S Korea's SK Energy to restart long-idled No. 1 steam cracker

(Platts) -- South Korea's SK Energy plans to restart its long-idled No. 1 naphtha-fed steam cracker at Ulsan on November 20, a company source said Monday. The steam cracker is able to produce 200,000 mt/year of ethylene and 140,000 mt/year of propylene.

The cracker has been shut since November 2008 due to negative margins amid a sharp decline in petrochemical demand. Despite negative ethylene margins, SK Energy has decided to restart the No. 1 cracker as margins for other olefins -- such as propylene -- are strong.

Meanwhile, SK Energy started running its No. 2 steam cracker, also located at Ulsan, at 100% from Sunday. The cracker was restarted last Thursday after a turnaround from October 1. The No. 2 cracker is able to produce 660,000 mt/year of ethylene and 360,000 mt/year of propylene.

MRC

Starting this year total volume of PVC-S supplies to Russia reached the level of 297 KT which is 166% more compared to the same period in 2009.

According to MRC analysts expectations, this year the geography of PVC-S supplies to Russia has changed. Starting from July 2010, the volumes of the American PVC-S supplies have been dynamically increasing up to the level of 115,3 KT at the end of the ten months.

The volumes of the Chinese PVC-S supplies in January-October 2010 only made up 103,6 KT having lost the leading positions. The level of the American resin exceeded 58% in the imports supplies in October.

For more detailed information about PVC market, see MRC DataScope reports.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Chemtura completed its financial restructuring and emerged from US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after nearly 20 months, the US specialty chemicals producer said on Wednesday.

⌠With the successful completion of our financial restructuring, we have significantly reduced our debt, improved our cost structure and resolved a considerable amount of environmental and other liabilities, said Chemtura CEO Craig Rogerson.

Chemtura filed for bankruptcy protection in March 2009 after it failed to sell two companies.

Chemtura, which describes itself as a global manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals, agrochemicals and pool, spa and home care products, had $2.3bn (┬1.7bn) in 2009 sales.

MRC

(ICIS) -- China's Shaanxi Beiyuan Chemical Industry Group Co has started up its new 250,000 tonne/year carbide-based polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and 200,000 tonne/year caustic soda lines in Shenmu, Shaanxi province, a company source said on Thursday.

The two lines are part of the first phase of Shaanxi Beiyuan's project in Jinjie Industry Park, which includes a 500,000 tonne/year of PVC plant and a 400,000 tonne/year caustic soda unit, added the source.

The remaining 250,000 tonne/year PVC and 200,000 tonne/year caustic soda lines of the first phase were scheduled to come on stream early next year, the source said, adding that construction on those two lines was almost complete.

Meanwhile, construction of the project's second phase - also 500,000 tonn/year PVC and 400,000 tonne/year caustic soda -was currently underway and it was scheduled to start up by the end of 2011, according to the source.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Most naphtha crackers in Asia, with downstream derivatives, continue to operate at near full capacity or higher, thanks to a firm integrated margin, but sentiment may turn bearish in the face of an ethylene price slump, traders said on Tuesday.

The integrated polyethylene (PE) margin held firm at $235/tonne (┬169/tonne) in the week ended 5 November, ICIS data showed.

On the other hand, the ethylene or steam cracker margin plummeted to $34/tonne NE (northeast) Asia in the same period, versus $72/tonne the previous week and $252/tonne in September, the data showed.

As a rule of thumb, cracking operators may enjoy full cost recovery if the spread between naphtha and ethylene hovers at a minimum of $250/tonne, traders said.

Ethylene prices fell to $980-1,000/tonne CFR (cost & freight) NE Asia last week, against month-ago levels of $1,110-1,150/tonne due to an armada of supply from the Middle East, ICIS data showed.

Regional integrated naphtha crackers are running at high rates because of a healthy polymers market, adding to the flood of ethylene supply.

MRC