Sinopec hikes ex-works butadiene prices for second time in 3 days

(chemnet) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp or Sinopec has raised its ex-works prices for butadiene for the second time this week, this time by 8% in the eastern, northern and southern provinces.

Its subsidiaries in East China, Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical and Zhenhai Refining & Chemical, are now offering butadiene at Yuan 27,000/mt, or about USD 3,590/mt on an import parity basis, up Yuan 2,000/mt, or 8% from Yuan 25,000/mt on Tuesday.

In South China, Guangzhou Petrochemical and Maoming Petrochemical are selling butadiene at Yuan 27,500/mt, up Yuan 2,000/mt or nearly 8% from Yuan 25,500/mt on Monday.

In North China, Sinopec Sabic Tianjin is also selling butadiene at Yuan 27,500/mt, up Yuan 2,000/mt from Yuan 25,500/mt on Monday.

Sinopec on Tuesday had raised its ex-works prices for butadiene in East China by more than 6%, and on Monday raised its prices in South and North China by Yuan 1,500/mt to Yuan 25,500/mt.

Butadiene supply is tight in China, an end-user said, and looming turnarounds at domestic and overseas plants are expected to further restrict supply.

Sinopec Maoming's No. 1 facility plans to shut its naphtha-fed steam cracker in southwestern Guangdong province February 13-25. The cracker can make 380,000 mt/year of ethylene and supplies crude C4 feedstock to a 50,000 mt/year butadiene extraction unit, which will operate at an undisclosed reduced rate due to the shutdown.

In South Korea, Honam Petrochemical plans to shut its naphtha-fed steam cracker at Yeosu March 1-April 15 for 45 days. Honam's cracker supplies crude C-4 feedstock to a 130,000 mt/year butadiene plant, which will also be shut.

Also in South Korea, YNCC's No. 2 naphtha-fed steam cracker at Yeosu will be shut for an estimated 30 days from March 20. The cracker supplies feedstock to a 220,000 mt/year butadiene plant at Yeosu that is owned by YNCC.

MRC

(chemmonitor) -- Financial Bureau of Liaocheng provided a subsidy for the China-based company Luxi Chemical Group for the caprolactam (capro) project. The subsidy totals CNY 68.8 (USD 11) million.

The project will be located in Shandong province and will be able to produce 200,000 tonnes of capro annually.

Shandong Liaocheng Luxi Chemical Sale Co., Ltd., a large-scale state-owned chemical group, is located in Liaocheng City. Group has 11 subsidiary companies, with assets of RMB6.49 billion, more than 11,000 employees, and annual turnover over RMB 10 billion. The annual output is synthetic ammonia 1 million tons, methanol 400,000 tonnes, urea 1.6 million tonnes, compound fertilizer 2 million tons, DAP 200,000 tons, sulphuric acid 1 million tons, hydrochloric acid 250,000 tonnes, caustic soda 300,000 tonnes, liquified chlorine 80,000 tonnes, and benzyl chloride 100,000 tonnes.

MRC

(chemmonitor) -- A capacity expansion project will be commenced by LyondellBasell. The maker with headquarters in the Netherlands intends to increase butadiene (BD) production at one of its manufacturing units by 40 percent.

The producer will exercise works at its site in Wesseling (Germany). The maker targets to complete the expansion by June 2012.

As a result, BD plant situated at the locality will start generating up to 238,000 tonnes per year.

The firm does not disclose probable expenses of the project.

MRC

(chemnet) -- Malaysia's Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority, or Risda, plans to invest MR67.5 million (USD 22.5 million) in Sarawak state in 2012 to replant natural rubber trees.

The investment will affect about 5,000 hectares of land and the amount is larger than the MR17.7 million invested from 2009 to 2011.

In Sarawak, rubber trees have been planted on about 157,163 hectares of land, consisting of 151,474 hectares of matured area and 5,689 hectares of immature area, according to Sarawak's agriculture department.

In late October, the Malaysian government allocated MR195 million for rubber replanting and new rubber cultivation programs in the country for fiscal 2011-2012.

Malaysia is the third largest rubber producer in the world, after Thailand and Indonesia, and made 916,259 mt of the commodity over January-November 2011, data from the Department of Statistics showed.

MRC

(process-worldwide) -- Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state owned national oil company plans big expansions in Asia. The company presented plans to increase refinery operation by 50 percent to 6 million barrels/day, investing around USD 90 billion.

Jeddah/Saudi Arabia - Arabian refinery giant Saudi Aramco announced plans to invest USD 90 billion to increase refining capacity by 50 percent up to six million barrels/day within the next five years. Most of this future growth is not planned for the domestic Middle Eastern markets, but for refinery operations in Asia: The bulk of Aramco's future refinery expansions is planned for China, said Saudi Armco's CEO Kalidh Al-Falih.

For China, the company plans to enter joint ventures with local partners, to tap the increasing oil consumption of Asia's biggest energy user. According to Frost & Sullivan, a growth partnership company, Saudi Aramco's growth plans are clearly aligned with the diversification objectives of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Other plans of Saudi Aramco include the expansion of its petrochemical branch as well as the exploration of unconventional gas sources such as shale and tight gas, officials stated.

MRC