Chineese Maoming Petrochemical intends to reduce LLDPE supply by 40%

(chemmonitor) -- In January Maoming Petrochemical Company Ltd., (China) intends to reduce linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) supply by 40 percent due to reduced production of the grade.

The company's annual production capacity at its full density polyethylene facility accounts for 200,000 tonnes, while the average monthly production of LLDPE film comes to about 10,000 tonnes.

In January Maoming Petrochemical's facility would produce 6,000 tonnes of LLDPE film to deliver to the market.

MRC

Formosa schedules its polypropylene facility closure

(chemmonitor) -- Formosa Plastics Corporation (Taiwan) schedules its polypropylene (PP) facility closure later in Jan 2012 due to weak PP demand. The facility is located in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China and has the annual production capacity of 450,000 tonnes.

Downstream demand is projected to fall down with the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays in Jan 22 - Jan 28 in China.

Formosa Plastics Corporation's 170,000 ton/year line at the facility is to be closed from Jan 19 to Jan 31.

MRC

In January PE prices in Russia were left at rollover

Moscow (MRC) -- The first working week of the new year did not bring big changes in the Russian market of polyethylene. Price quotations stayed the same relatively with the last week of December, the only exception made pipe HDPE, according to MRC analysts.

The first working week of the new year gave no surprises for the Russian market of polyethylene. Price quotations of Russian polyethylene in the domestic market were left at rollover from the last week of December, the only exception made pipe HDPE.

Weak demand in the domestic market and sufficient supplies keep putting pressure on the prices of LDPE. Price offers of high-density polyethylene remained unchanged in comparison with the last week of December and by Wednesday they had been at Rb57.000-58.500/tonne, VAT, CPT Moscow, for the 158-LDPE, and Rb58.500-59.500/tonne, including VAT, CPT Moscow, for the 153-LDPE.

The accident at Stavrolene in mid-December resulted in a slight increase in prices of Russian HDPE, but by the end of the year the situation in the Russian market had stabilized on the back of weak demand. Traditional weak demand in the beginning of the year and suficient supplies continue to hold prices steady. By the middle of the week, the price offers of film HDPE had been at Rb63,300-64.500/tonne, VAT, CPT Moscow. By the beginning of next week, Kaazanorgsyntez and Nizhnekamskneftechem will have stopped the production of film polyethylene, however, this will not likely have caused any changes in the market by the end of the month due to the suficient supply of the material to the market.

Uncertainty about the terms of the resumption of production of blow molding HDPE in February by Kazanorgsyntez keeps prices at Rb65.000-66.500/tonne, VAT, CPT Moscow. In late December, Gazprom neftechem Salavat resumed the production of injection molding HDPE. By the middle of next week, Kazanorgsyntez will have resumed deliveries of injection molding PE to the domestic market.

The price growth of coloured pipe HDPE in January was not a surprise for the Russian market. The prices of pipe PE had been heard to grow since mid-December. From January, 10th the price of Russian black PE80 and PE100 had been increased by Rb1,000/tonne, ex VAT. The demand for pipe material is weak, due to seasonal factors. Quite a lot of companies have stopped their facilities on turnaround due to lack of demand for ready-made pipes. The price quotation of black PE100 were at Rb62.000-63.000/tonne, VAT, CPT Moscow.


MRC

SCG-DOW Group Achieves Successful Thailand HPPO Plant Start-up

(dow) --The Dow Chemical Company announced that the SCG-Dow Group, a joint venture between Dow and Siam Cement Group, has finalized the start-up of its new propylene oxide (PO) facility in Thailand by successfully completing its full capacity performance test.

Dow reached a key milestone in October 2011 when the plant achieved stable production levels in preparation for the full capacity run scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2011. The new facility met that target on time by successfully completing the full capacity run on November 22, 2011 - only two months after starting raw material feeds to this new plant. Additionally, the plant exceeded expectations for all quality and yield performance parameters.

The world-scale plant, located within the Asia Industrial Estates (AIE) site near Map Ta Phut, Thailand, has a name plate capacity of 390 kilotons per annum (KTA) of PO via the innovative hydrogen peroxide to propylene oxide (HPPO) technology.


"The successful start-up of this environmentally advanced and complex technology shows the innovation power, project execution and operational strength of Dow, said Holger Baer, global manufacturing and technology director, Dow Propylene Oxide/Propylene Glycol.

⌠Dow's investment in this new facility strategically enhances its existing position as the global capacity leader in PO and better positions its derivative businesses such as Polyurethanes and Propylene Glycol, said Steven English, global vice president, Dow Polyurethanes. ⌠As a global strategic source point, Dow can better serve customers of these life-enhancing industries in Asia and beyond.

⌠Despite some anticipated challenges, the commitment of people from various functions has delivered a successful project. This HPPO plant will add value to propylene from the joint venture cracker in Thailand, said Cholanat Yanaranop, President of SCG Chemicals Company Limited.

MRC

China's Sinopec SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical cuts Jan LLDPE output

(ICIS) -- China's Sinopec SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical expects to produce only around 26,000 tonnes of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) in January, about 13% lower than usual, because of current low product prices, a source close to the company said on Monday.

Its plant, located in northern China, typically produces 30,000 tonnes of the polymer each month, the source said.

The facility has a designed capacity of 300,000 tonnes/year, he said.
⌠The reason why Sinopec SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical cut down LLDPE film output may be because the prices were below cost, the source said.

Spot LLDPE prices in northern China were assessed at yuan (CNY) 9,400-9,600 (USD 1,490-1,521/tonne) on Monday, according to Chemease.


The production cut is expected to spur buying of LLDPE in the region, traders said.


MRC