Europe PE buyers unable to obtain lower prices in November

(ICIS) -- Polyethylene (PE) buyers in Europe have been unable to obtain lower prices from producers in November as a result of smaller-than-expected amounts of imported material amid lacklustre demand and a flat market, sources said on Friday.

PE buyers had faced price increases of around ┬30/tonne in November, an amount that would cover the ┬28/tonne increase in the monthly ethylene contract price, which now stood at ┬978/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe).

Buyers of low density polyethylene (LDPE) were under even more pressure, as producers aim to raise prices next month. On 18 November, Dow Chemical announced a ┬70/tonne increase for December PE. The US-based chemical major was making it clear that it was looking to cover what it saw as its increased costs in PE.

Producers of LDPE and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) reported strong demand this month, and Dow said that it had already closed its order books for November.

MRC

(Korea JoongAng Daily) -- Honam Petrochemical, an affiliate of the Lotte Group, decided on Nov.19 to set foot in the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film business as a part of its expansion strategy in the performance material business.

Honam said it will build a production facility within KP Chemical's site in Ulsan, which will be able to annually produce of 20,000 tons by 2012 and 40,000 tons by 2014.

Because Honam is the leading polyethylene producer in the Asian region and is ranked second in Asia for ethylene and polypropylene productions, its entry into the PET film industry will be a positive entry for its future task of becoming a ⌠total solution provider, but not so easy considering other competitors making a name in the market.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Bayer plans to reduce its workforce by 2,000 by 2012 as part of an ┬800m/year ($1.1bn/year) cost-cutting programme, the chief executive of the German pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals producer said on Thursday.

The programme aims to shift the company's focus toward researching, developing and marketing new products in its pharmaceuticals and pesticides businesses, as well as expanding activities in emerging markets, Bayer said.

Bayer said about 4,500 positions - including 1,700 in Germany - would be cut, while 2,500 new jobs would be added, mostly in emerging markets. The company did not specify from which units that jobs would be cut.

The ┬800m/year in savings would be realised beginning in 2013.

MRC

(Bloomberg) -- The average operating rate of U.S. chlorine and caustic soda makers, which include Dow Chemical Co., dropped to 80 percent in October, a trade group said.

The industry's average operating rate for plants that make the chemicals known as chlor-alkali fell from 91 percent in September, The Chlorine Institute, based in Arlington, Virginia, said today in an e-mail. Plants on average ran at 79 percent of capacity in October 2009.

Chlorine is used to make vinyl products such as siding and PVC pipe. Caustic soda, produced in tandem with chlorine, is used to make pulp, paper and soap.

MRC

(Plastics Today) -- Unilever, one of the world's largest brand owners of FMCGs, plans to reduce its product packaging weight by a third in the next 10 years and do away with PVC as much as possible by 2012. Bioplastics are of interest but not yet truly viable nor particularly sustainable, it says.

Unilever currently uses around 2 million tons of packaging a year, it says. The Sustainable Living Plan is multi-faceted with separate goals for reducing water use, increasing its use of renewable resources, and also goals for reduced use of packaging and increased recycling of the packaging it does use.

The new plan is said to be part of a strategy to "decouple future growth from environmental impact." Its goals including cutting the environmental footprint of its products in half and sourcing 100% of its agricultural raw materials sustainably.

MRC