Demand for EPS has been growing in Ukraine in September

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Demand for expandable polystyrene (EPS) in Ukraine rose in the second half of September on the back of a shortage of import quantities and seasonal activity in the finished products market, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Traders and converters reported strong demand for EPS in the domestic market in the second half of September. The slump in consumer activity in late August and early September was replaced by stable demand and a shortage of materials, added sellers.

Importers said the polystyrene (PS) stocks at the companies' warehouses have already been allocated as per the customers' needs. Demand is stong, despite a sharp rise in prices. The price range remains very high in the domestic market because of the exchange rate instability.

A trader said that EPS prices had already exceeded UAH40,000/tonne CPT Kiev, including VAT, in the domestic market.

In its turn, SIBUR, the largest EPS supplier to Ukraine, is still unable to meet all the demand from Ukrainian consumers. High buying activity in the Russian domestic market makes the plant (SIBUR-Khimprom) to increase shipments to the domestic market.

August EPS imports to Ukraine fell by 36% from July and were 2,900 tonnes.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Borealis, a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers, has announces the refinancing of its EUR one billion Syndicated Revolving Credit Facility, as per the company's press release.

The new facility replaces the existing 2012 financing and extends the maturity to 2019 with an additional extension option of up to two years.

The facility benefits from improved funding conditions as well as attractive margins for strong corporate credits.

"This refinancing underpins once more the strong support of Borealis' core relationship bank group", says Daniel Shook, Borealis Chief Financial Officer, "which consists of a diversified group of financial institutions with coverage in all of Borealis' home markets."

"The new syndicated facility seamlessly fits into the successful financing strategy that Borealis pursued since 2008, states Jan-Martin Nufer, Borealis Director Treasury & Funding. "It will continue to provide Borealis with strong liquidity headroom."

As MRC wrote before, this September, Borealis signed an agreement for technology, engineering and project management company Neste Jacobs to deliver EPCM services for the upgrade of the process section part of Borealis' steam cracker to enable increased ethane cracking in Stenungsund, Sweden. The steam cracker is one of the most feedstock-flexible in Europe and in addition to ethane, it can also crack naphtha, propane and butane.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. The only polyethylene (PE) producer in Sweden, Borealis’ Stenungsund facilities include a PE plant, a cracker for ethylene and propylene production, and an innovation center focused on research and development for infrastructure markets.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styron will be participating at the 23rd Fakuma international trade fair for plastics processing in Friedrichshafen, Germany(October 14-18, 2014), where Styron will introduce new products that have been added to its Performance Plastics portfolio, reported the company on its site.

The new products are as follows:

- EMERGE 8830 Advanced Resins - a clear transparency grade for lighting with a UL 94 rating of V-0 rating at 1.0 mm;

- EMERGE PC/PET 9500 CR Advanced Resins - a high performance chemical resistant material for medical devices, effective against the nine leading chemical antagonists.

Styron will also introduce enhanced MAGNUM ABS Resins and PULSE PC/ABS Engineering Resins for automotive exterior applications, which broaden Styron’s reach in the application area.

In addition, at the show, Styron will highlight its strategic initiative Numbers That Count, emphasizing Styron’s customer-centric, results-oriented approach to customer needs assessment and product development.

"We are looking forward to participating at Fakuma and sharing our expertise in Performance Plastics and Styrenics. Performance Plastics is an important area of our business devoted to premium plastics solutions for technologically-advanced customers who require products that enable them to differentiate themselves in their respective markets and provide quantifiable benefits," said Dagmar van Heur, Vice President of Performance Plastics.

As MRC informed previously, US styrenics producer Styron, alternately known as Trinseo, had said it plans to close its only North American polycarbonate plant, at Freeport, Texas, by the end of 2014 and exit the market. The plant with a capacity of around 100,000 t/y officially belongs to the company's former parent Dow Chemical. The former Dow styrenics unit also produces PC at Stade, Germany, and at Niihama, Japan as part of a joint venture with Sumitomo.

Styron is a leading global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, dedicated to collaborating with customers to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions. Styron’s technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF is changing the organizational set-up of its paper chemicals business to strengthen its competitiveness and better meet the needs of the paper industry, as per the company's press release.

BASF is a leading global supplier to the paper industry and offers a comprehensive range of chemical products for paper manufacturing and coating.

As of January 1, 2015, the Paper Chemicals division will be dissolved. The current headquarters of the Paper Chemicals division in Basel, Switzerland will be closed by the end of 2014. Overall, there will be a reduction of about 50 positions globally as a result of the implementation of the new set-up. The business will be continued in other divisions of the Performance Products segment as follows:

The wet-end chemicals and kaolin businesses will be integrated into the Performance Chemicals division, supplementing the polyacrylamide value chain. A new global business unit "Paper Chemicals" will be established within the Performance Chemicals division. BASF is evaluating strategic options for its paper hydrous kaolin business.
The paper dispersions business and the Center for Sustainable Paper Packaging (CSPP) will be integrated into the division Dispersions & Pigments, supplementing the latex dispersions value chain.

"Integrating the paper chemicals business along existing value chains will allow BASF to optimally steer plant capacity and leverage the advantages of the BASF Verbund. This will strengthen our businesses and further increase the competitiveness of our Performance Products segment," said Michael Heinz, member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE and responsible for the Performance Products segment.

BASF remains committed to the paper chemicals industry by providing sustainable solutions and technical expertise. There will be no impact on supply security and service for the customers. Sales with paper chemicals were EUR1.44 billion in 2013.

As MRC informed previously, in July 2014, BASF Shanghai Coatings Co., Ltd. inaugurated its new automotive coatings plant at the Shanghai Chemicail Industry Park in Shanghai, China. The expansion of its automotive coatings production capacity with an investment of around EUR50 million further strengthens BASF’s presence in China and its position as a leading coatings supplier to the automotive industry.

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell is evaluating a further expansion project at its petrochemical plant in Channelview, Texas, that would potentially add up to 550 million lb/year (250,000 tpy) of ethylene capacity, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Preliminary engineering work is already underway to assess expansion feasibility. If the project proceeds, the anticipated time frame for completion would be 2017.

The proposed expansion project would be in addition to work already underway to install two large cracking furnaces at the Channelview site. Those are slated to increase production by 250 million lb/year (113,000 tpy) when construction work is expected to be completed early next year.

In addition to expansion at Channelview, LyondellBasell is increasing ethylene capacity at two other Texas plants. An 800 million lb/year expansion has just been completed in La Porte, and an additional 800 million lb/year of capacity are also being added at the company's site in Corpus Christi, which is scheduled for completion in late 2015.

When all three are completed, a total of 1.85 billion lb/year of ethylene capacity is expected. This figure will increase to 2.4 billion if the additional expansion project is finalized.

"Our strategy continues to be the cost-effective expansion of existing facilities to take swift advantage of abundant supplies of low cost natural gas and ethane from shale production," said Tim Roberts, executive vice president for LyondellBasell's Americas olefins and polyolefins business.

"The additional ethylene capacity we are already adding at our three Texas plants through existing expansion projects is the equivalent of constructing a new stand-alone cracking unit," he added.

LyondellBasell Industries NV is a manufacturing company. The company produces chemicals, fuels, and polymers used for packaging, clean fuels, durable textiles, medical applications, construction materials, and automotive parts. LyondellBasell Industries operates globally and is headquartered in the Netherlands. LyondellBasell is also a leading licensor of polypropylene and polyethylene technologies. The more than 250 polyolefin process licenses granted by LyondellBasell are twice that of any other polyolefin technology licensor.
MRC