The cost of Nizhnekamsk polystyrene rose by Rb2,000/tonne

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Traders raised their price offers for Nizhnekamsk polystyrene by Rb1,000-2,000/tonne early this week, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

At the beginning of the week traders that sell Nizhnekamsk general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) have increased the price offer for the material by Rb1,000-2,000/tonne. Last week there was information that the cost of Nizhnekamsk polystyrene might grow, however, the value of the increase was not specified.

A high level of the cost of European and Asian polystyrene allows Russian companies to maintain the increasing trend of the cost of the domestic material. The price offer for Nizhnekamsk GPPS was set at the level of Rb75,000-78,000/tonne, while HIPS is being sold in the range of Rb77,000-81,000/tonne.

The cost of Salavat and Kirishi polystyrene remains at the previous level.

Gasprom neftekhim Salavat polystyrene is being sold in the range of Rb70,000-72,000/tonne for GPPS and Rb76,000-78,000/tonne for natural HIPS.

In early 2013, PGProf resumed sales of GPPS in the spot market. The cost of the material is in the range of Rb75,000-77,000/tonne, EXW.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Caps and closures manufacturer Bericap North America Inc. is investing USD29 million in an expansion that will double the size of its Cowpens plant, as per Plasticsnews.

The custom-designed 90,000-square-foot expansion to the facility in the Upstate Corporate Business Park will double the size of the plant. Installation of state-of-the-art equipment will begin immediately with the physical building expansion slated for second half of 2013. The site and building will allow room for future expansions when necessary.

“We are pleased to move forward with plans to expand our Cherokee County manufacturing operation. South Carolina has provided us with an excellent location to do business and a talented workforce to help us meet our goals. We appreciate all the support we’ve received from state and local officials,” said Anthony Scire, vice president of Operations for Bericap. “Demand for our innovative products is growing in the Southeast and this expansion will enable us to continue to support our customers with increased capacities and new products.”

The expansion should be complete by early 2014.

Bericap, a subsidiary of Bericap GmbH & Co. of Budenheim, Germany, opened the 90,000-square-foot South Carolina plant in 2007. The plant does secondary operations like printing and assembly.

Bericap North America is based in Burlington, Ontario and has a plant in Ontario, Calif. Bericap is a manufacturer of plastic closures with 21 factories in 19 countries across the world. The company offers a wide range of products for beverages, food, motor oil and agricultural industries.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The M&G Group ("M&G"), one of the three leading producers in the Americas of PET for packaging applications, announced today that it has signed a US$ 1 billion engineering, procurement and construction contract ("EPC Contract") with Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co., Ltd. ("SEG") for the turnkey construction in Corpus Christi (Texas, US) of the world’s largest single line PET plant with a capacity of 1 million tons per year (2.2 billion pounds), integrated with the largest western world’s single line PTA plant with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year (2.6 billion pounds), said M&G.

M&G’s engineering arms, Chemtex Global S.a r.l. and M&G Finanziaria S.r.l., will provide critical equipment and services on a subcontracting basis to turnkey contractor SEG.

The completion of construction of the plants, including the time required to obtain necessary permits, is expected to occur within 36 months.

Sinopec Engineering Group president and CEO Yan Shaochun said: "The awarding of this important contract to SEG is a big milestone for entering the North America EPC market, which is a part of SEG's business strategy to diversify from coal chemicals to polymers."

M&G polymers business unit CEO Marco Ghisolfi said: "This is the largest PET investment ever in the western world and probably one of the largest investments recently announced in the US in the private sector."

M&G will be the sole owner of the plants and solely responsible for their operation.

M&G Group, headquartered in Tortona, Italy, is a leading producer of PET resin for packaging in the Americas, with a total production capacity of 1.6 million mt/year.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau has approved an environmental impact assessment for Invista's proposed 215,000-t/y hexamethylene diamine (HMD) plant to be built at the Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park in China.

Invista, noting that it has "fully authorized" construction of the plant, said this approval "marks a significant milestone" for the company's plan to create an integrated nylon 6,6 intermediates and polymer asset in the region.

The new plant, scheduled to begin production in 2015, will be the most energy efficient HMD facility in the world. This project underscores Invista's continuing focus on improving energy efficiency, minimizing environmental impact and developing innovative technologies, explained Steve Kromer, senior vice president of Invista. Kromer is responsible for implementing the company’s integrated nylon 6,6 intermediates investment strategy in Asia.

As MRC wrote earlier, A subsidiary of Invista acquired a manufacturing facility previously operated by privately-held VSL Born B.V., which focuses on the compounding and recycling of polyamides used in automotive, electrical, electronic, industrial and consumer goods applications.

Invista has also started working on the next phase of its Asian investment strategy, including facilities to produce adiponitrile using its proprietary technology, nylon 6,6 polymer and engineering polymer compounds.
This project, initially announced in 2007, was delayed because of the global economic crisis.

Invista is the world's largest producer of nylon polymer. INVISTA has a network of independent compounders in the U.S., Brazil, Turkey, Italy and China, and has in-house PA66 manufacturing capabilities in the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands and Argentina. Additionally, the company has commercial, technical and distribution facilities in each major region around the world.


MRC

MOSCOW (ICIS-MRC) -- Limited supply and stable demand in the foreign markets keep pushing export prices of North American PVC upwards for the CIS countries. In the other regions of the world PVC export prices have remained stable so far, according ICIS-MRC Price report.

Scheduled outages for maintenance at some PVC plants in the USA in January-February amid increasing demand in the domestic market keep restricting export quotas of the local producers. At the same time demand for PVC is still stable in the markets of China, the CIS countries and Turkey. As a result, North American producers are going to raise prices for export shipments of the resin in February. Chinese makers have kept their export prices at December level so far due to large debts as per last year’s contracts. European makers had to preserve December prices for January shipments in most cases on the back of weak demand.

Limited export quotas and stable demand from a number of foreign markets allowed North American producers to get a substantial rise in export prices in November-December. Contracts for January shipments of PVC were concluded in the range of USD920-950/tonne, FAS Houston. Local producers plan to increase prices for February shipments to the level of USD980-1,100/tonne, FAS Houston.

Producers of acetylene PVC in the north of China have kept their export prices for CIS countries in the range of USD880-920/tonne, DAP Dostyk, so far. Companies have rather big debts as per the last year’s contracts. According to market participants, debt on PVC shipments to the CIS countries made over 17 thousand tonnes as of 10 January, but already by mid-month shipments of the resin had been resumed. Chinese manufacturers might increase export prices in February. At least, domestic prices, which are in the range of USD930-950/tonne, FCA, can push them to take such a decision.

In most cases European makers had to maintain December price level for January shipments. Price offers for European PVC to be shipped in January are voiced in the range of EUR700-750/tonne, FCA. Some producers managed to get a price increase of EUR20 to the level of EUR770/tonne, FCA.
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