Formosa waiting for government decision about the No. 2 cracker

(plastemart) -- Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical awaits a decision from the government on the deferral from August to October of a scheduled turnaround at its No. 2 naphtha-fed steam cracker in Mailiao with capacity to produce 1.03 mln tpa ethylene and 515,000 tpa propylene.An application was filed in mid July to postpone the 40-45 day turnaround scheduled to begin on August 21, after a fire broke out in first week July at its No. 1 steam cracker with capacity to produce 700,000 tpa ethylene and 350,000 tpa propylene, has been offline since the July 7 fire.

The application to delay the turnaround at the No. 2 unit may not meet with government approval due to the company's poor safety record. Formosa has had two fires within a month, spoiling its safety record. The No.2 cracker and the No. 3 steam cracker were unaffected by both fires and are currently operating normally.

MRCMRC Reference

Formosa

The share in the Russian market in 2008:
PVC-S - 3.0%;

PP - 0.4%.

Annual growth sales in Russia :
PVC - 79 % (over the last year) ;

PP - 272 % (over the last 3 years).

Supply by processing technologies:
profile extrusion

film extrusion

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Seasonal increase in demand in view of tight supply of black pipe-grade HDPE is resulting in growing prices. By the middle of the week prices for Russian black PE100 have moved at RUB 58.500 - 61.500/mt - according to MRC Price reports.

Demand for pipe-grade polyethylene has been growing dynamicly during the summer. In view of scarce domestic output volumes, some large Russian pipe producers began to increase purchases from foreign suppliers. Overall June pipe-grade HDPE imports amounted to 6 kt. Medium and small converters prefered less expensive Russian material.

Unplanned suspension of HDPE facilities at Stavrolen due to technical problems earlier in July and Kazanorgsyntez's export contracts resulted in a serious reduction in supply of black pipe-grade HDPE to the domestic market in H2 July. Tight pipe-grade PE supply in view of strong demand affected polyethylene price. By the middle of the week, prices for Russian black PE100 had reached the level of RUB 58.500 - 61.500/mt, including VAT, FCA. European and Asian black PE100 for August and September is offered at RUB 62.000 - 65.000/mt, including VAT, FCA.

MRC

For more information please refer to MRC "Polyethylene in Russia" Price reports.

(SIBUR) -- SIBUR claims about an attempt of fraudulent actions on the part of a firm operating under the name of Sibur-Plast Ltd. (URL: http://www.sibur-plast.ru). Recently, SIBUR's customers have been receiving business offers from that firm to supply products of Tomskneftehim and Neftehimia.

Sibur-Plast Ltd. is not a part of SIBUR Group and does not have any agreements or other relationships with SIBUR.

The company regards the information published on the web-site http://www.sibur-plast.ru/ as an attempt to commit unlawful actions against the company and its customers using SIBUR's business reputation. Responsibility for such actions is statutory by applicable law.

MRC
MRC Reference

Sibur Holding is the largest Russian petrochemical group.

Shareholders:
Gazprombank (70% minus 1 share);
Gazfond (25% plus 1 share);
5% reserved for option program.

(DuPont) -- DuPont reported second quarter 2010 earnings per share (EPS) and increased 2010 guidance, reflecting improving volumes in all segments and all regions.

DuPont's second-quarter 2010 reported earnings per share were $1.26, compared to $.46 in second quarter 2009. Sales were $8.6 billion, up 26% versus 2009. This reflects 21% higher volume, 5% higher local selling prices, a 1% benefit from currency, and a 1% reduction from portfolio changes. Emerging markets sales increased 32%.

MRC

(INEOS) -- INEOS reports the Historical Cost EBITDA for the second quarter of 2010 was ┬478 million, compared to ┬352 million for Q2, 2009 and ┬494 million for Q1, 2010. Refining inventory holding losses amounted to ┬18 million in the quarter, reflecting the movement in crude oil prices over the period. Combined Replacement Cost EBITDA for Refining and Historical Cost EBITDA for Chemicals was ┬496 million for the quarter, compared to ┬239 million for Q2, 2009 and ┬474 million for Q1, 2010. YTD June 2010 was ┬970 million compared to ┬392 million for the same period last year.

MRCMRC Reference

Ineos is a petrochemical group.
In Russia Ineos's interests are represented by Ineos Polyolefins and IneosChlorVinyls.

The share in the Russian market in 2008:
PVC - 4.5%;

polyethylene - 1.9%
(HDPE - 2.8%, LDPE - 1.2%);
polypropylene - 1.4%
(PP-random - 22.1%, PP-impact - 2.0%);
polystyrene - 0.9%.

Imports by polymers processing technologies:
profile extrusion;
pipe extrusion;
film extrusion;
injection molding.