India April-November PE imports rise 10-12%, PP imports fall

(ICIS) -- India posted a 10-12% year-on-year increase in polyethylene (PE) imports in the first eight months of its fiscal year, while it took in 15-17% less of polypropylene (PP) over the same period, industry sources estimated on Friday.

PE imports totalled 600,000 tonnes for the April-to-November period, while PP imports were pegged at 225,000 tonnes, they said. ⌠The volumes of PE and PP imported in the past eight months are much higher than we expected, said a source close to an Indian polymer producer.

For the full financial year ending 31 March 2011, Indian producers were expecting PE imports to post a growth of less than 10% but a 20% decline in PP purchases from abroad, industry sources said. Strong demand for PE drove up the import volumes, especially in PE pipes and flexible packaging segments, an end-user said.

High density PE (HDPE) and linear low density PE (LLDPE) drive the surge in PE imports, but low density PE (LDPE), used mainly in packaging, shrank by 10-12% due to global shortages. Meanwhile, PP imports had been falling as local supply increased, with the start-up of a 600,000 tonne/year PP plant of Indian Oil Corp (IOC) at Panipat in Haryana state, sources said. The company has also started a 650,000 tonne/year PE plant at the same site.

MRC

(Plastics Today) -- Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) has signed a construction contract to build an 80,000m2 application development center, including about 43,000m2 of building space, at the Riyadh Techno Valley research complex inside the King Saud University (KSU) campus. The SABIC Plastics Application Development Center (SPADC) is part of the company's 2020 strategy, which it says emphasizes the importance of scientific research to serve industries and the process of innovation, and for the creation of new industries.

SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO, Mohamed Al-Mady, said the center will support the continued expansion of his company's product portfolio, especially in the areas of packaging, automotive materials, and compounding. Ultimately, he said that the new research facility will encourage growth of downstream industries, collaborating with customers to develop new plastic applications and provide technical support to SABIC's customers, locally and across the world.

MRC

(Plastics News) -- Tasus Corp., a Midwestern plastic injection molder serving the automotive industry, is adding space and equipment at its existing site in Bloomington. Early November the Monroe County Council approved a $1.5 million tax abatement for an expansion to the facility, along with the purchase of a new Nissei injection press with 1,450 metric tons of clamping force.

The Bloomington plant currently has presses ranging from 150-950 tons, and it also does assembly, welding, in-mold decoration and leak testing. The expansion is scheduled to be finished in early 2011, with production set for mid-January. Tasus expects to see a 5 percent increase in sales as a result of the investment.

Tasus is a subsidiary of Tsuchiya Company Ltd. of Nagoya Japan, which has 32 plants worldwide. The company also has a plant in Georgetown, Texas, that does injection molding, blow molding, extrusion, in-mold decoration and assembly.

MRC

(CNBC) -- Petkim Socar & Turcas Energy, Petkim's owners, plan to invest $20 billion by 2023 in the petrochemicals plant at Aliaga on the Aegean coast, Milliyet newspaper reported. According to senior official at Socar, Azerbaijan's state oil company, Socar & Turcas are interested in bidding for Baskent Gaz and Igdas, the state-owned gas grids in Ankara and Istanbul.

Petkim is the leading petrochemical company of Turkey, founded in 1965. Specializing in petrochemical manufacturing, the company produces ethylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene and other chemical building blocks for use in the manufacuture of plastics, textiles, and other consumer and industrial products. The company has 14 manufacturing plants supplying a significant portion of petrochemicals used in Turkey. The company also exports products to the United States, and countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

MRC

(Clariant) -- Clariant's Business Line Polymer Additives today announced global price increases of between 5 and 15% for its grades for plastics. The price adjustments are necessary to compensate for significant increases in raw material and transportation costs, alongside continuing high energy costs.

⌠We have absorbed significant cost increases already through production optimization and other efficiency increasing measures during the course of 2010, but further cost reductions programs would jeopardize the quality of service we deliver to our customers, comments Jerome Abrahmi, Head of Clariant's Polymer Additives Business Line.

Clariant customers will be contacted individually regarding the specifics of the price increases as they apply to their products and regions. New prices will be effective for all deliveries as of January 1st, 2011.

MRC