Dow Chemicals to invest US$67 mln in 150,000 tpa propylene glycol plant

(Plastemart) -- Dow Chemical Co plans to invest US$67 mln to set up a 150,000 tpa propylene glycol plant in the eastern province of Rayong. Dow Chemical, which has five propylene glycol plants, has invested about 142.4 billion baht in Thailand, including its own investments and joint ventures with Siam Cement Pcl. Apart from Thailand, Dow Chemical has five propylene glycol plants in North America, Germany.

MRC

(Plastics News) -- German blow molding machinery maker Kautex Maschinenbau is to invest almost 2 million euros in a new Technical Center at its Bonn facility as part of a package of production investments designed to lift capacity by close to 50 percent over the next two years.

According to Kautex CEO Olaf Weiland, the company plans to begin construction of the new 1,500-square-meter technical center in August. The project will enable it to convert its existing technical center to production space; it currently rents 1,500 square meters of top-up floor space on a separate site.

The investment plans underline the strong recovery in the company's blow molding machinery markets this year. Weiland said the company expects to end 2010 with total sales of around 70 million euros, of which a little more than 52 million euros is machine sales.

MRC

(Plastics News) -- French injection machinery maker Billion said its Select all-electric injection molding machines have been so well received by customers it is planning to extend the range beyond its current 400 metric ton limit.

All-electric Select machines now account for around 65 percent of its sales in unit terms, said Billion President and CEO Korbinian Kiesl. In 2008 they accounted for just 15 percent.

Kiesl said the company, which expects to achieve sales of around 30 million euros in 2010, was working towards introducing new larger Select models at the Fakuma fair in Germany in 2011.

MRC

In 2010 Ukrainian companies increased the volumes of LDPE films production having reached the level of 2008. While in 2009 when the industrial output in Ukraine decreased on one third compared to 2008, LDPE films production fell only by 6%.

This year the volumes of LDPE films production are growing. Over the period from January to November film producers' demand for stock material in the Ukrainian market exceeded 71 KT which is 9 KT more than the index over the same period in 2009.

MRC analysts forecast the growth of LDPE films production in Ukraine on the level of 15% at the end of 2010.

MRC

13 December 2010 06:00 [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is Monday's mid-day Asia oil and chemical market summary from ICIS.

CRUDE: Jan WTI $88.19/bbl, up 40 cents/bbl ; Jan BRENT $91.07/bbl, up 59 cents/bbl
Crude futures firmed in morning trade, regaining lost ground in the previous session, supported by OPEC's decision over the weekend to leave output levels unchanged. However, growing expectations that China would hike interest rates tempered crude's gains.

NAPHTHA: $847-850/tonne CFR Japan, down $5-7/tonne
The second-half January naphtha contract drifted lower on Monday because of global crude losses on Friday. The spread between the second-half January and second-half February contract was steady at a backwardation of $8/tonne.

BENZENE: $975-980/tonne FOB Korea, stable
Prices were largely stable despite an increase in crude futures and amid lacklustre trading activities. Offers for any-February lifting cargoes were heard at $990-1,000/tonne FOB Korea, against bids at $985-987/tonne FOB Korea.

TOLUENE: $920-935/tonne FOB Korea, up $5/tonne
Prices edged up by $5/tonne, supported by firmer crude prices amid thin trading. Buy-sell indications for February shipments were at $933-938/tonne FOB Korea.

ETHYLENE: $1,170-1,200/tonne CFR NE Asia, stable
Ethylene prices were range-bound in quiet trade. China's tight supplies could ease if state-owned refiner Sinopec resumed normal ethylene production next month. Selling indications were at $1,200-1,250/tonne CFR NE Asia, against buying ideas at the mid-$1,100/tonne CFR NE Asia levels.

PROPYLENE: $1,300-1,315/tonne CFR NE Asia, stable
Discussions were thin amid a wide gap in buy-sell ideas. Bids were capped at $1,300/tonne CFR China, against offers at the low $1,300/tonne CFR China level for end-December/January shipment.

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