Southern Africa spot prices for imported polymers up $50-100/tonne

(ICIS) -- Spot prices in the southern Africa polymers markets climbed by $50-100/tonne (┬37-73/tonne) for February business, as importers raised their offers on stronger sentiment and high feedstock costs, sources said on Wednesday.

The strongest increases overall were seen in the globally short polypropylene (PP) market, although low density polyethylene (LDPE), the tightest of the three polyethylene (PE) grades, also came under strong upward pressure on limited supply.

Homopolymer PP prices rose by $70-100/tonne to reach $1,500-1,600/tonne CFR (cost and freight) southern Africa, according to ICIS, while the even shorter availability of copolymer PP forced values up by $100/tonne, leaving the range at $1,650-1,700/tonne CFR southern Africa.

There was a general expectation that import prices of both PE and PP would continue to climb throughout February, as South African producers which were offering aggressive prices into the region had announced their intention to raise their competitive prices in the coming month, market sources said.

MRC

(European Plastics ) -- Austrian injection machinery maker Engel has teamed up with mouldmaker Hummel-Formen and welding technology specialist KVT-Bielefeld to develop a new in-mould technique for production of hollow items such as automotive manifolds, pipes and ducting.

The JoinMelt process integrates moulding of the two shells of a component with heating of the weld surfaces and final positioning of the two shell parts within the injection moulding process.

In the JoinMelt process, the two half-shells are injected simultaneously in a single mould. Once the cooling phase is complete, the mould is opened. One half-shell stays in the moving half of the mould and the other in the fixed half of the mould.

"This removes the need for additional welding equipment. Part take-off and re-insertion are no longer needed, as the finished product can simply be taken off directly out of the mould, said Franz Fureder, who head's up Engel's automotive business unit.

MRC

(Plastics Today) -- The IAC Group has selected KraussMaffei as the system supplier to equip the automotive components supplier's new plant in Bals, Romania. As sole contract partner for plastics processing equipment, KraussMaffei will supply the new production facility with 28 injection molding machines, systems for polyurethane foaming and punching, and the required PUR tooling.

IAC Group announced early this week it would build a ┬58 million,15,0002 meter facility in Bals. The facility will produce instrument panels, door panels, headliners and other interior trim components to support Ford Motor Company's production of two new passenger cars at its plant in Craiova, Romania.

MRC

(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- CB&I announced that Lummus Technology has been awarded a contract by Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corporation (FCFC) for the license and engineering design of a grassroots cumene and phenol plant to be built in Ningbo, China. This is a fourth quarter 2010 award.

The plant, which is expected to start up in 2013, will use Lummus Technology's Polimeri Europa/Lummus cumene and phenol technologies to produce 450,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTA) of cumene and 300,000 MTA of phenol.

Cumene is used to make phenol, which is mainly used in the manufacture of liquid and solid resins.

MRC

(ICIS) -- ICIS is extending its presence in the FSU's plastics market through a joint venture with specialist Russia-based benchmark price provider Market Report Company. ICIS and MRC have announced their intention to jointly produce pricing reports for polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride for the FSU and global markets.

The polyethylene report will contain domestic prices and import offers for the following grades: HDPE; injection; film; blow moulding; pipe 80 & 100; shrinkable; hexane; and butene. Quotes cover Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

The PVC report will deliver domestic prices and import offers (PVC-Suspension and PVC-Emulsion) for Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Both reports give detailed commentary and a price history for each domestic market, international price commentary on Europe and Asia markets, and related news in FSU countries and international markets.

Russian and English versions of the reports will be available, with domestic and import price assessments by locally based expert editors in touch with all key players in the market.

⌠Using the trusted methodology ICIS is renowned for, these new reports offer a unique opportunity to benefit from the international expertise, prices and commentary provided by ICIS editors, together with local and international news coverage of markets, said Christopher Flook, Managing Director of ICIS, a part of Reed Business Information.

⌠We are very pleased to be working with ICIS, the global leader in the market information field, said Sergey Yaremenko, CEO of MRC. ⌠MRC's specialist expertise in these markets is a natural fit with ICIS' breadth and depth of coverage.

MRC