Upside for Asia olefins limited on fewer turnarounds

(ICIS) -- The gains in Asia's olefins market may be capped next year because of a lighter 2012 cracker turnaround schedule and concerns over the health of the global economy, market sources said on Friday. Around 16 crackers in the region are scheduled for maintenance in 2012 compared to 33 crackers in 2011.

Based on the nameplate capacities of these crackers, the ethylene production loss is estimated to be at least 865,534 tonnes in 2012, down by more than 50% from levels seen in 2011, according to ICIS.

The market outlook for the ethylene and propylene markets in 2012 is generally bearish, particularly in the first quarter as the Lunar New Year holidays will arrive earlier on 23 January 2012, market sources said. ⌠January business is basically dead. Hopefully demand will pick up in February for March cargoes, a regional olefins trader said.

With the exception of South Korea, crackers in Asia are being operated at reduced rates of 80-90% this month as producers are squeezed by high feedstock naphtha costs and the earlier sharp falls in olefins prices.

South Korean producers are still running their crackers at close to full tilt except for SK Energy, which is operating its 190,000 tonne/year No 1 cracker in Ulsan at 70% capacity this month.
Ethylene margins of producers in northeast Asia based on naphtha feed fell into negative territory at the end of October, but the losses have narrowed in recent weeks partly because of a modest recovery in ethylene, propylene and butadiene (BD) prices, according to ICIS data.


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

(Arabian and oil gas) -- Kuwait and China held a groundbreaking ceremony for a US$9 billion refinery and petrochemical complex in the southern Chinese city of Zhanjiang, with completion scheduled for late 2014, Kuwait News agency reported. "The project is a major pillar that helps spur investments, trade, and the oil industry between the two countries," KUNA quoted Kuwaiti Consul General in Guangzhou Abdulwahab Al-Sager as saying.

"At the ceremony, leaders across the province have expressed happiness in realizing their dream to start this important project, which is vital in the field of energy, and have also shown their interest in future cooperation with Kuwait in other mutually-beneficial projects," the diplomat added.

Under the 50-50 joint venture between state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and China's top refiner Sinopec, a 300,000 barrel-per-day refinery, a 1 milliont/y ethylene plant, and related utilities will be built in a petrochemical industrial park on Donghai Island of Zhanjiang in Guangdong Province. Kuwait has pledged to supply all the crude feedstock for the world-class integrated complex.

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) -- Shell is on the verge of commercialising a technology for the production of diphenyl carbonate (DPC) as a feedstock for the production of polycarbonate, as per theengineer.co.uk. Over recent years, Shell has been in talks with major manufacturers of the engineering polymer, for whom DPC offers a potential replacement to phosgene - a highly toxic feedstock precursor.

Production of polycarbonate is, today, predominantly based on reacting phosgene with bisphenol A (BPA) to produce the polymer (interfacial or solution polycarbonate). Due to its toxicity, though, phosgene requires stringent exposure management and controls. The phosgene-based process, said Shell, is also complex and energy intensive, involving the use of carbon monoxide, caustic soda and a chlorinated solvent, which has its own health and safety issues. During the reaction process the chlorine is converted to sodium chloride, which then has to be removed from the finished polymer in an additional washing stage in order to achieve the material's optical clarity. Disposal of the waste salt presents another issue. These issues have led polycarbonate manufacturers to develop phosgene-free routes to DPC.

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

(LyondellBasell) -- LyondellBasell announced that its Management Board has declared a special dividend of $4.50 per share payable on Dec. 16, 2011 to shareholders of record on Nov. 25, 2011. The Management Board also declared an interim dividend of $0.25 per share payable on Dec. 16, 2011 to shareholders of record on Nov. 25, 2011.

LyondellBasell is one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies. The company manufactures products at 58 sites in 18 countries. LyondellBasell products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels.

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

(PlastEurope) -- Dutch precision moulder Helvoet Holding (Hellevoetsluis) announced the acquisition of Rosti Nederland (Tilburg/The Netherlands), part of Sweden's Rosti (Malmo) group. The Dutch group says the purchase, the price of which was not disclosed, would help strengthen its position in the medical devices and packaging as well as beverage systems markets. Pending the approval of the relevant competition authorities, the deal is expected to receive the official go-ahead in December 2011.

⌠The acquisition of Rosti Nederland strengthens the position of Helvoet in the markets for medical devices and packaging and beverage systems. It also contributes significantly to a healthy distribution of our activities in our key markets for automotive and industrial applications, said Helvoet CEO Peter Rijkoort. Once the acquisition has been approved, Rosti Nederland will be renamed Helvoet (Tilburg), with earnings expected to be accretive immediately.

Founded in 1939, Helvoet specialises in custom-made, high-precision plastic and rubber components for the automotive, industrial and medical packaging sectors. The group's 550 employees last generated sales of EUR 65m. Helvoet owns facilities in Hellevoetsluis / The Netherlands, Lommel / Belgium, Pune / India and also operates sales departments in Detroit / USA and Singapore.

Rosti Nederland is an injection moulder and contract manufacturer specialised in the food, beverage, industrial, medical and pharmaceutical markets. Its 65 employees last generated sales of EUR 15m.

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