Asia's benzene prices hit a five-month high on Wednesday

(ICIS) -- Asia's benzene prices hit a five-month high on Wednesday, tracking gains in US prices as crude values spiked overnight, market players said. Spot prices rose USD30/tonne (EUR24/tonne) at USD1,195-1,205/tonne (EUR944-952/tonne) FOB (free on board) Korea early on Wednesday, the first time that USD1,200/tonne level was breached since early August, according to ICIS data.

US crude was trading at above USD101/bbl on Wednesday, after rising by more than USD2/bbl overnight. A March-loading cargo was concluded at USD1,200/tonne FOB Korea, while an April shipment was done at USD1,198/tonne FOB Korea, market sources said. Offers for March-loading shipments were heard at USD1,205-1,210/tonne FOB Korea that met bids at USD1,185-1,198/tonne FOB Korea.

Boosting the market sentiment in Asia were the gains in US benzene values for prompt January lots to USD4.13-4.17/gal, or USD1,235-1,246/tonne FOB Barges, on Tuesday. But this price upturn in the US could just have resulted from pure market play and not backed by fundamentals, traders said.


Benzene supply in Asia is tight in the first quarter due to a slew of plant turnarounds and unplanned shutdowns in South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore, said traders. This was another key factor pushing up prices in recent weeks, they added.

MRC

(ICIS) -- A comparatively warm winter is helping sustain better-than-expected buying interest in the European polyethylene (PE) pipe-grade resin and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic markets, industry sources said on Tuesday. In some cases - such as PE pipes - it is touted to bring forward the beginning of the traditional spring' buying season. ⌠Mild winter weather is helping sustain levels of demand, one PVC producer said. ⌠We are surprised that there have been so many enquiries, another producer added.

Low inventories after year-end destocking activity and favourable currency exchange rates are also driving this increase in customer demand, improving sales volumes and balancing out the PE pipe resin and PVC markets.

Despite a pick-up in trading activity, PVC contract price ideas for January continue to point in different directions.

The European January ethylene contract price settled at EUR1,120/tonne (USD1,418/tonne) FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe) - up by EUR40/tonne from December. Producers are aiming for hikes of EUR50-60/tonne in order to offset the higher upstream prices and ease pressure on margins. Buyers, on the other hand, are pushing for an increase of EUR10-40/tonne instead, depending on the region.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Law enforcement officials and private businesses all over the US have become increasingly concerned with the theft of plastic goods, such as beverage crates, shelves, pallets and other items.
There are two primary elements to the crime. First, the plastic is stolen from businesses, either by scavengers or, in some cases, an employee and some partners. Then it is transported to illegal grinding operations, typically hidden in unmarked warehouses or even in someone's backyard.
Once grinded, the plastic is sold to recyclers and manufacturers at a price determined by a number of factors, including the quality and quantity of the plastic.

Some law enforcement officials say illegal plastic peddling can fetch millions of dollars. Since October 2011, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) has recovered over USD5m (EUR4m) of stolen plastic from illegal grinding operations throughout Los Angeles County.

The crime has become so widespread that the city of Industry in Los Angeles County helped fund the Industrial Plastic Theft Task Force aimed at curtailing plastic theft.

The task force recently recovered USD250,000 worth of stolen plastic products and made four arrests in south Los Angeles. ⌠Clearly, the enormity of the loss just in Los Angeles County could easily exceed USD10m/year, said LASD Captain Mike Claus. ⌠Some business owners explained that their losses had been so huge, that had the thefts continued, they most likely would have had to go out of business.

MRC

(Arabian oil and gas) -- KBR has been awarded a contract by Iraq's First Global Company to revamp the North Fertilizer Plant in Baiji, Iraq. Under the terms of the contract, KBR will provide a license for its proprietary Ammonia Process and related engineering services to increase the plant capacity to 120 % of the original design. The original plant, which started up in 1989 was designed to produce 1000 t/day Ammonia.

⌠KBR is proud to have the opportunity to work with First Global Company to revamp the North Fertilizer Plant, said John Derbyshire, President, KBR Technology. ⌠Helping our licensors debottleneck their plants and achieve greater production capacities and process efficiencies is one of our core competencies and will be an area of significant growth worldwide.

MRC

(The Guardian) -- A controversial chemical plant in north-east China is believed to have quietly resumed production just months after officials promised to halt operations and move the facility. The Fujia Petrochemical PX plant in Dalian was shut down after more than 10,000 people took to the streets on 14 August 2011 to demand its relocation on public safety grounds.

In a bid to placate the urban, middle-class crowd, Dalian city leaders announced that they would move the factory to an industrial park on Xizhong Island. The demonstration was one of the biggest seen in China in recent years and its outcome was seen as a major victory for environmental campaigners, who thought they had seen the end of the PX plant. But there are growing fears that the authorities are back-tracking.

In early December, an apparently leaked document was circulated online that suggested the plant has passed fresh safety checks and is preparing to resume production. A few weeks later, a government official told local reporters that the factory was once again in operation. Locals report smoke billowing up from the plant's chimney and workers commuting as usual for their shifts. This may just be for maintenance. Domestic media have reported a resumption of business, but their stories have been removed from websites. The government and the factory declined to confirm or deny the reports.

Domestic critics believe the authorities may be having second thoughts because the factory has been licensed for several years and its closure would result in a significant loss of income and a large compensation payout for breach of contract. The USD1.5bn plant is jointly owned by the city and the private company, Fujia. It is one of the 10 biggest factories in Dalian, generating tax revenues of almost 200 mln pounds a year.


The Fujia petrochemical plant has the capacity to produce 700,000 tonnes of paraxylene (PX), a benzene-based chemical widely used in plastic bottles and polyester clothing.

MRC