arbuzov (Europlastic), Sergey Komyshan (Sibur), Pavel Lyakhovich (Sibur), Alexey Zavyalov (CENTROPOLYMER).

The main idea of the Summit is to find "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in the expansion of production in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of the feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products.

The Polymers Summit is not another boring conference, it is an interactive communication. After a free registration on a site, each participant can arrange the subject of the reports and invite colleagues for a talk or for a meeting. The Summit site gives an access to the live video from the Summit, speakers' presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit participants.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Saudi International Petrochemical Company's (Sipchem) affiliate the International Polymers Company (IPC) has signed with Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) a SR 600 million loan facility Agreement. The purpose of this loan facility is to support financing of the construction of EVA/LDPE plant. This plant will produce Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) and Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) with an annual production capacity of 200,000 metric tons in its industrial complex in Jubail Industrial City.

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

(Polyscope) -- In a recent benchmark analysis of heat boosters, Polyscope Polymers has highlighted the benefits that can be obtained by the use of readily available XIRAN SMA copolymers as a modifier in thermoplastic polymers.

Because XIRAN SMA has a high glass transition temperature it is able to significantly boost performance and value of various virgin and recycled resins, particularly acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Available in a broad range of molecular weights and maleic anhydride (MA) contents, XIRAN can improve thermal stability to widen the application window, make parts easier to bond, paint or print on at a cost significantly below that of several other additives and proprietary polymer modification techniques. The material can also act as excellent compatibilizer between resins that are normally immiscible, such as PA/ABS.

Polyscope is leading the way in expanding the use of this polymer as a property enhancer. The Company has the industry's broadest offering of SMA additives. Grades vary in molecular weight and maleic anhydride content, both of which have important effects on host polymer properties.

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