PP export prices to move down in the European market

(MRC) -- Low demand for polypropylene (PP) in the domestic market amid oversupply makes European producers increase exports at any cost, even by means of a serious decline in prices. The weakening of EUR against USD makes the task easier for European producers, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

PP prices in Europe reached the peak in May, followed by their gradual decline. The debt crisis in Europe and the subsequent decline in demand for PP forced European producers to cut back production volumes significantly.

However, by mid-December, despite a significant reduction in PP production loading, European market had demonstrated a surplus in supply.

Excess of PP in the domestic market forces European producers to increase export sales by a serious decline in prices.

By this week the European export prices of PP for CIS markets had achieved the following levels: raffia was offered on average for EUR1,000-1,030/tonne, FCA, injection molding PP-homo - on average for EUR1,030-1,080/tonne, FCA. Export quotations of copolymers of propylene seriously decreased too. Prices of block copolymers of propylene start from EUR1,100/tonne, FCA, statistical copolymer of polypropylene - on average by EUR20-40/tonne more expensive.

MRC

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