Contract price of Russian PE100 grew by Rb1,500/tonne

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Kazanorgsyntez announced the increase in contract prices of coloured PE100 by Rb1,500/tonne. However, despite the beginning of March, many Russian converters are in no hurry to form additional stock inventories of pipe PE, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Due to the cold February the demand for pipe PE was weak in the Russian market last month. There was a slight revival in the market in early March, mostly resulted from the traditional spate of feedstock purchases in the beginning of each month. The supply of PE was also tight in the market.

Kazanorgsyntez announced an increase in contract price of black PE100 by Rb1,500/tonne, excluding VAT from 5 th of March. The company plans to suspend temporarily the production of black PE100 in the second half of the month. Spot quotations of PE2NT11-9 at the end of last week were at Rb66,000-67,000/tonne, VAT, FCA Kazan.

Despite such a significant rise in prices of the Russian Black PE100, many converters do not hurry to form additional stock inventories. A losing February, the absence of significant orders for finished pipe in March, as well as the presence of uncoloured PE100 (so-called uncoloured matrix) hold back many market participants. Companies are not ready to buy a more expensive colored material.

The March prices in the foreign markets grew more significantly. European producers have raised export prices of black PE100 for delivery in the current month to EUR1,400-1,500/tonne, FCA. Asian producers offer coloured PE100 for March on average for USD1,650-1,680/tonne, FOB.

MRC

(plastemart) -- Last week, local PE prices in Southeast Asia moved higher, following the increases in import prices on announcement of higher March prices from overseas producers last week.

Sellers cited firm costs and relatively limited supply as support for their price increases while demand was said to be regular in the region. In India, domestic producers began the month by announcing price hikes for LLDPE, HDPE and LDPE, with LLDPE seeing the largest hikes and LDPE the smallest. These increases came on top of the price increases implemented during the month of February for HDPE and LLDPE.

Domestic producers in Malaysia have also announced their initial March PE prices with significant hikes from February, with LDPE and LLDPE prices seeing larger increases than HDPE prices. Higher ethylene costs were cited as the main factor pushing sellers to revise their price for March.

In Indonesia, domestic producers opened the week by announcing increases on their domestic HDPE and LLDPE offers, with their LLDPE price hikes being relatively higher than their HDPE increases. "We lifted our prices in accordance with firmer upstream costs and limited availability following a small production hiccup at our plant," a producer source reported.

A plastic bag manufacturer in the Philippines reported receiving higher prices for locally-held import HDPE and LLDPE film this week, commenting that the increase amounts for LLDPE and HDPE have been similar.

In Thailand, distributors and converters report that prices for locally-held material have been stable to slightly firmer over the past week. ⌠Local supply for most PE products is tight these days and we are struggling to secure enough material to cover our needs, a plastic bag manufacturer in the country stated. Another converter commented, "Supply is tight and we are having a difficult time securing sufficient stocks these days. We are a bit worried about our end product business as it becoming increasingly difficult to maintain profitable operations in the face of persistently rising raw material costs."



MRC

(Reuters) - An accident at the PKN-Orlen-owned Lietuva refinery in Lithuania on Friday caused an explosion, killing two workers, the refinery said in a statement.

"During an accident which occurred today at the Deep Conversion Complex (KT) two persons died when a portable vacuum tank exploded," the statement said. The statement gave no information about whether production at the refinery had been affected.

PKN ORLEN operates 7 refineries, of which 3 are located in Plock, Trzebinia and Jedlicze (Poland), another 3 in Litvinov, Kralupy and Pardubice (the Czech Republic) and 1 in Mazeikiu (Lithuania). The total deep processing capacity of the refineries reaches 31.7 million tonnes per annum (PKN ORLEN share).

MRC

(rigzone) -- Petrobras reported that it was started the production of Cascade field through Cascade 4 well, interconnected to FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading unit) BW Pioneer, located approximately 155 miles (250 kilometers) off the coast of Louisiana State, in a 8,202 feet (2,500 meters) water depth in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

The Cascade 4 production well was drilled and completed in reservoirs of the Lower Tertiary geological period, which is a promising exploratory maritime boundary of the Gulf of Mexico, at a vertical depth of around 26,247 feet (8,000 meters).

The BW Pioneer is the first FPSO to produce oil and gas in the U.S. portion of the Gulf of Mexico, and has the capacity to process 80 thousand barrels of oil and 500 thousand cubic meters of gas per day. The vessel is provided of a disconnecting anchorage system which allows its displacement to sheltered areas in the event of a storm or hurricanes. Petrobras is the first company to develop an oil field in the Gulf of Mexico using a FPSO, which has already been successfully and systematically employed in Brazil.
MRC

(packagingnews) -- Packaging firm Ardagh Group has completed the acquisition of the Boxal group of companies from Exal Corporation in a deal worth around EUR85m.

Boxal produces metal aerosols and bottles for brands including L'Oreal, Coca-Cola, Heineken, Dove, Pantene and Nivea. It has manufacturing plants located mainly in France and the Netherlands. Szenna Pack has a single facility also making aluminium containers and is located in Hungary.

Ardagh Group chief executive Niall Wall said: "We are please to acquire the Boxal and Szenna assets as they will significantly enhance our position in the European aerosol market. These technologically advanced businesses will enhance our product offering and will add value to our current activities."

Ardagh Group produces metal and glass packaging for many of the world's leading food, drink and consumer product brands. It operates 90 manufacturing plants in 25 countries and employs around 15,000 people and has sales in excess of EUR3.4bn.
MRC