Celanese announces intermediate chemistry price increases

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company, will increase list and off-list selling prices for the following products effective September 1, 2014, reported the company on its site.


Product North America (USA,Canda) Mexico Central and South America

Ethyl Acetate 3 cent/lb 3 cent/lb USD70/mt
Methyl Isobutyl Carbinol (MIBC) 5 cent/lb 5 cent/lb USD100/mt
Methyl Isobutyl Ketone (MIBK) 5 cent/lb 5 cent/lb USD100/mt

As MRC informed previously, Celanese Corporation has recently announced that it will increase the price of all grades of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and Ateva vinyl acetate ethylene (EVA) in September. The increase of USD0.05/pound will be effective 1 September, 2014, or as contracts allow, and is caused by market conditions.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Texas, Celanese employs approximately 7,400 employees worldwide and had 2013 net sales of USD6.5 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) is in plans to undertake a maintenance turnaround at an aromatics plant, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed that the plant is planned to be shut in H2 September. It is likely to remain off-stream for around 40 days.

Located at Huizhou in China, the plant has a PX capacity of 840,000 mt/year and MX capacity of 130,000 mt/year.

We remind that Indonesian state-owned energy company Pertamina is in plans to shut down an aromatics plant for maintenance turnaround in end-September 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for around 40 days. Located in Cilacap, Indonesia, the plant has a PX capacity of 270,000 mt/year and benzene capacity of 110,000 mt/year.

As MRC wrote previously, Idemitsu Kosan, one of Japan’s largest refining and petrochemical companies, shut down its aromatics plant for maintenance turnaround in July 2014. It is likely to remain shut for around 50 days. Located in Chiba, Japan, the plant has a PX capacity of 265,000 mt/year, benzene capacity of 577,000 mt/year and MX capacity of 353,000 mt/year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Ineos has bought rights to explore for shale gas in the area surrounding its Grangemouth refinery complex in Scotland, in the petrochemicals giant's debut move into the fracking industry, said Telegraph.

The company, which requires gas and gas by-products to run the plant, said on Monday that it had bought a 51pc stake in the shale section of the PEDL 133 licence area from BG Group for an undisclosed sum.

The licence covers 127 square miles in the Midland Valley, spanning the Firth of Forth and including Grangemouth, Falkirk and much of Stirling.

The remaining 49pc of the shale section is owned by Dart Energy, which is in the process of being taken over by fracking firm IGas Energy.

No shale gas exploration has so far taken place in the area, but Dart estimates it could contain 4.4 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas. If 10pc were recoverable, estimates suggest it could provide enough gas to meet Scotland's needs for more than a year.

As MRC wrote before, Ineos Compounds and Doeflex Compounding received the green light for the merger of their polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounding businesses from the European Commission. The combined business, once completed, will create a leading PVC compound manufacturer, with a turnover in excess of EUR200m and production sites in the UK, Sweden and Switzerland.

Ineos Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- US propylene supplies are expected to return to levels not seen since 2006, but the increase in the feedstock supply won’t come close to meeting the global demand for polypropylene during the next decade, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Shale gas exploration has given the US an opportunity to enter the on-purpose propylene market in a big way.

While much of the propane dehydrogenation (PDH) announcements were designed to offset the lost propylene production from refineries and crackers that have switched to the lighter ethane feedstock, we will face a potential oversupply of propylene in the near future.

However, the oversupply will eventually be absorbed by increasing global demand for PP. Globally, it’s estimated there is a need for nearly 18 million tons of new PP capacity by 2024. Most of the demand will be created in China, and much of the new PP production capacity is expected to be built in Asia. Producers in China have announced plans to add more than 3 million tpy of PP capacity on-stream.

At the same time, there are 16 PDH plants being planned in China, which would produce more than eight million mt of the feedstock propylene annually. Of these, eight have already announced they will be using propane sourced from the US. The US is positioned to capitalize on the PP shortages in two ways. US-produced plastic, made from inexpensive shale-based propane, can be exported globally. Or, if other regions – particularly Asia – prefer to produce domestically, US-produced natural gas liquids (NGLs) will be exported to feed those units.


MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's output of finished goods from polymers increased by 9.6% over the first seven months of 2014. The construction sector still demonstrated negative figures, reported MRC analysts.

Production of main products from polymers in Russia increased significantly in July under the pressure of seasonal factors, which affected the final figures. Thus, the output of key products from polymers rose by 8.6% from January to June 2014, while this figure grew by 9.6% from January to July 2014. Nevertheless, the construction sector showed the negative result.

According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, July production of unreinforced and non-combined films rose to 112,000 tonne (99,600 tonnes in June). Thus, Russia's ouput of these products totalled about 611,700 tonnes from January to July 2014, up by 26.2% year on year.

Last month's output of plates and sheets reached 19,300 tonnes (19,000 tonnes in June). Production of these products by Russian companies reached 125,500 tonnes over the stated period, up by 3.6% year on year.

July production of plastic pipes, hoses and fittings rose to 56,000 tonnes on the back of seasonal factors (48,700 tonnes in June). The overall output of these products reached 302,600 tonnes over the first seven months of 2014, down by 10.3% year on year.

Last month's output of plastic windows and their frames and sills increased to 2.9 million square meters (in June - 2.1 million square meters). Production of plastic windows and window sills totalled 13.5 million square meters from January to July 2014, down by 6.8% year on year.
MRC