PVC-S Imports to Ukraine made up 13,6 kt

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Following the September results the PVC-S imports volumes to Ukraine made up 13,6 kt, herewith American PVC share exceeded 60%, MRC DataScope says.

From the beginning of the year the PVC-S imports volumes to the Ukrainian market had been continuously growing. They reached their maximum in July - 14,4 kt.


Despite lowering of the imports volumes in August up to 10 kt, in September the supplies volumes increased up to 13,6 kt. Mostly such volumes were stipulated by favorable contract prices for PVC-S from North America during July with September supply.

For the first time after a few years PVC-S supplies from North America to Ukraine exceeded 8,2 kt, that is more than 60% of the total volume. From April till June 2010 there was an increased demand for PVC-S from the European producers, and its share in total supplies was 70-80%.

The growth of the price for European PVC resulted in retargeting of the Ukrainian companies to PVC-S from North America whose share in total September imports was 60,3%. The growth of euro/dollar cross-rate marked in September may contribute to keeping of the increased demand for North American PVC-S.

MRC

LONDON (ICIS) -- Strike action by French workers continued on Friday, forcing the country's refineries to operate at minimum throughput levels or freeze production altogether, which has caused feedstock issues for chemical producers.

As a national strike over pension reforms rolled into its fourth day and protests at Marseille's Fos-Lavera oil port entered its 19th day, a shortage of crude supplies has paralysed all 13 refineries in France and was now affecting downstream users.

ExxonMobil's merged refinery at Port Jerome-Gravenchon and its plant at Fos-sur-Mer were also both on strike, company spokesperson Catherine Brun confirmed. Product supplies from ExxonMobil's refinery at Fos-sur-Mer have been blocked and the facility was still running at minimum throughput levels due to crude supply issues caused by the Marseille port industrial action.

LyondellBasell's refinery at Berre L'Etang was not on strike, although it was still forced to begin a production shutdown on the night of 14 October due to crude supply issues. However, LyondellBasell spokesman David Harpole said that chemical operations at the same site were continuing to operate.

MRC

TORONTO (ICIS) -- Venezuela's state oil firm PdVSA has sold its 50% stake in the Germany-based Ruhr Oel refining-petrochemicals joint venture with BP to Russia's Rosneft for $1.6bn (┬1.1bn), the companies said on Friday.

Ruhr Oel is the owner of a refining-petrochemicals complex in Gelsenkirchen, and it holds stakes in three major German refineries. It also owns a specialty chemicals affiliate, DHC Solvent Chemie.

According to BP, Ruhr Oel accounts for over 19% of German refining production capacity and over 5% of northwest-European ethylene production capacity.

The change of ownership would not affect operations at the facilities, BP said. The transaction was expected to be completed next year, subject to regulatory approvals, it added.

MRC

LONDON (ICIS) -- European polyethylene (PE) pipe resin October contract prices largely settled at a rollover, although some slight reduction was noted at the high end of business as price ideas narrowed, players confirmed on Thursday.

Black high density PE (HDPE) 100 prices slipped by ┬10/tonne ($14/tonne) at the top of the range, as higher offers were no longer workable in the market due to some aggressive competition for market share.

This left black HDPE 100 prices at ┬1,190-1,240/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe) on a gross basis, which is subject to discounts and rebates according to data from ICIS.

The weaker US dollar exchange rate was the main factor driving prices down, according to market commentators, who said that this had now largely closed off export opportunities for European sellers, pushing material earmarked for export back into the already lengthening market.

MRC

LONDON (ICIS) -- The European Chemicals Agency's (ECHA's) forum for exchange of information on enforcement approved a new project focused on downstream users who formulate mixtures, the agency said on Friday.

Project ⌠REACH-EN-FORCE 2, which was approved at the forum's 8th meeting held in Helsinki this week, aimed to ensure that formulators of mixtures complied with their duties in order to meet the requirements imposed by the Reach and CLP (classification, labelling and packaging) regulations.

In particular, the ECHA said inspectors would control supply-chain related obligations for substances in mixtures prepared by formulators as well as the CLP notification requirements.

They will also check if the substances placed on the market in mixtures are registered or pre-registered," the ECHA said.

MRC