Petrochemicals producers in GCC region see the need to expand further downstream

(ICIS) -- Petrochemicals producers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region see the need to expand further downstream to manufacture more value-added products and ensure sustainable growth for the business, a high-ranking industry official said on Monday. Expansion is focused on the engineering plastics and performance chemicals, said Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, secretary general of the Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association (GPCA), in an interview with ICIS.

"The main drivers behind the need to move downstream are to add value to the producer, to address the potential growth and to create job opportunities regionally, to take advantage of the working age demographics," Al-Sadoun said.

With majority of GCC's production derived from feedstock gas - a natural resource with strong availability and is quite cheap in the Middle East - the most developed value chains in the region are ethylene and methanol.

But with the diversification into using other feedstocks, like naphtha, the GCC producers will be able to produce higher volumes of propylene that has not been possible in gas-based production.

Using naphtha as feedstock also meant a move for GCC producers to integrate petrochemical operations with the refineries and will translate to increased output of aromatics products such as benzene, toluene and xylenes.

The GCC's demographics also indicate a strong availability of work force that can be tapped to realise the expansion and integration of the region's crude oil and petrochemical producers, he said.
GCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE. In Qatar, about 28% of the country's are about 25 years old, while in Saudi Arabia, the age group accounts for a bigger proportion of the total population at 48%, he cited. But this movement towards producing more value-added products is also going on in other regions, like Asia.

MRC

(ICIS) -- China's foreign trade increased by 17.6% year on year in November to USD334.4bn (EUR250.8bn), while its trade surplus narrowed by 34.9% to USD14.5bn during the same month, China Customs said over the weekend.

On a year-on-year basis, China's exports grew by 13.8% to USD174.5bn, while its imports rose by 22.1% to USD159.9bn in November, according to the data released by China Customs. The growth in the country's exports has been slowing down for the past four consecutive months and November's growth figure is at a nine-month low.

China's crude imports in November increased by 8.5% year on year to 22.7m tonnes, the data showed.

The country's imports of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) resins dropped by 19.7% year on year to 153,753 tonnes, while imports of polyester chips fell by 35.0% to 11,954 tonnes in November.

Its imports of natural rubber (NR) increased by 26.3% year on year to 240,000 tonnes, while imports of synthetic rubber decreased by 7.9% to 117,803 tonnes in that month.

In November, the country imported 204,000 tonnes of primary plastics, a 4.7% year-on-year decrease from the same period a year earlier.

China exported 715,731 tonnes of plastic products in November, an increase of 9.4% year on year, the data showed.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Production of polymers in Venezuela has not achieved consistency after a number of turnarounds this year, leaving shortages of some grades, buyers said on Friday. The country's only polypropylene (PP) plant increased capacity at the end of 2010 from 110,000 tonnes/year to 144,000 tonnes/year-a 34,000 tonne/year expansion.

However, the plant has not been able to deliver the targeted 12,000 tonnes/month consistently in 2011, and production has remained around 8,000 tonnes/month, which is less than what the plant produced before the expansion, buyers said.

Market players expected PP production to improve in December, although not by much. PP resins are currently in short supply, buyers said.

The shortages generated by the lower production have been covered with imports, increasing domestic prices. Things have not been better for polyethylene (PE) production. Linear low density PE (LLDPE) is the grade that has typically been in short supply, produced at Venezuela's 190,000 tonnes/year swing plant (HDPE/LLDPE).

Shortages of low density PE (LDPE) have been added to the list more recently, because of technical problems.

Buyers try to cope with these shortages ordering more material than they really need. They know that the state-owned producer will deliver less than requested.

Conversely, the local producer knows that buyers ask for more product than they need, which minimises the claims about shortages.


MRC

(PlasticsToday) -- General Motors (Detroit) and carbon fiber and composites company Teijin Limited (Osaka) plan to co-develop advanced carbon fiber composite technologies for potential high-volume use globally in GM cars, trucks and crossovers.

The co-development pact involves use of Teijin's innovative carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) technology, a faster and more efficient way to produce carbon fiber composites. This potentially enables GM to introduce CFRTP components on mainstream vehicles. For Teijin, the arrangement could lead to widening its portfolio beyond specialty and high-end automotive carbon fiber applications.

As carbon fiber is 10 times stronger than regular-grade steel yet only one-quarter of the weight, carbon fiber composites used as automobile components are expected to dramatically reduce vehicle weight. Consumers will benefit from lighter weight vehicles with better fuel economy and all the safety benefits that come with vehicles of greater mass.

MRC

(PlastEurope) -- Masterbatch manufacturer Plastics Color (PCC, Calumet City, Illinois/USA) has introduced a non-brominated flame retardant system for PP. ⌠FlamaSol FR contains no brominated flame retardants or antimony but is claimed to have improved extinguishing properties compared with the company's previous flame retardant.
The additive was developed in response to a perceived requirement for safer flame resistant plastics for applications in construction materials (electrical conduit, junction boxes, and switch boxes), warehouse products (shelving and pallets), personal electronic equipment (computers, printers and televisions) and other applications where extreme heat may cause ignition.

The material is available in white, black and natural masterbatches and PCC can custom-formulate it for any colour. The company is currently working on a FlamaSol product for PE.

MRC