S Korea October petchem exports up 22% on higher prices

(ICIS) -- South Korea's petrochemicals exports surged 22% year on year to $29.9bn (┬21.8bn) in October on the back of higher product prices, with the double-digit growth trend likely to continue in November, analysts said on Tuesday.


Meanwhile, exports of petroleum products grew 32.2% year on year to $3.04bn in October, also due to the surge in crude prices, he said, adding that the growth was partially led by shipments of diesel.


Export volumes of key petrochemical feedstocks ethylene and propylene fell 24.5% and 28% year on year, respectively, in October, while exports of naphtha rose 22.2%, according to statistics from the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).


Petrochemical exports were expected to show double-digit growth in November due to buoyant energy values and low base figures in the same period last year, analysts said


The country's overall exports rose 29.9% year on year in October to a record $44.1bn, due to key export industries such as semiconductors and automobiles.


Meanwhile, imports into South Korea climbed 22.4% year on year to $37.2bn, the highest level since the worldwide economic crisis began in September 2008, buoyed by higher inbound shipments of raw materials.


MRC


PVC-S supplies from China to reduce

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports PVC supplies from China to Russia expectedly continue reducing and for the first two November weeks made up about 4.7 KT, MRC analysts say.


In September acetylene PVC supplies from China were reduced because cargo traffic through Alashankou-Dostyk crossing was limited during most of the month - there were anti-terror trainings in Kazahstan.



In October Chinese suppliers increased the resin shipments but mostly they fulfilled their obligations under July-August contracts. More than 80% of imports supplies early November were the supplies under September-October contracts.


One of the major factors that limited making of new contracts for PVC supplies in October-November can be rapid price growth in the Chinese domestic market that also affected exports prices. Last week the Chinese producers again increased exports prices for PVC up to USD 1.090 - 1.120/т, DAF Dostyk.


Prices increase was caused by some lack of resin in China, because energy consumption was limited at many enterprises and the production facilities were reduced by 50%. Producers were forced to reduce resin exports supplies and to switch to the domestic market where PVC prices increased under the pressure of high demand.


MRC

Nova Chemicals resin offers up to 50% higher moisture barrier

(Plastics Today) -- Nova Chemicals (Pittsburgh, PA) has introduced a new ultrahigh-barrier high-density polyethylene resin for cast film and extrusion coating, promising up to 50% higher moisture-barrier improvement over conventional technology.


SURPASS EX-HPs667-AB resin allows package redesign and improved sustainability for barrier packaging in markets such as snacks, beverages, dairy, pet foods, and lawn and garden applications.


Nova says processors can co-extrude the product and reduce film gauge to satisfy customers' performance and sustainability objectives. Alternatively, they can co-extrude or blend the product to enable lamination consolidation and performance enhancement.


MRC


US ethylene margins sustain uptrend on supply, lower feeds

(ICIS) -- US ethylene margins remained at their highest level in seven months during the week ended 19 November on tight monomer supply and lower feedstock prices, the ICIS margin report showed on Monday.


Ethylene margins were at 26.06 cents/lb ($575/tonne, ┬420/tonne) last week, up by 7% from 24.39 cents/lb in the week ended 12 November, using ethane as a feedstock. Mont Belvieu ethane ended Friday at 63.00 cents/gal, down by 5% from 66.00 cents/gal a week earlier.


The drop in the feedstock price was accompanied by a 2% gain in the price of spot ethylene.


November ethylene traded at 53.50 cents/lb in the week ended 19 November, up from an average 52.50 cents/lb a week earlier, as the market continued to deal with constrained supply caused by recent cracker outages.


December ethylene prices were steady at 51.00-52.00 cents/lb, while first-quarter material was transacted at 45.75 cents/lb, up from 43.00 cents/lb a week earlier.


US ethylene spot prices surged by nearly 30% in the first week of November, after INEOS experienced a major disruption at its Chocolate Bayou complex in Texas. The company's two crackers at the site went down on 1 November following a lightning strike. INEOS began to restart one of the units on Friday, but the second cracker will not resume operations until mid-December, according to market sources.


MRC


Europe PS buyers pay higher prices due to tight supply

(ICIS) -- European polystyrene (PS) buyers have been forced to pay increases of around ┬50/tonne ($68/tonne) in November due to the tight supply in the market, sources said on Monday.


The increase was short of initial targets, which were as high as ┬100/tonne, but it covered the increase in the upstream styrene monomer (SM) contract for November.


General purpose PS (GPPS) prices were trading at a minimum of ┬1,300/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe) to smaller and medium-sized buyers, while large buyers enjoyed discounts. In July, GPPS prices were at ┬1,220/tonne FD NWE, but have risen steadily since then.


Some producers now saw PS as structurally undersupplied in Europe after permanent closures in 2009, which followed an earlier cull of installed PS in 2006. PS demand had picked up, supported by improved applications in the insulation sector, and some production problems coupled with good demand had tightened availability.


In spite of the tight supply situation in the PS market at the moment, styrene remained the main driver for PS pricing. Styrene monomer spot prices had fallen in November, leading to industry expectations of a drop in the December monomer contract price. Most PS sources expected any price erosion to be transferred to the PS market.


MRC