PTT Chemical's Rayong LLDPE unit due for turnaround on 9 October

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Thailand's PTT Chemical will shut its 400,000 tonne/year linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant at Mab Ta Phut in Rayong province on 9 October for maintenance, a company source said on Friday.

⌠The maintenance will last for about two weeks, he said.

PTT Chemical's plant shutdown was unlikely to have significant impact on local supply as the other two LLDPE plants at Mab Ta Phut, eastern Thailand, with a combined capacity of 420,000 tonnes/year were still running, domestic distributors said.

The other two plants are operated by Thai Polyethylene and Siam Polyethylene.

mrcplast.com

GUANGZHOU (ICIS) -- China's Yangzi Petrochemical has restarted its 400,000 tonne/year No 1 cracker at Nanjing in Jiangsu province early this week after maintenance, a company source said on Friday.

⌠We restarted it on 4 October and the facility is running very smoothly now, the source said.

The cracker was taken off line on 12 August for scheduled turnaround.

The company's 250,000 tonne/year No 2 cracker at the same site was running at full load at present, the source added.

Yangzi Petrochemical is a subsidiary of China's state-owned petrochemical giant Sinopec.

MRC

LONDON (ICIS) -- Borealis Agrolinz Melamine Deutschland has halted production at one of its two 40,000 tonne/year melamine lines at its plant in Piesteritz, Germany, following technical problems, a source at the company said on Thursday.

The line was expected to remain closed until Monday next week.

⌠We're trying to fullfil customer orders so they shouldn't be in danger, however, there will be limited material. We won't be able to compensate for other plant shutdowns or offer spot for the time being, a spokesman for the company said.

Borealis' 30,000 tonne/year high pressure melamine line at Linz, Austria, remained in an unplanned shutdown and was expected to come back on stream on Tuesday 12 October.

The Borealis represenative will take part in the Russian Polymers Summit 2010, 14th October 2010, Moscow, Russia, organized by ICIS and MRC.

MRC

ARTIMINO (ICIS) -- A lack of cotton is driving up the value of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), the feedstock for cotton substitute polyethylene terephthlate (PET), speakers at a PET industry forum said on Thursday.

⌠The polyester industry has to pay more (for PTA). Cotton is too high and I wouldn't be surprised if PET rates were cut for lack of (PET's feedstock,) PTA, commented Global Service International's (GSI) CEO Francesco Zanchi.

The recent flood in Pakistan has destroyed the cotton crop, not only for now but for the foreseeable future, Zanchi added.

Worldwide polyester growth was estimated at 3m tonnes/year. Add to that a further half a million tonnes as substitution for the lack of cotton and that translates to 3m tonnes of PTA and 2m tonnes of paraxylene (PX), the main PTA feedstock, said Sanjay Sinha of Reliance.

Speakers at the meeting warned that higher feedstock costs would lead to more expensive PET.

⌠The price of PET will go up in dollar terms no doubt and in a substantial way...Today is the lowest price for the next six months at least, Zanchi said, urging customers to buy product while they could.

MRC

(PlasticsToday) -- Beverage coolers supplier Frigoglass has paired with Coca-Cola Recycling LLC to convert post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) beverage bottles into beverage cooler components.

According to Tom Jezior, director key accounts, Frigoglass North America, the recycled PET comes from specially processed post-consumer bottles. "Our collaboration with Coca-Cola Recycling set the base and supported us in order to use virgin and recycled PET to create a combination that has the appropriate properties for both extrusion and injection processes," Jezior told PlasticsToday.

According to Jezior, the components, which will have some recycled content, will be injection molded and thermoformed. "Our first step was to get to a level that enabled us to substantiate this technology," Jezior said. "Since that was achieved, we see great potential in extensive use of R-PET in plastic components."

MRC