China imposed antidumping duties on MEG downstream from EU and US

(chemmonitor) -- China’s government has imposed antidumping duties (ADDs) on imports of downstream monoethylene glycol (MEG) based products from the European Union and the United States.

Effective from July-end, the action was taken to punish the exporters for selling the products in China below cost. The antidumping measures are applied, in particular, on imported ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (EGBE) and diethylene glycol monobutyl ether (DEGBE).

Imports from US companies will be imposed with anti-dumping duty of 15.1% except for shipments from Eastman Chemical Company, The Dow Chemical Company and Equistar Chemicals, which will be imposed with duty of 10.1%, 12.5% and 11.5%, respectively.

Imports from European companies will be imposed with anti-dumping duty of 14.9% except for shipments from Sasol Germany, Sasol Solvents Germany, INEOS Chemicals Lavera and BASF, which will face duty of 0%, 13%, 9.3% and 18.8%, respectively.
MRC

(chemweek) -- Borealis, one of Europe’s largest polyolefin producers, today reported a 33% decline in second-quarter net profit to EUR112 million (USD138.2 million) on flat sales of EUR1.869 billion, and cited the European debt crisis and market volatility.

Mark Garrett, CEO, speaking exclusively to CW this morning said that the company's base chemicals and fertilizers businesses as well as Borouge--Borealis’s joint venture with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. at Ruwais, Abu Dhabi--are performing very well but that "we are continuing to struggle with polyolefins in Europe." Market volatility is having an impact on demand and is influencing customers' buying behaviour. "Customers are buying much smaller lots, much more frequently because they are living from hand to mouth," Garrett says.

The European polylefins industry, particularly PE, is challenged by cheaper product from the Mideast and this will be exacerbated by more of the same from U.S. plants based on shale gas. Garrett expects further PE plant closures in Europe, particularly of old inefficient ones. Borealis does not plan closures in the immediate future, however. "We don’t have concrete plans on the table today to rationalize capacity but we will certainly be reviewing all of our plants in the future," he says.

Borealis polyolefin capacity utilization rates vary from plant to plant, ranging from 70% to 90% of capacity. The company’s Stenungsund, Sweden film-grade low-density polyethylene "has been up and down with a lower capacity utilization." Polyolefins were roughly at breakeven in the first half, which is down from the 2011 level, Shook says.
MRC

(Plastopedia) -- The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has adopted its first three scientific opinions on the safety of processes to recycle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for use in food contact materials. All the processes are considered not to give rise to safety concerns if operated under well-defined and controlled conditions. These opinions are the first of a series on recycled plastic materials for food use.

Once this series is completed, EFSA’s opinions will inform the decisions of the European Commission and Member States regarding the authorisation of the evaluated processes. After that, recycled plastics used in food packaging, food containers and other food contact materials should only be obtained from processes which have been assessed for safety by EFSA and authorised by risk managers. The Authority is therefore contributing to greater consumer protection while also supporting the wider environmental objective of waste recycling.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In July, imports of suspension PVC exceeded 33,000 tonnes. Imports of resin from the U.S expectedly grew on the back of a serious fall of export prices last month, according to MRC analysts.

According to preliminary data, imports of suspension PVC to Russia in July exceeded 33,000 tonnes, with a slight increase from June. Expectedly, the imports volume of the resin from the U.S. grew significantly, while the supply of acetylene resin from China fell by almost twofold.
Due to the serious decline in export prices in late May, Russian companies began to contract the PVC from U.S. actively, to particularly in the south of Russia. Cheap North American PVC appeared in the market in the second half of July. As a consequence, last month the total import volume of the resin from the U.S. made about 15,700 tonnes, up 43% from June.

The supplies of acetylene PVC from China fell more than twofold to 4,000 tonnes. Constant disruptions of shipments and a high export prices of steel from Chinese producers were the main drivers of decline in purchases of acetylene resin. Some companies have reported that they received PVC for May only in July.

The imports of Ukrainian SPVC in July amounted to 9,000 tonnes. Over the last fortnight, market participants reported disruptions in supply of Ukrainian PVC due to limited railway rolling. The supplies of the Ukrainian resin is expected to be reduced on the back of problems with rail cars and the turnaround of the production in early September for prevention.

In general, over the first seven months of this year, the total import volume of suspension PVC in Russia amounted to 213,000 tonnes, down 29% year on year.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) – This week European producers lifted again their export PE quotations for August deliveries on the back of tightened PE supply. Some producers are already contracting polyethylene for shipments in September, report MRC analysts.

Last week European makers announced an increase in export PE prices for CIS countries by EUR140-210/tonne (depending on the grade) despite the fact that the contract ethylene price in Europe for August shipments had risen by EUR140/tonne from July.

The reduction of PE prices in July increased the demand from both domestic consumers and export markets. Some makers partially sold out August quotas.

This week European producers announced a further increase in export prices on tightened PE supply in the market. Export quotations of some makers grew by EUR40-50/tonne from the past week or EUR200-220/tonne from July.

Price-offers for HDPE were voiced in the range of EUR1,240-1,300/tonne, FCA. The prices of butane LLDPE start from the level of EUR1,180/tonne, FCA, and up. However, polyethylene for August shipments has been already contracted, and some makers began contracting PE for deliveries in September.
MRC