DuPont 2012 results to be offset by TiO2

(Chemical Week) -- DuPont reports of investments that the company are making in all its divisions keep on delivering results which are offset by the weakness in titanium dioxide (TiO2) markets.

"While we are seeing indications that market conditions are firming up in some areas, volatility and uncertainty also persist," says DuPont chair and CEO Ellen Kullman. "Investments we are making in agriculture and nutrition, industrial biosciences and advanced materials continue to deliver results offset by the weakness in titanium dioxide (TiO2) markets." Excluding the performance chemicals unit, which includes TiO2, the company expects earnings growth of at least high-teens in 2013 versus 2012, DuPont says. Performance chemicals margins are expected to fall six to seven percentage points in 2013, DuPont says.

According to Thomson Reuters, DuPont expects full-year 2012 earnings from continuing operations to be at the high end of previous guidance of USD3.25 -USD3.30/share and 2013 earnings to grow up to 13%, to USD3.70/share on global economic growth, which is expected to remain modest in 2013, according to DuPont estimates. DuPont expects global GDP growth of about 2% in 2013, says executive v.p. and CFO Nicholas Fanandakis.

We remind that, as MRC informed previously, earlier this year DuPont Co. struck a deal to sell its car paint business to Washington-based investment firm Carlyle Group LP for USD4.9 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - The import duty on the product group "other polymers of ethylene" is to be cleared on 20, December. At the same time there is no official explanation on the future classification of the import of linear polyethylene with copolymer chains more than 5% of the total weight, MRC analysts said on Monday.

Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission made a decision № 89 from 12,October, 2012 "On amendments to the common nomenclature of foreign economic activity of the Customs Union and the Common Customs Tariff of the Customs Union on the silicone resins, polymers of ethylene, of certain grades of organic chemicals, fish", which comprises 0% import duties on other polymers of ethylene (FEACN code 3901 90 900 0). Officially, the commission's decision was published on 20, November, 2012 and comes into force after 30 days from the date of its official publication, which is, on 20, December, 2012.

According to the Common Customs Union, FEACN code 3901 90 900 0 includes all other polymers of ethylene. Linear polyethylene with a total weight of more than 5% of the copolymer chains of butene, hexene or octene are under this classification. Thus, this year, about 16% of the declared linear polyethylene refers to the group of "other ethylene polymers" (FEACN code 3901 90 900 0). From 20, December the import duty for this group of goods will make 0% from the current 10%.

On the other hand, there is also a group of products "other polymers of ethylene with a specific gravity of less than 0.94" in classifier of Common Customs Union (FEACN code 3901 10 900 0), which is under the import duty of 10%. According to some importers, linear polyethylene containing a total weight of more than 5% of the copolymer chains can be classified under this commodity code as well. According to unofficial information, the customs had not received an official explanation as to the imports of linear polyethylene containing a total weight of more than 5% of the copolymer chains.

Importing companies are also confused, as FEACN codes of imported linear polyethylene with a total weight of more than 5% of the copolymer chains can be simply mixed up.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In January-November, 2012, import of PET to the Ukrainian domestic market grew by 6% year-on-year and made about 150,000 tonnes, according to MRC Data Scope.

This year, Ukrainian converters have been actively increasing purchasing volumes in the foreign markets. Most clearly this tendency was observed in the first half of the year. Significant spikes of purchases were registered in February and May. In anticipation of preparation for the season, converters increased stocks of the finished goods and feedstock at their warehouses, reporting an increase of orders from beverage and water producers. Due to the growth of shipments in the said months, the total import of PET in January-November made 150,000 tonnes, up 8,200 tonnes year-on-year.

China is still the leader in terms of shipments to Ukraine. 52% of the processed granulate in the country account for the Chinese PET makers. In January-November, 2012, around 78,000 tonnes of bottle PET granulate arrived in the market from China. China Resources Chemicals, SK Chemicals and Jiangsu Sanfangxiang make the Top-3 Chinese suppliers. However, the total import volumes of the Chinese material dropped by 1,000 tonnes over the past 11 months year-on-year.

Despite the reduction of purchases of Chinese PET, Pakistani, Lithuanian and Belarusian PET grades showed a significant increase. During the reporting period, supply volumes of Pakistani PET rose more than three times and made 21,800 tonnes, while in 2011 this index made 7,000 tonnes. Import of Lithuanian PET grew more than twofold and made 17,600 from 7,770 tonnes of the previous year. Purchases of Belarusian PET increased more than 2,5 times and made almost 8,000 tonnes in January-November from 3,000 tonnes last year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Expectedly, American PVC producers have announced an increase in export prices for shipments in January on the back of high demand from export markets and limited export quotas, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Despite the approach of winter and due to a seasonal decline in demand, American PVC makers received quite a lot of enquiries for December shipments of resin to the foreign markets. Meantime, according to some traders, export quotas of PVC had been already sold in November by some producers.

The situation with January shipments has deteriorated. Formosa has no plans to export PVC in January due to a scheduled outage at the company’s plant, all the produced volumes of the material are being accumulated for the US domestic market. Georgia Gulf has also reduced its export quotas.

This week, PVC price offers for January shipments have been voiced in the range of USD1,010-1,030/tonne, CFR St Petersburg. We remind that price offers for December shipments started from the level of USD880-920/tonne, CFR St Petersburg.
MRC

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- The ongoing shale revolution will guide the US ethylene industry surge in the near future, growing by more than a third by 2017, according to a new report from business intelligence group GlobalData.

US ethylene capacity dropped from 27.089 million tpy in 2000 to an estimated 26.137 million tpy in 2012. However, increased investments in the industry will see this figure jump to 35.048 million tpy by 2017 - an increase of just under 35%.

In correlation with the recent surge in shale gas output, the production of natural gas liquids (NGLs) has increased significantly, the report notes. Ethane, a hydrocarbon almost exclusively used in petrochemical production, is a major component of NGLs and is cracked to produce ethylene.

In response, investors have been keen to be a part of an ethylene industry on the rise, and many major US ethylene producers are investigating the possibility of bringing new plants online with capacities of more than 1 million tpy in the near future. Besides, construction of upstream facilities is also in the future plans of major petrochemical companies. As MRC reported previously, Dow Chemical, Formosa Plastics, Chevron Phillips Chemical, ExxonMobil and Nova Chemicals unveiled their expansion plans in North America on shale gas deposits in the Marcellus Shale Formation in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio as well as a favourable gas price.

Strong ethane production has also lowered prices and made the US petrochemicals industry much more competitive than in previous years, the GlobalData report says.

Five years ago, the US was one of the most expensive places to produce ethylene, but the ethane-based US petrochemicals industry is now in a better position than the naphtha-based petrochemicals industries of Europe and Asia-Pacific, and second only to the Middle East in terms of production economy.
MRC