Spot prices of monopropylene glycol in Asia to be stable

(ICIS) -- Spot prices of monopropylene glycol (MPG) in Asia are expected to be stable, with a downside bias, as producers unload inventory amid uncertainty in the global economic outlook, market sources said on Monday. ⌠Everybody wants to keep low stocks these days, said a Malaysian buyer.

On 2 December, MPG industrial grade (PGI) bulk cargoes were assessed at $1,700-1,730/tonne (┬1,275-1,298/tonne) CFR (cost and freight) northeast (NE)/southeast (SE) Asia, unchanged from last week, according to ICIS data.

For MPG pharmaceutical grade (PG USP) drummed cargoes, prices were assessed at $1,900-1,930/tonne CFR NE Asia and $1,920-1,940/tonne CFR SE Asia in the week ended 2 December, according to data from ICIS. Producers tend to maintain low inventory levels towards the end of the year to reflect better profits in their accounting books, a PG USP maker said.

MPG's downstream sectors, including the unsaturated polyester resins (UPR) industry, are mostly procuring cargoes on a hand-to-mouth basis to control and keep levels of finished goods low, market sources said. Concerns about global demand amid the eurozone debt crisis, a weak US economy and a slowing down of China's growth have been keeping market players in the MPG markets sidelined.

A major US -based MPG producer, meanwhile, experienced a 20% month-on-month decline in sales over the same period. The producer is considering cutting its PGI bulk offers by $30/tonne in December to about $1,700-1,730/tonne CFR NE/SE Asia, market sources said. UPR is used in products like sink, pipes and water tanks.

For PG USP, demand has been mainly stable throughout the year. PG USP is used in the food and additives, pharmaceutical and personal care sectors. Offers for PGI from Singapore were slightly below $1,700/tonne CFR SE Asia, said the northeast Asian producer.

MRC

(PlastEurope) -- With a per capita plastics consumption of 46 kg in 2009, China's appetite for plastics was higher than that year's global per capital average of 40 kg, but still significantly lower than the developed world's 120 kg per capital plastics consumption, data published by the China Plastics Processing Industry Association (Beijing) indicate.

And if those figures held true almost two years ago, amid rising income levels and with a population of 1.3 bn and counting, plastics pollution is turning into a serious problem in the People's Republic. The government has been acting to curb the use of conventional plastics in a number of ways since the beginning of this millenium, including by promoting the use of bioplastics to replace disposable shopping bags and food packaging, among others.

In 2008, for instance, China banned the use of plastic bags with a thickness of less than 0.025mm, promoting both reusable as well as biodegradable alternatives instead. Three years after the prohibition was first introduced, an investigation by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC, Beijing / China) found that China's major retail outlets had reduced shopping bag consumption by more than 24 bn individual bags, equivalent to about 600,000 t of plastics. Nevertheless, industry experts point out that enforcement of the ban has proven difficult.

The prohibition coincided with the introduction of state council-approved national policies to promote biotech industries, which include the development of biodegradable plastics. Industrial circles expect the government to implement a range of incentives, including tax exemptions, by 2012. The 2008 Beijing Olympics constituted an important testcase, as China claims to have distributed no less than 5m bioplastic carrier bags during the event, showcasing its commitment to protecting the environment.

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(Lanxess) -- German specialty chemicals company LANXESS and South Korea's tier-one automotive supplier, Hwaseung Corporation, have further strengthened their business partnership. Both companies have signed a long-term agreement under which LANXESS will supply Hwaseung with premium EPDM rubber. Financial details were not disclosed. Furthermore, both companies will deepen their research and development efforts on specialty rubber applications.

An agreement was signed at LANXESS' ⌠Rubber Day Korea in Jeju by Guenther Weymans, Global Head of LANXESS' Technical Rubber Products business unit, and Yoohwi Choi, Senior Vice President of Hwaseung Networks - a subsidiary of Hwaseung Corporation.

⌠This new agreement will further strengthen the already successful partnership between Hwaseung and LANXESS, said Weymans. ⌠It is also another milestone in the successful integration of the recently-acquired EPDM business.

Ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) synthetic rubber, sold under the brand name Keltan, is used above all in the automobile industry for door sealants. It is also used in the plastics modification, cable and wire, construction and oil additives industries. Its properties include very low density, good resistance to heat, oxidation, chemicals and weathering as well as good electrical insulation properties.

Hwaseung Corporation is a leading supplier of rubber components and other materials to global automobile producers, including the Korean manufactures Hyundai and Kia. South Korea is already one of the top five automobile producers in the world.

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(PlastEurope) -- Another Chinese producer has selected technology from UOP (Des Plaines, Illinois / USA) for its propylene project. Zhejiang Shaoxing Sanyuan Petrochemical (Shaoxing, Zhejiang/China) plans to build a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Shaoxing, Zhejiang/China based on UOP's ⌠Oleflex technology.

UOP, a subsidiary of Honeywell, said the 450,000 t/y plant is expected to start up in 2013. In addition to technology licensing, UOP will provide engineering design, catalysts, adsorbents, equipment, staff training and technical service for the project.

UOP said this is the sixth time this year its technology has been selected for a propylene project. Four have already been announced in China and one in Abu Dhabi. Zhejiang Shaoxing Sanyuan Petrochemical is a subsidiary of Zhejiang Fuling Holding Group (Shaoxing/China).

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(ICIS) -- INEOS Oxide has nominated three sites on the US Gulf coast as possible locations for its planned 500,000 tonne/year ethylene oxide (EO) and derivatives capacity investment, INEOS said on Friday.

The Switzerland-registered chemicals major also said that operation of its new deep-sea ethylene terminal at its Zwijndrecht facilities in Belgium is expected to start in 2012, as planned.
INEOS said that it would choose between Plaquemine, Louisiana, Battleground, La Porte in Texas and Chocolate Bayou, also in Texas, in a detailed study for the EO, glycol (EG) and derivatives plants.

⌠The work we have done since March has reaffirmed that the US is the obvious location for INEOS Oxide to consider its next expansion, said INEOS Oxide CEO Hans Casier. ⌠It is a market we know well, where INEOS Group already has a well-placed manufacturing presence that is capable of taking full advantage of competitively priced feedstock, he added.
The advent of shale gas has given the US access to relatively cheap ethane and there are projects planned by a number of companies to add new cracking capacity for the production of ethylene.

INEOS is a major importer of ethylene in Europe, with an annual requirement of close to 1.5m tonnes/year. The new ethylene terminal in Belgium will allow the company to tap into deep sea ethylene supplies and will meet the bulk of that requirement.


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