Celanese announces emulsions price increase in EMEA

(plasticker) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company and a global leader in emulsion polymers, recently announced it will raise the price of all vinyl acetate based emulsions (vinyl acetate ethylene, vinyl acetate homopolymer and vinyl acetate copolymer emulsions) sold in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Price increases will range from EUR 60/MT to EUR 95/MT, effective April 1, 2012, or as contracts allow.

This price increase affects applications including, but not limited to, adhesives, paint and coatings, building and construction, nonwovens, glass fiber, carpet, paper and textiles.
MRC

Asia petrochemical shares fall on concerns over China slowdown

(news.szenergy) -- Shares of petrochemical companies in Asia were lower on Wednesday, in line with regional bourses, on concerns over demand amid a slowdown in China, the region's biggest importer of petrochemical products.

⌠The NDRC [National Development and Reform Commission] raised fuel oil prices twice in two months. Market players are worried that increasing energy cost will weigh on China's economy further, said Wei Tao, an analyst at brokerage Xingye Securities.

China's demand for iron ores has also been softening, as indicated by major Australian miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, and this is deemed as a strong indication that the country's industrial growth is cooling down.

In the middle of last week, Asia's monoethylene glycol (MEG) market was shaken by China's economic concerns, prompting traders with high inventory to offload heavy volumes into the market.


China Premier Wen Jiabao had said that the country's property prices are still far from reasonable levels, indicating that current policies curbing demand will not be relaxed so soon.
Early this month, China's GDP growth target this year was cut to 7.5%, down from the 8% target that was kept for seven years.
Weakness in China's construction sector affects demand for various petrochemicals, including styrene monomer (SM), epoxy resins and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).


MRC

Russia-based oil company stopped operations at its refinery in Ukraine

(chemmonitor) -- The Moscow-headquartered Russian company TNK-BP finally shut its oil refinery at Lisichansk site (Ukraine) and stopped crude supplying last week on Thursday.

The company is predicted to become an importer of gasoline and diesel fuel on the territory of the country because oil refining is not profitable in Ukraine.

The delivery of feedstock to the site was suspended since early March, and the unit was brought off stream in line with unexpected turnaround.


MRC

BASF made first continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite with Ultramid

(basf) -- The new Opel Astra OPC, a sport coupe, which was introduced at the Geneva Auto Show at the beginning of March 2012, has a seat pan made from a thermoplastic laminate with continuous fiber reinforcement (organo sheet). This is the world's first auto seat pan based on this technology manufactured for a production vehicle. The plastics used are polyamide specialties from BASF's Ultramid product range. The seat pan is 45% lighter than its predecessor.

Thermoplastic laminates with continuous fiber reinforcement, also called composites, are plastic-impregnated fabrics that are processed into laminates. They serve as the reinforcement in plastic parts that must be especially lightweight yet still exhibit exceptional performance.

BASF developed two special Ultramid grades for the Opel Astra OPC seat pan: an unreinforced grade acts as the material in which the glass fiber fabric is embedded, an impact-modified, short glass fiber-reinforced Ultramid is used as overmolding material to achieve the necessary ribs and edges of the part by means of classical injection molding. Thanks to the high strength of the laminate, the wall thicknesses can be reduced considerably, allowing the weight of the seat pan to be lowered distinctly.


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CNPC Chairman calls for oil price rise

(news.flanders-china) -- China should raise petrol and diesel prices to reflect the recent surge in crude oil prices, Jiang Jiemin, Chairman of both China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and PetroChina said .

Any price increase would be the second so far this year and would raise China's fuel prices to fresh highs, raising concerns about inflation. According to China's fuel pricing formula, the government may consider lifting fuel prices if a moving average price for a basket of crudes rises over 4% in a month. But the Chinese government, worried about inflation, often postpones raising prices, meaning refiners often run at a loss as they are unable to pass on any increases in their crude oil costs to consumers.

China last raised petrol and diesel prices by 3% to 4% on February 8. Crude oil prices have gained about 9% in the following month, but the government has held off announcing any changes during the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), which ended on March 14. Some analysts said the government could raise petrol and diesel prices by at least CNY400 to CNY500 a ton, or about 5%.
MRC