Europe PE buyers face Dec price hikes on higher feedstock

(ICIS) -- European polyethylene (PE) buyers are facing yet more price rises for next month following a ┬27/tonne ($36/tonne) increase in December's ethylene monomer contract, market sources said on Monday.

The average November naphtha cracker contract margin was on a par with that seen in March - and second only to January, the worst margin month in 2010 to date - following a sharp rise in naphtha prices and a drop in the dollar versus euro rate.

Dow had already announced a ┬70/tonne increase for all its December PE sales before the ethylene contract was settled, and others now pitched in, anxious to recover increased costs.

This price hike announcement had been met with a great deal of scepticism by much of the market, but it was being followed by other producers who did not intend to lose margin further in December. With some grades of PE becoming increasingly tight, some sources said that it was not such an outlandish move after all.

Net LDPE prices for monthly business were around ┬1,280/tonne, while spot prices were moving higher, above ┬1,300/tonne FD NWE in some cases, where buyers could find no alternative supply.

High density PE (HDPE) grades were also getting tight, particularly HDPE injection melt flow index 7, and also blowmoulding. Some sources were beginning to wonder whether production had been cut back for these grades as the market was showing signs of shortage.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- In a bid to boost diesel production to ease the shortage in the country, China's state-owned Sinopec has been compelled to reduce production rates at downstream polyethylene, polypropylene and monoethylene glycol plants, as per Platts.

The company's MEG production will be reduced by about 10% due to reduced ethylene availability, while various PE and PP lines will be shut for turnarounds during this period.

The rate cuts will affect Sinopec Maoming Company, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Company, Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Company and Sinopec Guangzhou Company.

Refiners have started to produce diesel at the expense of naphtha production. With less naphtha available, ethylene and propylene production has been reduced and this, in turn, has led to output cuts of polyethylene and polypropylene. However, low demand for polymers during the last quarter of each year means the production cuts may not leave a huge impact on the polymer markets.

MRC

(Rhodia) -- Rhodia is announcing a new halogen-free range of flame retarded Technyl polyamides, dedicated to highly-demanding photovoltaic (PV) component applications.

Photovoltaic components have to perform consistently at the highest level over a wide range of temperatures and weather conditions. These products also have to fulfill extremely difficult worldwide safety standards. Rhodia's new Technyl flame-retarded (FR) range offers a solution that fully meets the technical, processing, regulatory and cost-performance requirements necessary for PV component manufacture.

⌠In addition to highly demanding certifications, our halogen-free Technyl FR grades provide the essential safety and environmental care requirements obligatory to major players in the field of renewable energy⌠, comments Dr. James Mitchell, Business Development Manager at Rhodia.

Rhodia is a world leader in the development and production of specialty chemicals. Rhodia leads the world in the production of mild amphoteric surfactants, phosphorus chemistry and guars and derivatives, as well as in high-performance silicas, rare earth-based formulations and diphenols. The company is number two in polyamides and the number three producer of cellulose acetate tow.


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(DSM) -- DSM Engineering Plastics has developed 5 new grades of EcoPaXX, especially for injection molding purposes. EcoPaXX is a polyamide (PA) 410, and belongs to the family of the ⌠long-chain polyamides. It pairs typical long-chain polyamide properties, such as low moisture absorption and excellent chemical resistance, with high melting point and high crystallization rate.

EcoPaXX new grades are: EcoPaXX Q150-D (unfilled injection molding grade with potential applications in castor wheels, household equipment, etc.); EcoPaXX Q-HG6 and Q-HG10 (glass-reinforced heat-stabilised injection molding grades that can be used for all kind of applications where high stiffness and toughness are needed); EcoPaXX Q-HGM24 (a glass/mineral reinforced injection molding grade, especially suited for the injection molding of large parts) and EcoPaXX Q-KGS6 (a halogen-free flame-retardant glass reinforced compound to be applied at connectors, circuit breakers, switch bodies).

EcoPaXX Q-HG6, Q-HG10 and Q-HGM24 will be available on a commercial scale as of November 2010, while EcoPaXX Q150-D and Q-KGS6 will be available in sample quantities from January 2011.

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(Food Ingredients First) -- Leading British injection moulder, Thumbs Up (Bury), Ltd has launched a new line of food and domestic storage containers in coloured polypropylene random copolymer compounds that provide unparalleled clarity. The compounds contain Milliken's ground-breaking Millad NX8000 clarifying agent, used in combination with the company's ClearTint polymeric dyes.

Millad NX8000 improves clarity and gloss in polypropylene (PP) applications to levels comparable with ⌠glass clear polymers such as PET, polycarbonate and acrylics and even glass itself. It is equally applicable in products made by injection moulding, extrusion-blow moulding and injection-blow moulding.

The innovative additive has also been demonstrated to help yield important energy savings and cycle time reductions for processors, thanks to a solubility in PP that is much higher than conventional clarifiers. This allows for a significant reduction in processing temperatures - around 30╟C in some cases - without having a negative effect on clarity.

Thumbs Up produces several ranges of storage containers as well as other house and gardenwares. CEO John McGuinness says Thumbs Up has put considerable effort in recent years, together with different suppliers of polypropylene, to enable it to offer its major retailing clients high quality food containers and domestic storage products.

MRC