Petroplus filed for insolvency

(petroplusholdings) -- Petroplus Holdings AG on Wednesday announced that it and its
subsidiary in Switzerland and Germany filed for insolvency proceedings.

Petroplus further announced that its subsidiaries in France filed for rehabilitation proceedings (⌠redressement judiciaire).


The Court appointed FHB Administrateurs Judiciaires as administrator for the assets of some of the above companies.
Petroplus Holdings AG will provide further updates to the public as needed and further information regarding the proceedings will be provided at its website.

MRC

Polish ORLEN signed agreement with Shell for crude oil deliveries

(orlen.pl) -- Polish PKN ORLEN informs that on 23 January 2012 it signed a spot agreement with Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited, London, Great Britain (└STASCO), for crude oil deliveries to AB ORLEN Lietuva . The estimated net value of the agreement amounts to approximately USD 80 million.

The total estimated value of agreements signed between PKN ORLEN and STASCO in the period from 2 September 2011 to 23 January 2012 amounts to approximately USD 634 million.


Agreement dated 5 October 2011 is the agreement with the highest amount from among all agreements concluded between PKN ORLEN and STASCO in the period from 2 September 2011 to 23 January 2012. The estimated value of the agreement amounts to approximately USD 81 million. The agreement was concluded for crude oil deliveries to ORLEN Lietuva.

MRC

In Russia PVC-S market in 2011 exceeded 1 mln tons

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In 2011, the Russian market of suspension PVC (PVC-S) exceeded the psychological point of 1 million tons. However, last year was quite difficult for the market, according to MRC analysts.


In 2011, the Russian market of PVC-S grew by 15% year on year and reached 1.014 million tonnes. This is a psychological threshold and a historical moment for the Russian market. Russia's PVC-S market growth exceeded the whole Central Europe index. Such a serious increase in the last year demand was provided by the producers of PVC profiles and soft compounds.


Since 2006, the Russian market of PVC-S had become a pure net importer. From 2002 till 2008 the demand for suspension in the local market grew on average by 31% per year. The growing needs were satisfied by imports of resins from China, the USA and Europe. In 2008, the global financial recession resulted in a serious reduction of construction volumes. As a consequence, the Russian market in the recessional 2009 declined by almost a quarter and made 657 thousand tonnes, while in 2008 this figure was about 859 thousand tonnes.


Deferred demand in 2009 and economic recovery after the recession in 2010 led to a serious increase in demand for PVC in the Russian market. In 2010, the market of suspension grew by 34% and exceeded the level of the recessional 2008 - 879 thousand tonnes. The Russian converters have begun to invest in increasing capacity and build quite optimistic plans for 2011.


Conveters' optimistic forecasts, the dependence on external supplies, as well as dynamic growth of PVC quotations in the external markets, particularly in the U.S., made many participants contract foreign resin more than enough at the beginning of the year. From January till June inclusive, the imports of suspension PVC to the Russian market grew more than twice.


The moderate growth in demand for finished products made of PVC in 2011 vs. 2010 and imports oversupply in August led to a serious surplus in the Russian market. Local producers competing with the imports declined domestic prices considerably. Since September imports volume began decreasing gradually and in December amounted to little more than 24 thousand tons.


Last year the Russian producers increased their output of PVC-S by 5% to 554 thousand tonnes. The main increase in production was provided by Caustic (Sterlitamak), due to the facilities upgrade in 2009.

In 2012, production is not expected to grow significantly as the Russian capacities are 100% loaded, the growing demand will still be met by imports.


The imports of PVC-S in 2011 grew by 30% and made 460 thousand tonnes. Over last year, the North American producers had become one of the key players in the Russian market. The U.S. export prices to a large extent determine the pricing in the Russian market. In general, last year the supply from the U.S. increased by 63% to 241.8 thousand tonnes. The volume of imports of Chinese acetylene PVC actually stayed at the level of 2010.


In June, a new market player appeared in the Russian market - Karpatneftekhim (Lukoil Group). Over less than seven months, the company delivered about 32 thousand tonnes to Russia. This year Karpatneftekhim can seriously put competitive pressure on the producers from the United States and China.

MRC

SIBUR changed Management Board

(Sibur) -- In order to further enhance the effectiveness of the management system, the organisational structure of ⌠SIBUR LLC has been changed.

Structural divisions within the corporate centre have been eliminated. The new management system is based on functional principles, and job titles reflect only the hierarchical status and belonging to the functions being performed. The new system will enable increasing mobility and personal liability among company management for results achieved.

Also, a new Management Board of the management organisation was elected, authority was redistributed, and internal personnel movements were implemented.

Mikhail Karisalov, who earlier served as the company's vice-president and headed the Hydrocarbon Feedstock Division, has been appointed Deputy Chairman of the Management Board and the Executive Director of SIBUR. He will be responsible for strategic development, the efficiency of and support for the company's production of hydrocarbon feedstock, energy, innovation, capital investment, investment projects, logistics, environmental protection and industrial safety.

Konstantin Belkin has been named as the new Director of the Hydrocarbon Feedstock Division, holding rank as a Management Board Member and Managing Director of ⌠SIBUR LLC. Previously, he was the Director of Operations at the Hydrocarbon Feedstock Division.


Mikhail Gordin has been appointed as the new Director of the Synthetic Rubbers Division, holding rank as a Management Board Member and Managing Director of ⌠SIBUR LLC. Previously, he served as the Deputy Director of Development in the Synthetic Rubbers Division.

Andrei Zhvakin, who previously headed the Synthetic Rubbers Division, has been appointed as the Director of the company's corporate university. Under the leadership of Andrei Zhvakin, the Synthetic Rubbers Division has demonstrated positive development dynamics, has successfully overcame the 2008-2009 crisis, and has laid the foundation for the further growth of this business segment on foreign markets.

The new appointments were carried out within the framework of the current staff turnover among the company's management team.

MRC

Rhodia and Avantium to jointly develop biobased polyamides

(avantium) -- Rhodia, member of the Solvay Group, and Avantium announced today that they have entered into a partnership to jointly develop a range of new bio-based polyamides targeting a variety of applications.

This partnership expands and completes the previously announced development agreement in the field of bio-based engineering plastics between Solvay and Avantium.

Building on the newly combined forces of Rhodia and Solvay, the extended relationship offers the partners a unique opportunity to explore a wide range of compositions and applications based on Avantium's YXY technology in the larger Polyamide field. In the frame of this joint development, the companies will explore the market potential of polyamide compositions on the basis of YXY building blocks.


Produced from renewable and bio-based feedstock, these compositions are expected to exhibit superior environmental profile and at the same time to deliver applicative performances at a competitive cost.



Rhodia will test these new polyamides for fibers and engineering applications in various areas such as consumer goods, automotive and electronic materials. Rhodia and Avantium have entered into a multi-year, exclusive collaboration towards commercialization of these new polyamides.

MRC