PET consumption in Russia to decrease by the year end

MOSCOW (MRC) -- By the year end, the calculated consumption of PET granulate in the Russian domestic market continues to decline. In November, this figure fell by 23% compared with the previous month and made about 24 thousand tonnes, according to MRC analysts.


The peak of consumption was in March and made 72.6 thousand tonnes, and then it had gradually been decreasing during the year. This trend resulted from falling sales in the sectors of final consumption, which prevented converters from getting rid of accumulated inventories.

In November, production volumes significantly reduced. Following the month's resultes, domestic producers of PET made 25.6 thousand tonnes of granulated polyethyleneterephthalate, which was 4 thousand tonnes less than October output. In general, this was equivalent to 60% of the total loading capacity of domestic plants for the production of granulate.

The fall of the total production resulted from the suspension for a scheduled turnaround of Senezh and Polief. In November, due to the continuing maintenance works, Senezh stood idle for about 20 days, Polief - about 10 days. During the turnaround PET granules were not produced at these enterprises.

The imports were lowering too. In November, the Russian domestic market imported about 6 thousand tons of PET, against 6.7 thousand tonnes in the previous month. At the same time, export shipments of PET increased by 2.5 thousand tonnes in comparison with October and made 7.7 thousand tonnes.

MRC

(4-traders) -- Songwon Industrial Group has announced it has acquired Additives Technology Greiz (ATG), one of Europe's largest manufacturers of One Pack Systems (OPS) products for the polymer industry. ATG's manufacturing plant is located in Greiz (Germany) and has produced dust free polymer additive packages since 2006. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

One Pack Systems (OPS) products combine several additives into an integrated dust free, pellet form. Songwon's OPS products, which are sold under the Songnox OPS brand, are custom formulated and offer a number of key advantages such as uniformity and certified composition.

The market for OPS has been enjoying consistent growth as compounders and polymer producers continuously search for added value and more efficient production technology. Demand for Songnox OPS has increased in applications which require highly dispersed additives that result in improved product performance.

"This acquisition is a landmark step for Songwon", stated Jongho Park, Chairman and CEO of Songwon Industrial Group. "We promised our customers that we would meet their demands and we will now be able to deliver Songnox OPS in significant volumes immediately with the ability to expand the annual capacity up to 12.000 tons in the future. Our customers will also benefit from a broader range of technologies which we will combine with our own expertise to deliver new and more cost effective solutions based on our fully backward integrated stabilizer production."

MRC

(MarketWatch) -- South Korea's SK Innovation Co. said Monday that all of its refining and petrochemical plants in Ulsan are operating normally, after most of its facilities were temporarily halted of operations due to a blackout in the area Tuesday.

All of the company's Ulsan plants, including SK Energy Co.'s crude distillation units, have been restarted since the weekend, an SK Innovation spokesman said by phone.

The plants that were halted include five of SK Energy's CDUs with total capacity of 840,000 barrels a day, an SK Innovation official said last week. SK Innovation fully owns SK Energy, South Korea's biggest oil refiner.

State-run power provider Korea Electric Power Corp. said Tuesday that there was a 15-minute power outage from 0500 GMT in some parts of Ulsan, a refining and petrochemical hub, due to problems at a substation.

MRC

(Dow Jones) -- CPC Corp. is in talks to procure base petrochemicals, such as propylene and ethylene, from Formosa Petrochemical Corp (6505.TW) to ensure future supply as a CPC 23-million metric ton-a-year naphtha cracker is set to close in the first quarter for a year-long capacity upgrade, senior executives from the companies said Monday.

Formosa Petrochemical President Tsao Mihn said the deal between the two rivals, which will likely take more than a month to conclude, will help expand distribution channels and lift the utilization of Formosa's olefin plants by 3%-4% amid a weakening export market. The resulting on-unit cost reduction will help boost Formosa's bottom line, since the refiner has idle capacity, analysts said.

CPC's petrochemical business division Deputy Executive Manager Vincent Lin said sourcing from Formosa, instead of importing from overseas suppliers as it's doing now, will help the state-owned refiner save on shipping and storage and will lower the overall feedstock costs for its downstream customers, which are also facing a sputtering end-demand and a squeeze in margins.

The supply deal also highlights closer ties between the two major energy companies in Taiwan, after some senior executives from CPC were hired by Formosa over the past months, in a bid to turn around its industrial safety image, following a spate of fires at a major Formosa petrochemical plant this year.

"The deal could benefit both sides," Formosa's Tsao said, "as Formosa Petrochemical can sell at prices higher than spots, CPC's downstream customers can get feedstock at prices lower than imports and CPC can make profit on consolidating those deals."

CPC's Lin added that the refiner is sourcing around 20%-30% of the base petrochemicals it needs from overseas suppliers. But he said the deal with Formosa, if struck, is unlikely to fill the whole gap because Formosa has to supply its other customers as well.

MRC

(Rochling) -- The Rochling Engineering Plastics Group is taking over the North Italian machining specialist Leder Orago S.r.l. in Gozzano effective as of the 1st December 2011. Leder Orago will become part of the Business Unit Machined Components of the Rochling High-Performance Plastics Group, which operates 15 machining facilities world-wide. With the take-over, Rochling raises their competence in the field of plastic applications, material development as well as machining.

The enterprise Leder Orago S.r.l. at the location in Gozzano, where 46 employees generate a turnover of approx. Euro 5.0 million, has been steadily developing in the last few years. Willy Bolscher, Director of the Business Unit Machined Components, is positive about the acquisition: "Leder Orago represents for us a good platform for further expanding our business in Italy. The good technical equipment of the company as well as the high degree of competence of management and the staff offer a very good basis for further future growth."

With the company Rochling Machined Plastics S.r.l. in Arcisate, Rochling has had a machining operation for thermoplastics and composites at their disposal in Italy since 1994, and with the further commitment signalises sustainable interest in the Italian market. Bolscher: "With a global market share of more than seven percent, Italy is the fourth largest manufacturer of mechanical engineering products in the world and thus for us an important sales market for machined components made of plastic."

MRC