Husky sees double-digit growth in India and region

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. sees India as a strategic market, with sectors like packaging, medical and automotive driving growth of more than 10% a year, a company executive said at the recent Plastindia 2018 show, held in February in Gandhinagar, India, as per Plasticsnewseurope.

"The per capita consumption of plastic [in India] is still very low compared to other economies and its adaptability continues to grow in future," said Dinesh Budapanahaili, vice president (South Asia), with Husky Injection Molding Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd.

He said Husky, based in Bolton, Ontario, continues to expand its plant in the city of Chennai, although he declined to offer specifics.

"We see a bright future in this region of the world," he said, adding that the plant's production is currently split about evenly between domestic and export markets, including Australia and New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates.

"We see growth in both the domestic and export markets in the range of 10 to 15%," he said.

Husky entered the Indian market in 1999, opened an office in Mumbai in 2001 and opened the factory in Chennai in 2009. The facility supports Husky's hot runner and mould refurbishing business in the region.

At the show, it exhibited co-injection multi-layer technology and PET tooling self-cleaning and integrated mould alignment technology.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Data collected and tabulated by the American Chemistry Council show that growth in global chemical production continued on a soft note in February, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The American Chemistry Council’s Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) indicates that global chemicals production fell 0.8 percent in February, following a revised 0.7 percent drop in January and a 0.3 percent gain in December. Note that all data are on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis.

During February, production gains were in North America, Europe, Africa and Middle East with weakness in Latin America and Asia-Pacific. The Global CPRI was up 2.0 percent year-over-year (Y/Y) on a 3MMA basis and stood at 114.3 percent of its average 2012 levels in February.

During February, capacity utilization in the global chemical industry eased 0.8 percentage points to 84.5 percent. This is down from 85.1 percent last February but is below the long-term (1987-2017) average of 86.5 percent.

ACC’s Global CPRI measures the production volume of the chemical industry for 32 key nations, sub-regions, and regions, all aggregated to the world total. The index is comparable to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) production indices and features a similar base year where 2012=100. This index is developed from government industrial production indices for chemicals from over 65 nations accounting for about 98 percent of the total global chemical industry. This data are the only timely source of market trends for the global chemical industry and are comparable to the U.S. CPRI data, a timely source of U.S. regional chemical production.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- An Ireland-based injection moulder that recently expanded into North America is considering an initial public offering of stock on Toronto's stock exchange, as per Plasticsnewseurope.

IPL Plastics plc, formerly called One51 plc, said in a recent financial report that it is pondering an "optimal listing structure" as it considers a listing on the TSX exchange during 2018, subject to stock market conditions.

A recent news report in The Irish Times indicated the IPO could come as early as the middle of 2018. The newspaper also reported that IPL has hired three Canadian investment banks — BMO Capital Markets, CIBC and Royal Bank of Canada — to help it prepare for the listing. A subsequent report indicated IPL Plastic plans to raise C$200m (EUR125m).

Reportedly, the company had been considering a dual listing on the Toronto and Irish stock exchanges. IPL officials did not respond to requests for confirmation of the reports.

One51 entered the North American market in 2015 when it bought a majority stake in IPL Inc. of St. Damien, Quebec. A year later it bought Encore Industries Inc. of Sandusky, Ohio. Last year it further expanded its North American footprint by acquiring Macro Plastics Inc. of Fairfield, California.

Last year One51 shed most of its environment-related investments to focus on plastics. On 28 Feb, it changed its name to IPL Plastics.

IPL Plastics recently reported its first annual financial results. Profits from continuing operations rose 9.3% to EUR17.6m. Sales jumped 36.2% to EUR474.4m.

The company's IPL Inc. business unit recorded sales of EUR293.7m for the year ended 31 Dec, up 56% from 2016. The IPL Inc. unit accounted for 62% of total sales.

IPL Plastics' main product lines are bulk rigid plastic containers and wheeled bins, rigid plastic consumer packaging and returnable plastic bins and totes. In total it manages 14 manufacturing plants on three continents.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Salalah Methanol Co (SMC) has taken off-stream its methanol plant for maintenance, according to Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Oman informed that the company has undertaken a planned shutdown at the plant in early-April 2018. The plant is expected to remain under maintenance for around 6 weeks.

Located in Salalah, Oman, the plant has a production capacity of 1.3 million mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, on 21 February 2017, SMC restarted methanol plant in Salalah following an unplanned outage. The plant was shut on 13 February owing to technical issues.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - After several months of the decrease in the price of low density polyethylene (LDPE) in the Russian market in March, they began to grow again. The price increase continued in the first days of April and amounted to at least Rb1,000/tonne, according to the ICIS-MRC Price Report.

LDPE prices traditionally seasonally rise in Russia in spring. Seasonally stronger demand contributes to the growth of prices, restrictions of truck transportation on regional roads and scheduled maintenance works of the second largest producer - Kazanorgsintez. The current year was no exception, the prices rose by Rb1,500-5,000/tonne in mid-March in comparison with the level at the beginning of the month.

Some producers announced a further price rise of at least Rb1,000/tonne in the first days of April. LDPE prices reached their bottom in the market in late February, and prices of 108 grade polyethylene (PE) were at Rb75,000/tonne, CPT Moscow, including VAT. Bad weather conditions limited the demand for polyethylene in March, but this factor did not stop the price increase.

LDPE prices began to increase from the first days of March, and a serious price rise accounted for the second half of the month. PE for shrinkable films prices increased by Rb5,000/tonne from 19 March. Some suppliers limited sales from mid month.

Since mid-March, restrictions on freight road transportation (restrictions on weight) have been introduced in Republic of Bashkortostan. Local producers began to ship PE no more than by 10 tonnes per truck. Restrictions will be introduced in Tatarstan from 15 April. Kazanorgsintez aims to shut its capacities for a month long turnaround on 13 April.

LDPE supply significantly decreased by the early April, while prices increased. Prices for 108 LDPE in some cases reached Rb83,500/tonne FCA, including VAT. Price offers for 158 PE reached Rb95,000/tonne FCA, including VAT.
MRC