Caustic soda plant of Sulfindo to shut operations

MOSCOW (MRC) -- PT Sulfindo Adiusaha is likely to shut operations at its caustic soda plant, said Apic-online.

Located at Merak in Indonesia, the caustic soda plant has a production capacity of 315,000 mt/year.

The plant, will be taken off-stream for a maintenance turnaround in June 2013 and will remain shut for 2-3 weeks.

PT Sulfindo Adiusaha was established in 1987. Company has diversified chemical business by creating products such of EDC, VCM, and PVC. Company informs in its site that it has production of ehylene diclhloride ( C2H4Cl2 ) with capacity of 370,000 TPA and vinyl chloride monomer ( C2H3Cl ) with capacity of 130,000 KMT / year, polyvinyl chloride with capacity of 95,000 MT / year.

These products have strengthened and supported Sulfindo's presence in the market as an integrated Chlor-Alkali producer in Indonesia.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of polypropylene to Russia in 2012 increased by 43% compared with 2011. Start of production of two new sites in Omsk and Tobolsk in 2013 should significantly change the balance of the Russian market of polypropylene, according to MRC DataScope.

PP imports to Russia in December last year rose to 20,400 tonnes. Total imports in 2012 to Russia made about 276,400 tonnes of polypropylene, up 43% year on year. Production capacities are unable to meet the growing needs of the Russian market of polypropylene, but in the second half of 2013, the balance of the market may change with the launch of two new sites with total capacity of 430,000 tonnes.

Russian converters faced shortage of polypropylene in April-May last year. Price of homopolymer polypropylene (PP homo) amid deficit in May rose to Rb72,000-74,000/tonne, CPT Moscow, including VAT. The market began to actively seek alternative sources of supply polypropylene. Since May, imports of polypropylene to Russia began to rise and reached a peak in June - more than 34,000 tonnes.

The total volume of import of PP-homo to the Russian market in 2012 amounted to 138,500 tonnes, up 35% more than a year ago. External supplies of block copolymers of propylene increased by 35% to around 51,400 tonnes. Imports of stat- copolymers of propylene increased by 67% to 47,000 tonnes.

Two new production sites are expected to be launched in the middle of the Q2. Omsk Polyom (Titan Group) has an annual capacity of 180,000 tonnes. Technology "Spheripol" from company LyondellBasell allows to produce about 80 grades of polypropylene, including copolymers of propylene. Tobolsk-Polymer (Sibur Group) plans to launch first polypropylene plant capacity of 250,000 tonnes per year. However, production range will include only homopolymers of propylene.

Given the launch of new capacities and existing production sites in the second half of the year we can expect a major structural change in the market of PP homo. The specifics of the market of copolymers of propylene will slow down substitution of import by Russian product.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The multinational company TenCate, engaged in the production of thermoplastic composite materials and components, has acquired Amber Composites, a UK-based manufacturer of thermoset composites for the industrial and automotive market, according to TenCate's press release.

The financial details regarding this transaction were not disclosed.

The present acquisiton will help TenCate to expand its activities and presence in Europe, since the company's business is mainly concentrated within TenCate Advanced Composites in the United States of America. Moreover, given that the major portion of the global composite market consists of thermoset materials and that TenCate is mainly focused on aerospace, space and radome applications, it will give the company's activities a boost in the European market in the field of thermoset composite materials.

We remind that, as MRC informed earlier, TenCate Advanced Composites (North America) has expanded its cooperation with 3M, a recognized leader in research and development. This cooperation has considerably strengthened the position of the partners, particularly in composite materials for the aerospace market.

Besides, in late May 2012 , in a move to strengthen its presence in the thermoplastic composite materials and components market for automotive, oil and gas as well as consumer electronics, TenCate Advanced Composites (Almelo/The Netherlands) acquired Performance Materials Corporation Baycomp.

TenCate have also announced recently that it inked an agreement with BASF to cooperate on the development, production and commercialization of thermoplastic composite materials suitable for high-volume vehicle production.

TenCate composites activities originate in the Netherlands, where more than 20 years ago TenCate began the development of thermoplastic composites for the aviation industry under the brand name TenCate Cetex. TenCate is market leader with this activity. The main advantages of thermoplastic composites are their lower process costs and faster processing time in the production of components.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia’s imports of high density polyethylene (HDPE) in 2012 increased by 35%,from 2011. Long stoppage of Stavrolen resulted in significant increase in the external supply of HDPE, according to a MRC DataScope.

Russia’s imports of HDPE in December 2012 rose to 38,600 tonnes. Total imports of HDPE in 2012 to Russia made about 410,000 tonnes of HDPE, up 35% year on year. The main reason for the significant growth of the external supply was outage of Stavrolen due to the accident at the gas distribution installation in the production of ethylene. The imports of HDPE grew half as much than the production volumes of Stavrolen.

After the accident on 15, December 2011 the second largest producer of HDPE Stavrolen (Lukoil Group) had to suspend production of polymers (polyethylene and polypropylene).

Stavrolen resumed the production of polypropylene in March 2012 due to external supply of propylene, HDPE production was resumed only in October 2012. In 2011, the total production of high-density polyethylene by Stavrolen made about 292,000 tonnes, while in 2012 it slightly exceeded 70,000 tonnes.

In 2011, the imports of HDPE to Russia amounted to about 303,000 tonnes, whereas in 2012, it increased by 107,000 tonnes. The largest increase in imports was seen in the sector of film, blow moulding and pipe grades of polyethylene.

External supply of film HDPE in 2012 increased by more than two times and reached 99,000 tonnes. Imports of pipe polyethylene increased by 45% to 130,000 tonnes. Supplies of blow moulding HDPE reached 50,000 tonnes.

It should be noted that in 2012, the increased production at other sites (Nizhnekamskneftekhim, Kazanorgsintez and Gazprom neftekhim Salavat) by more than 120,000 tonnes and a reduction in exports cut imports of HDPE.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Following the results of December 2012, the production of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) in the enterprises of HaloPolymer, which is the only sulfur hexafluoride producer in the Eastern Europe and ranked to be the 6th in the world market of sulfur hexafluoride, made 130 tonnes. This index can guarantee the company the annual volume of sulfur hexafluoride production to be 1,500 tonnes or more per year, which is 9% of global production, reported Plastech.

Just in 12 months of 2012 there has been produced more than 1277.7 tonnes of SF6, which is 11.5% higher than during the previous year.

The sulfur hexafluoride is widely used in the electrical engineering industry as an insulator, in electronic and metal industries as a technological process medium, and also used as an insulator in the middle-range high-voltage electrical equipment at power facilities.

HaloPolymer produces the SF6 of 4N purity that is massively applied in most industries. According to the CEO of HaloPolymer, Maxim Doroshkevich, the holding achieved the high production performance rates due to a number of actions aimed to increase the production of fluorine gas (raw material to manufacture SF6), as well as arranging more effective operation of equipment.

HaloPolymer is the leader of the industry in Russia and one of the world's largest manufacturers of fluorinated products, primarily fluorinated polymers. HaloPolymer's production capacity of fluorinated polymers in 2011 amounted to 12,700 tonnes. The company supplies about 80% of its products to more than 30 countries around the world. As MRC reported earlier, Halopolymer had become the first Russian company to enter the American Society of Plastics Industry, (SPI). This organization is one of the most influential in the United States and represents the interests of market participants of plastics industry.
MRC