Asia benzene hits new 28-month high, tracks Europe price spike

(ICIS) -- Asia's spot benzene values jumped $30/tonne (┬22/tonne) on Thursday morning, hitting a fresh 28-month high, tracking the rally in European prices overnight, traders said.

Prices were hovering at $1,150-1,160/tonne FOB (free on board) Korea on Thursday morning, up $30/tonne from Wednesday's close and surpassing the $1,150/tonne FOB Korea level set on 1 September 2008, according to ICIS.

In early trade, bids for March loading were heard at $1,145-1,150/tonne FOB Korea, but sellers remained on the sidelines.

European benzene values for February climbed $38-115/tonne on Wednesday to $1,300-1,385/tonne CIF (cost, insurance and freight) ARA (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp), precipitating the spikes in the US market, with the bullish sentiment spilling over to Asia.

US benzene values firmed by $0.04-0.12/gal to $4.30-4.40/gal or $1,285-1,315/tonne FOB Barges late on Wednesday.

Due to price gaps of $135-155/tonne between US and Asia benzene values, and of $150-225/tonne between Europe and Asian values, the window for arbitrage trades to the West was wide open, traders said.

MRC

(ICIS) -- SABIC's Olefins 4 cracker at Geleen in the Netherlands is off line because of unresolved technical problems, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday. ⌠We are experiencing some technical issues with Olefins 4 which started 25 January, said the spokeswoman. The cracker was shut down on Wednesday, 26 January.

The company was still investigating the cause of the problems, but was working hard to resolve them as soon as possible.

Olefins 4, which has a nameplate capacity of 660,000 tonnes/year of ethylene according to ICIS data, is one of two crackers operated by SABIC at the site.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Biotech developer and manufacturer of renewable bio-based chemicals, Myriant Technologies Inc. has closed a US$60 mln strategic equity investment from PTT Chemical Group (PTT Chemical), Thailand's largest petrochemical producer. Myriant will utilize the investment for the ongoing development of its bio-based high-value chemicals technology, as well as to help fund the rapid commercialization of its succinic acid platform, including construction of a succinic acid plant in Lake Providence, Louisiana.

The investment includes the signing of the Head of Agreement for the establishment of a joint venture between PTT Chemical and Myriant for deploying Myriant's technology in Southeast Asia. By combining PTT Chemical's R&D capabilities and Myriant's sophisticated technology, the joint venture will further drive technologies for the manufacturing of green chemicals using the abundant high quality bio-based feedstock available in Thailand and the Asian region.

MRC

(Zacks) -- Specialty chemical manufacturers Solutia Inc. is expected to post double digit earnings growth in both 2010 and 2011. Solutia manufactures a diverse group of chemicals including Saflex, an interlayer for laminated glass which is used in the solar industry, CPFilms aftermarket window films, the Flexsys family of chemicals for the rubber industry, and Skydrol aviation hydraulic fluid.

The company is the world's only single source supplier of EVA, TPU and PVB solar encapsulants.

Because of strong growth in the Chinese solar industry, Solutia announced in Dec 2010 that it would expand its current operations at its Suzhou, China facility to include additional production lines in support of Vistasolar ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) encapsulant. It currently produces Vistasolar encapsulants in Germany.

Solutia is a global company, operating in 50 locations outside of the United States. It derives the majority of its sales from outside of the United States.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- The world's first biodegradable polyethylene foam is to be launched by Nomaco Engineered Foam Solutions. Unlike competing biodegradable products, NomaGreen foam is not starch-based or bio-based, and will meet all performance requirements for packaging foam without any worry of exposing it to moisture, heat, light or mechanical stress.

A third party independent laboratory was utilized to test to the foam to ensure it meets ASTM D-5511 standards for biodegradability. Results showed that after 120 days in the lab, Nomagreen achieved 49% biodegradation. The proprietary formulation allows the foam to biodegrade naturally without having to sacrifice any of the excellent performance characteristics that standard polyethylene foam provides. NomaGreen's biodegradation process only occurs when the foam is placed in a microbe-rich environment, such as a landfill.

MRC