Mangalore petrochemical complex to be complete next year

(cossp) -- ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd's (OMPL) petrochemical complex coming up at Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ) at Mangalore is likely to start commercial operations in the first quarter of next financial year.

Rs 5,750 crore project is being set up by OMPL which floated by ONGC and MRPL. A strategic investor with majority holding is likely to be roped in at a later stage. The project will include paraxylene (PX) unit with a capacity of 9.20 lakh tpa, benzene (BZ) unit with a capacity of 2.70 lakh tpa and 72 MW gas based combined cycle power unit.

MRPL refinery which is adjacent to the petrochemical complex will supply feedstock of naphtha and aromatic rich streams from the refinery. OMPL is currently in the process of tying up long term agreement with the potential customers.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is an Indian multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Dehradun, India. It is one of the largest Asia-based oil and gas exploration and production companies, and produces around 77% of India's crude oil (equivalent to around 30% of the country's total demand) and around 81% of its natural gas.
MRC

(plastemart) -- Taiwan’s CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC) denied reports on scrapping a planned investment project in Malaysia.

The state-run oil refiner confirmed that the plan was still undergoing a feasibility assessment.
Kuokuang hoped to build a petrochemical complex covering the full petrochemical supply chain in Malaysia, but progress has been slow because of difficulties in securing land.

As MRC informed earlier this year, the company had had plans to commission a new 700,000 tpa cracker by end 2012 or early 2013.

CPC Corporation is a state-owned petroleum, natural gas, and gasoline company in Taiwan and is the core of the Taiwanese petrochemicals industry.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Export prices of North American PVC had rose by USD20-30/tonne by mid-month after drop in early November. Price offers for January shipments are expected to appear next week, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

On the back of a negative outlook regarding PVC sales for December shipments from the USA to the foreign markets (Russia, Turkey and some Asian countries), suppliers of North American resin slashed export prices to stimulate the demand from buyers. PVC price offers for December shipments for the CIS countries were voiced in the range of USD900-920/tonne, CFR St Petersburg and CIF Odessa.

However, despite the late delivery dates of PVC (December), a number of enquiries for purchasing was quite large. As a result, by mid-November suppliers of North American PVC had announced a price increase by USD20-30/tonne to the level of USD920-950/tonne, CFR St Petersburg and CIF Odessa. Meanwhile, traders sold more PVC for shipments in December, than the plants can ship due to outages at some plants in the USA and limited export quotas.

By the beginning of the week, many suppliers of North American PVC took a pause in anticipation of Thanksgiving Day. Small residues of North American resin for December shipments are still offered in the market in the range of USD950-960/tonne, CFR St Petersburg and CIF Odessa. In general, price offers for shipments in January are expected to appear next week.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) has chosen SABIC's next-generation NORYL GTX 989 resin for the production of front fenders of its 2013 Outlander Sport crossover, according to SABIC's Innovative Plastics announcement.

The vehicle's fenders are the first to be produced using 2-cavity injection molding with NORYL GTX resin, allowing MMC to cut cycle times in half and reduce tooling costs. Other major benefits of the SABIC material include weight savings vs. steel for fuel economy gains and sustainability benefits and flexibility to design the first North American fenders with integrated pedestrian head impact absorption brackets. The use of NORYL GTX resin instead of steel for the Outlander Sport fenders reduced vehicle weight by 3 kg. This weight reduction is particularly important in view of the recently announced U.S. fuel economy rules, which essentially double the mileage requirement for OEM fleets.

We also remind that Sabic's Innovative Plastics and Indian automotive manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), with support from its Tier 1 supplier Plastic Omnium, has developed India's first injection molded plastic fenders, which are featured on the new critically acclaimed global XUV500 sports utility vehicle (SUV), as MRC reported earlier.

MMC's adoption of NORYL GTX 989 resin to mass production of fenders along with Sabic and M&M's collaboration demonstrate Sabic's commitment to provide automotive customers with thermoplastic solutions that help drive the development of cutting-edge styling for differentiated designs and improved sustainability through weight-out.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Korean PET makers decreased the price offer for the material for export deliveries by USD10/tonne following a price cut in China and pressure from customers, according to MRC Price report.

In mid-November, the range of spot prices of Korean PET was reduced to the level of USD1,390-1,400/tonne, FOB Busan. A more competitive price offer from Chinese suppliers made Korean sellers reduce PET prices. Thus, Chinese material was offered at the price of USD1,350-1,370/tonne, FOB China.

Asian producers keep reporting a decline in demand. The producers’ margin remains minimal. Due to that, capacity utilization of the producers makes on average about 50%. Decrease in the output allowed the plants to reduce possible losses caused by high production costs and drop in sales of their production.

At present, Russian importers prefer Chinese PET due to more attractive price offers. According to MRC price report, Chinese PET in the Central region of Russia, including logistics, made USD1,440-1,460/tonne, DAP Moscow.
MRC