Global output of chemical fibers is growing

(textination) -- In 2011, the global output of chemical fibers is reported to reach 49 million tons, representing a year-on-year growth of 8.3%.

China contributed 32 million tons (+13.8%), Taiwan produced 2.2 million tons (-6.9%), ASEAN 2.7 million tons (-2.3%), Western Europe 2.3 million tons (-0.7%) and the USA 1.8 million tons (-0.7%).

The growth in China was the major driving force for the rising global production output in chemical fibers, making up for 66% of the global total.

MRC

(basf) -- BASF significantly surpassed the record levels of 2010 in sales and earnings, and thus again earned a high premium on its cost of capital in 2011. Compared with 2010, sales increased by 15% to EUR73.5 billion. All regions contributed to this increase. Income from operations (EBIT) before special items improved by 4% to EUR8.4 billion and EBIT increased almost 11% to EUR8.6 billion.

At the Annual Press Conference, Dr. Kurt Bock, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF said: "2011 was another very successful year for BASF. Thus we are continuing our ambitious dividend policy and will, therefore, again propose a higher dividend of EUR2.50 at the Annual Meeting. This is an increase of EUR0.30 or 13.6% compared with the previous year."

At around EUR18.1 billion, sales in the fourth quarter of 2011 were higher than in the fourth quarter of 2010, as well as in the third quarter of 2011. However, the slowing of the economy over the course of the year was reflected in the EBIT before special items, which at EUR1.5 billion was 14% below the fourth quarter of 2010. The trend that the company observed at the beginning of the second half of the year continued. Customers were more cautious in their ordering, reduced their inventories and put off orders in expectation that the economy would decline and prices could possibly soften.

MRC

(chemmonitor) -- The Perstorp-headquartered (Sweden) company Perstorp restarted its toluene di-isocyanate (TDI) and chlor-alkali plants at Pont-de-Claix site (France) last week at the weekends. The producer is increasing the manufacturing rates of the facilities.

Perstorp's chlor-alkali plant was brought off stream in early February on the back of the strike, what influenced the TDI unit.

A force majeure declaration, which came into effect in early February for both TDI and chloralkali products at the site, is expected to remain in place until the end of the month, with a strict allocation likely to be implemented in March.

On 4 February, Perstorp was forced to stop production at its chlor-alkali unit because of the strike and this affected its downstream TDI facility. This resulted in force majeure declarations for both products.

Perstorp's nameplate capacity at the site is 126,000 tonnes/year for TDI and 170,000 tonnes/year for chlorine, according to a company source.

MRC

(infonary) -- Indorama Ventures PCL (IVL.TH), an integrated polyester chain producer, said an indirectly owned subsidiary has acquired 51% of a packaging company in Northern Ireland.

Beacon Trading purchased the stake in Beverage Plastics (Holdings) Ltd., Indorama Ventures said in a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand without elaborating.

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited is one of the largest vertically integrated polyester chain producers in the world and a leading global manufacturer of wool yarns. Indorama Ventures is the largest PET producer globally, as well as in the U.S.A and Europe regions. Indorama Ventures is a world scale manufacturer of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), a key raw material for the production of polyester.

MRC

(plastemart) -- In a bid to gain better access to raw materials and technologies, Taiwan's state-run oil refiner CPC Corp. will enter into a strategic alliance with Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. Hwang Dang-hsiang, the head of CPC Corp.'s Petrochemical Business Division, and Tatsuya Kiyoshi, Mitsubishi's senior vice president, signed a letter of intent to form the alliance on behalf of their companies.

The alliance will give CPC an overseas research and development partner for the first time. CPC also hopes to be able to obtain raw materials and patented technologies through Mitsubishi's global trade network to support a plan to tap into the downstream side of the petrochemical business. Also, the two companies intend to step up their exchange of information on market conditions and trends in petrochemical product development.

MRC