Dow to invest in PU elastomers

(plasteurope) -- A new technical centre has been opened by Dow Formulated Systems, a business unit of Dow Chemical (Midland, Michigan / USA), at its UK facility located in Birch Vale, Derbyshire. The application and customer service centre has been established to facilitate growth in Dow's engineering elastomers and other specialty PU systems markets. It will enable customers to rapidly test and scale-up new products that utilise Dow technology.

"Our new application development centre further enhances Dow's customer service across Europe," said Paul Fitzgerald, marketing manager Engineering Elastomers. "We are committed to providing customers with fast solutions and our new technical service and demonstration centre allows us to do this by offering customers the benefit of trialling products without putting their production on hold."

The new UK facility is the third recent investment by Dow in its polyurethane businesses. In November 2011, it inaugurated a new research and development centre at its PU systems house in Correggio / Italy. This is operating as a global R&D centre for PU foams and composites for Dow's formulated systems, polyurethanes and automotive businesses, as well as a laboratory for the local technical and commercial organisation of the Italian systems house, employing about 70 people.
MRC

(plasteurope) -- Thailand's Indorama Ventures (IVL, Bangkok) restarted its PET plant in Lopburi / Thailand after it was forced to stop production in September because of floods. Output will be ramped up and full operating rates are expected in May 2012, the company said.

IVL said its Petform packaging arm, which is co-located with the PET plant, is expected to come online shortly afterwards.

The Lopburi PET plant has capacity to produce 178,000 t/y, and produces mainly bottle grade PET for fast-moving consumer goods companies in Thailand. IVL also can turn out 91,000 t/y of PET at its site in Rayong, on Thailand's east coast.
MRC

(chemmonitor) -- The Russia-based producer ETANA is planning to launch the production of terephthalic acid (TPA), the main feedstock for polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

The company plans to purchase a part of raw material from abroad till 2018. The only Russian PET producer of TPA in the Republic of Bashkortostan, POLIEF, cannot meet the demand for the product.

ETANA inked the agreement on TPA deliveries with the South Korea-based producer KP Chemical. The main raw material for TPA production is paraxylene, which is produced in Russia in sufficient quantities.

MRC

(chemmonitor) -- Polyethylene (PE) monthly output dropped again this year in Japan according to the production results recently unveiled by Japan Petrochemical Association.

Japan-based PE manufacturer produced around 164,000 tonnes through March, down by 70,000 tonnes or 15.4 percent month on month. Besides, the figure was 77,000 tonnes or 18 percent if compared to March 2010.

The domestic low density PE (LDPE) output fell to the greatest extent.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- On Wednesday, 25 April, on the back of results of export trades in Belarus and desire of Russian producers to increase May prices, Ukrainian traders temporarily suspended LDPE sales, according to MRC analysts.

Export prices for LDPE in May grew at export trades in Belarus by EUR200/tonne. At the beginning of the month export quotations at trades were fixed for the Ukrainian market within EUR1,150-1,180/tonne, FCA Novopolotsk.

Russian producers also said about necessity to increase export prices for the Ukrainian market following the internal deficit. This week the USD50-100/tonne increase of May prices was discussed in comparison to April level.

Following a serious export price hike in Belarus and announced growth of export prcies for the Russian LDPE, Ukrainian companies temporarily suspended sales. Yet at the beginning of the month Russian and Belarusian 158 LDPE was offered within hryvnya (UAH) 16,300-16,500/tonne, VAT included, СРТ Кiеv.

MRC