In 2011 the Russian market of polymers grew by 8%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Last year the Russian market of basic volume polymers increased by 8% and reached 4.8 million tonnes. The greatest increase in demand was seen in the market of PVC and styrene plastics. The capacity of these markets grew by 14% and 10%, respectively, according to MRC ScanPlast.


In 2011, the Russian market of basic volume polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, styrene plastics and PET) increased by 8% and reached 4.8 million tonnes. The market of PVC (emulsion and suspension) grew most dynamically. The increase in demand for basic volume polymers was almost twice as the GDP growth, which in 2011 made 4.3%.


In 2011, the Russian market of polyethylene increased by 5% and reached 1.774 million tonnes. Positive dynamics in demand growth was observed in the market of HDPE and linear polyethylene. The capacities of these markets grew by 8% and 19%, respectively. The market of LDPE, on the contrary, decreased by 2%. The growing demand of the Russian market was met by imports of polyethylene. Having loaded their capacities by almost 100%, domestic producers increased output only by 2%, while imports grew by 19%.


Last year the growth of the Russian market of polypropylene (PP) slowed down. In 2011, the market capacity grew by 4% and exceeded the level of 810,000 tonnes, while in 2010 the demand grew by 22%. The growing needs of the market were met by growing production and lowering exports.


Before 2008, the Russian market of polypropylene had been growing on average by 18% per year and after the recession the growth slowed on average by 10% per year. The Russian producers increased the polymer output to 681,400 tonnes. Imports, on the contrary, decreased by 3% and made192,800 tonnes.

The Russian market of unmixed PVC (emulsion and suspension) increased by 14% and reached 1.135 million tonnes. The market suspension PVC in 2011 grew by 15% and exceeded the psychological record of 1 million tonnes. In 2011, the imports of PVC-S rose by 30% to 460,000 tonnes.


Last year North American producers became key players in the Russian market. The market grew only by 7% and reached 120,600 tonnes. The main growth in demand falls on linoleum producers.

In 2011, consumption of basic styrene plastics (HIPS, general purpose polystyrene, EPS and ABS) exceeded 480,000 tonnes that was by 10% more than in 2010. The share of HIPS in the total consumption of polystyrene and styrene plastics grew to 43% (209,800 tonnes).


The market of EPS reached 137,000 tonnes. The launch of Sibur-Khimprom new facilities in Perm helped to reduce the dependence on imports in the Russian market. In 2012, the second line of PVC-S production is expected to be launched in Perm, which will result in the growth of Russian production capacities by 50,000 tonnes of the material per year.


In 2011, the Russian market of general purpose polystyrene grew by 23%. The consumption growth was achieved mainly by imports, which increased from 25,000 tonnes in 2010 to 39,000 tonnes in 2011.


In 2011, consumption of PET granulate in the domestic market grew by 4.3% and made 600,000 tonnes. Domestic producers increased production volume by 31% year on year. The increase of production was reached by the launch of new PET granulate production in Kaliningrad (Alco-Naphtha). Overall imports did not change substantially. Last year total imports made about 273,000 tonnes, while in 2010, the supply of PET from foreign producers made nearly 271,000 tonnes.

MRC

(nasdaq) -- Exxon Mobil Corp.'s (XOM) fourth-quarter earnings edged up 1.6% as high oil prices offset impacts from lower production and weak refining margins.

The company has been distancing itself from the refining and marketing, or downstream, business globally. A number of major energy companies have been repositioning amid a boom in alternative shale energy fields and a glut of refining capacity. However, big investments in shale natural-gas resources, such as Exxon's USD 25 billion acquisition of XTO Energy in 2010, remain a bet for the future as natural-gas prices remain at historic lows.

Exxon Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company by market value, reported a profit of USD 9.4 billion, or USD 1.97 a share, up from USD 9.25 billion, or USD 1.85 a share, a year earlier.

Revenue increased 16% to USD 121.61 billion. Exploration and production earnings were up 18% mostly owing to higher prices as production fell 9% on an oil-equivalent basis.

Refining and marketing slumped 63% on weaker refining margins and lower petroleum product sales.

During the quarter, Exxon Mobil repurchased 69 million common shares at a cost of USD 5.4 billion, including USD 5 billion to reduce shares outstanding.

MRC

(ril) -- Reliance Industries Ltd reported its financial results for the third quarter and nine months of FY 2012 ended on December 31, 2011.

Company's Q3 revenues grew by 40.2% year over year to Indian Rupees (INR) 874.8 billion. But the net profit decreased by 13.6% to INR 44.4 billion versus INR 51.4 billion a year earlier. The lower earnings from refining, petrochemical and oil and gas businesses caused by global unfavorable economic conditions were the reason for the decline. Reliance Industries faced sluggish demand and high inventories in Q3 2012 after two successful previous quarters.

Reliance Industries Ltd is the largest private sector company in India. It engages in exploration and production of oil and gas, petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals such as polyester, fibre intermediates, plastics and chemicals. The company was established in 1966 and is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

MRC

(artenius) -- Artenius made new PET resin that contains up to 50% recycled content with Quality equivalent to virgin material, high strength and a lower carbon footprint.

The Spain-based company said its Elite product - made up of 10%, 25% or 50% rPET - is a ⌠remarkably pure, energy efficient packaging resin. The formulation has been specifically developed for beverage packaging - including still and carbonated water as well as soft drinks.

⌠We have successfully created a PET packaging material that includes recycled resin in its manufacturing process, but with the same quality as virgin PET, said Jordi Foguet, company technology manager.

The product is versatile and, depending on the base resin used, is suitable for processing as stretch blow moulding in both one and two-stage processing, said the firm.

The new combined resin is produced under a proprietary chemical recycling process.


MRC

(teijinaramid) -- The Teijin Group announced the first program in China for collecting and recycling used uniforms, launched in collaboration with Shandong Asahi Green Source Hi-Tech Farm Co., Ltd. and Shandong Asahi Green Source Milk Products Co., Ltd., both subsidiaries of Asahi Group Holdings. The uniforms will be recycled using Teijin's Eco Circle, an environmentally friendly closed-loop system incorporating the world's first technology for the chemical recycling of polyester.

As part of the program, Teijin Fibers' chemically recyclable polyester fiber is woven into textiles and dyed by Nantong Teijin Co., Ltd, a Teijin Group company in Nantong on the east coast of China.

The uniforms will be collected after their useful lives and sent to Teijin Fibers' Matsuyama plant in Japan. After chemical decomposition, they will be converted into polyester raw material offering purity comparable to polyester derived directly from petroleum. The raw material will then be turned into high-quality polyester for the manufacture of new recyclable products.

Repeated recycling achieved with the Eco Circle system significantly reduces both energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions compared to conventional petroleum-based processes for polyester production.

MRC