Production of base polymers in Ukraine increased by 2.5 times

(MRC) -- In November, production of volume polymers in Ukraine made 29.8 thousand tonnes. Over the 11 months, output of base polymers in Ukraine made 276.6 thousand tonnes, according to MRC ScanPlast.


Last month Ukrainian producer Karpatneftechem (Lukoil group) increased polyethylene (PE) production up to 9 thousand tonnes that was almost by 2 thousand tonnes more than in October. In January-November, total volume of HDPE production in Ukraine made 93.3 thousand tonnes.


In November, Linik (TNK-BP group) increased output of polypropylene (PP). Last month total PP production increased to 8.3 thousand tonnes. Over the 11 months, total PP production in Ukraine made 85.4 thousand tonnes that was by 23% more, year on year. Such a low last year volume of PP production resulted from a long turnaround of the whole complex of oil refineries.

In November, production volumes of suspension PVC by Karpatneftechem (Lukoil Group) made 10.8 thousand tonnes. The Ukrainian producer loaded its PVC facilities not more than by 50%. Over less than seven months, Karpatneftechem produced about 76.5 thousand tonnes of PVC-S.


In November, Ukrainian producer Stirol produced 1.6 thousand tonnes of polystyrene, which was almost two times lower compared to October figures. In January-November, the company's output of polystyrene made nearly 21.4 thousand tonnes, which was by 37% more, year on year.


In general, over the 11 months, total output of base polymers by Ukrainian producers made 276.6 thousand tonnes that was by 153% more, year on year. Such growth of production volumes was provided by the launch of new capacities (PVC at Karpatneftechem), as well as increased production volumes at existing production sites.


MRC

Russian market of windows in 2011 grew by 3% - Alexander Stepanenko

(MRC) -- Objective assessment of the capacity of Russian market of translucent constructions and PVC profiles is actually impossible because of the hidden figures of economic activity. This was stated by Alexander Stepanenko, Director Veka Rus/Veka Ukraine, during his speech at the Polymers Summit - 2011, which was held by MRC with ICIS support.

As per Stepanenko, according to the estimates of the leading Russian producers of PVC profiles, members of the Union of Producers of Polymer Profiles (UPPP), the growth of Russian market of windows in 2011 has made only 3% year on year. The market volume of PVC constructures, taking into account the growth, will make about 28 million units. The total tonnage of PVC profiles will make about 470 thousand tonnes. In 2012 the market is not expected to grow.

Among the major trends in the market of PVC director of Veka Rus/Veka Ukraine noted the globalization of markets and the restructuring of sales patterns. According to him, 80% of sales are made through dealer network.

The dealers manipulate the suppliers and put big pressure on prices. In addition, dealers form a consumer market, imposing a product with low consumer quality, and have a bad influence on producers of windows.


The annual capacity of Veka Rus/Veka Ukraine Group exceeds 70 thousand tonnes of PVC profiles. The total foreign investments make 120 million euros.



MRC

To be competitive Russian producers need to have oil and gas prices at Asian level

(MRC) -- Russia's joining into the World Trade Organization (WTO) will bring almost all industries to new competitive level. This was stated by Sergey Arbuzov, General director of Europlastic at his speech at the Polymers Summit - 2011, which was held by MRC with ICIS support.

According Arbuzov, there will be great changes as for producers of plastics as well as for converters of polymers. In particular, Russia's joining to the WTO and the subsequent cancellation (decrease) of import duties will open borders to foreign products, either in a form of feedstock, or in a form of finished products.

With the opening of the borders, all market participants will face tough competition from foreign producers in pricing, product quality, cost of polymers production and products made from them. If the cost of production depends upon the major sources of feedstock of natural monopolies, then the competition in polymer processing depends on existing technologies and "know-how."


According to Sergey Arbuzov, to become competitive in price, producers will have to get the prices of oil, gas, electricity and transport at the Asian level, as well as get rid of marginal assets. As per CEO of Europlastic, it refers only to those producers who work with cutting-edge technologies, others will have to work with the subsidized feedstock.

Europlastic works with two operators, who provide warehousing services for the storage of up to 12 thousand tonnes of polymers, as well as with 5 companies, providing freight forwarding services. Company's monthly volume of purchases and sales of polymers makes on average 18-20 thousand tonnes amounting to rouble (Rb)1.3 billion monthly, including VAT 18%.

The main polymers supplied by Europlastic are polystyrene, polypropylene, polyethylene, PVC.


MRC

MRC launched the program of automatic generation of analytics on polymers market

(MRC) -- MRC announced the launch of a new program, which can automatically generate reports, news and short messages concerning the market of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, PVC and PET. The new program will allow to increase the information contents of analytical reports, as well as create new reports, which format will be determined by the users themselves.


Sergey Yaremenko, MRC director, said: "At the present we make 1,100 market reports each year. The total annual volume of analytics makes approximately 50 thousand pages. Of course, a team of 20 people can not physically process such volume of data. So over the five years, our company has been using a system of automatic generation of tables part of the reports. And now our program is able to write text analytics in Russian and English. In fact, the prototype of the future artificial intelligence systems was created .


The volume of our analytical messages to the market will grow by ten times. In particular, we will offer short messages (posts), which will be formed on the basis of an event, e.g. a new supplier appears in the Russian market of polyethylene or the share of a market's leading player declines significantly. In future, analytical reports may be formed by the customers in their own terminals. Our clients will be able to adjust their personal analytics. And managers will have a chance to work with its own Price and Annual Reports, ScanPlast or DataScope."


MRC makes a research of polymers market in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. In partnership with ICIS, the world leading analytical company in the chemical market, MRC prepares weekly price analytics for the market of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, PVC and PET in the Russian language. The both companies work together under the brand of ICIS-MRC.

mrclast.com

US Visteon signed a memorandum of understanding with Huayu Automotive Systems

(Plasteurope) -- Visteon (Van Buren Township, Michigan/USA) signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Huayu Automotive Systems (HASCO), the automotive components group of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC), its joint venture partner in Yanfeng Visteon Automotive Trim Systems (YVF).


The Memorandum allows the tier-1 US automotive supplier to sell the majority of its global interiors business to YVF.

Definitive agreements for the proposed sale are expected to be signed in early 2012.


The transaction, when completed, will result in a leading global interiors company within YVF, with an estimated annual revenue of around USD 4 bn. The combined venture will serve more than 30 customers from over 60 facilities in 16 countries.


MRC