MOSCOW (MRC) - Russia's production of polycarbonate (PC) was 41,000 tonnes in January-July 2014, up 9% year on year, as per MRC ScanPlast.
The only national PC producer, Kazanorgsintez shut its capacities for scheduled maintenances from 21,July to 17, August.
The producer's PC output in July was about 4,000 tonnes. More than 90% of this volume, as usual, were extrusion grades, in line with the current needs of the market.
As previously reported, Kazanorgsintez has adopted a policy to support national converters in the extrusion sector, and therefore reduced the production volume of injection moulding grades to 200-300 tonnes per month. Other volumes were allocated for sheet extrusion PC.
The producer, working at 100% capacity utilisation, can each month produce about 6,000 tonnes of PC-granules. The producer's representatives said that following the resumption the company plans to produce the half of the monthly PC output until the end of August.
Another surge in demand for extrusion PC is expected to be in September on the back of high season of construction work (mainly civil engineering).
Converters do not feel shortage of PC in August, although it is possible to be in September.
MRC