Import of PET to Ukraine rose by 6% over the past eleven months

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

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Reliance Industries has chosen the LyondellBasell Lupotech T process technology for its low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant to be constructed at the company's refinery in Jamnagar, India, according to LyondellBasell's press release.

According to Bob Patel, Senior Vice President of Olefins and Polyolefins, Europe, Asia, International and Technology at LyondellBasell, this is the company's 23rd Lupotech T license granted over the past 10 years with nearly 11 million tonnes of licensed capacity to date.

Among the Lupotech T process technology main features are low manufacturing and investment costs with capacities of up to 450 KTA, a superior product portfolio, fast start up and grade changes, and a high on-stream factor. Due to these features, LyondellBasell technology is the first-class choice for the world scale production of LDPE and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymers.

We remind that in the first half of December two companies selected LyondellBeasell's technologies, as MRC reported earlier. Thus, the largest coal company in the world, China Shenhua Coal to Liquid and Chemical Co. selected the LyondellBasell Lupotech T process technology for a 270 KT per year low density polyethylene (LDPE) plant to be built in Xinjiang, China. Besides, Petronas chose the Spheripol technology from LyondellBasell for two 300 KTA polypropylene (PP) units to be located in Pengerang, Malaysia.

LyondellBasell is one of the world’s largest plastics, chemical and refining companies. LyondellBasell products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In a move to expand its technology leadership in high-quality silicone and polymer products for the Chinese market, Wacker Chemie AG officially opened its new 10,000-sq-meter headquarters for the Greater China region (Mainland China and Taiwan) in Shanghai on 14 December, as per the company's press release.

The new Shanghai Centre, equiped with the latest facilities for WACKER's experts to adapt silicone and polymer products to the specific requirements of their Chinese customers, is aimed for marketing, sales and administrative functions along with numerous laboratories for R&D and applications technology.

CEO Staudigl stressed the strategic importance of China as a growth market for Wacker. Last year, Wacker's sales in China and Taiwan amounted to EUR1.03 billion, which is around one-fifth of the Group total.

Over the recent years Wacker has greatly expanded its activities in the region, having operated its own subsidiary in Greater China for 20 years. The company's investments in China to date amount to about EUR400 million, while WACKER is planning to invest over EUR600 million in the next four years.

The company has eight sales offices in the most important economic regions of China, as well as two technical centers and four production sites. Its Zhangjiagang and Nanjing sites produce silicones, dispersions and dispersible polymer powders. The plants there are the largest of their kind in China.

Wacker is currently doubling its dispersions production capacity in Nanjing to 120,000 metric tpa in order to meet increasing demand from customers. The company is also building a new polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) plant there with an annual production capacity of 20,000 tonnes. Both plants are scheduled to come on stream next year.

Besides, as MRC informed earlier, Wacker and DKSH Business Unit Performance Materials had entered into a strategic partnership, under which Wacker would distribute fermenter cysteine and bioengineered cyclodextrins through DKSH under the exclusive distribution agreement to South East Asia, Greater China and parts of the India subcontinent. Moreover, the company is building a new plant with an annual capacity of 40,000 metric tonnes at its site in Ulsan, South Korea. The new facility is aimed to produce vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer (EVA) dispersions for applications in the paints and coatings, construction, nonwoven, paper and carpet industries.
MRC