US butadiene contracts to rise by 6% in March

(ICIS) -- US butadiene (BD) contracts will rise by 6% in March, market sources said on Thursday, attributing the increase to limited US supply and rising prices in Asia.

According to sources, producers stepped out this week with proposed increases ranging from 5 cents/lb ($110/tonne, ┬80/tonne) to 7 cents/lb, initiatives that will put BD in March at $1.04/lb.

US BD contracts in February rose by 5 cents/lb and 8 cents/lb, following a split settlement that left most of the market settled at 99 cents/lb and a few contracts at 97 cents/lb.

BD prices in Asia are rising because of the higher cost of natural rubber (NR), which is causing tyre producers in the region to use more styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) to offset the increase.

BD is a key feedstock for SBR. The price of SBR in Asia may rise above $4,000/tonne in March - a record high for the product - if demand continued to exceed supply, SBR producers in the region said this week.

MRC

(ICIS) -- BASF has forecast that its sales in 2011 will rise by around ┬3bn ($4.1bn) from the previous year following the full integration of specialty chemicals producer Cognis, the chairman of the German chemicals major said on Thursday.

Speaking at BASF's annual financial press conference, Jurgen Hambrecht said that the company was optimistic about its performance in 2011 following a strong start in the first quarter.

Earlier on Thursday, BASF posted fourth-quarter net income of ┬1.1bn ($1.5bn), compared with ┬455m in the 2009 fourth quarter, whiles sales surged 25% year on year to ┬16.4bn, the highest of any quarter last year.

BASF's full-year net income in 2010 more than tripled to ┬4.56bn, compared with ┬1.41bn in 2009, as sales rose 26% year on year to ┬63.9bn.

MRC

(BorsodChem) -- BorsodChem will increase price for TDI in Europe and Export. With effect as of March 1st, 2011, BorsodChem will be increasing its prices for toluene diisocyanate (TDI) in Europe by 150┬ per metric ton, in Export by 200$ per metric ton. The price adjustments are needed to respond to the significant rise in raw materials and energy costs.
MRC

(Indorama Ventures) -- Indorama Ventures PLC (IVL) and CSM subsidiary Purac are in discussions to set up a Polylactic acid (PLA) manufacturing facility in Thailand, with an initial capacity of 10,000 tons per annum being raised to 100,000 tons per annum after developing application specific grades. This product would be based on high purity (GMO free) Lactides produced by Purac. The Lactide monomers for the production of PLA will be sourced from Purac's Lactides production plant in Rayong, Thailand as well as from other Purac sites.

The product made by the combination of unique Lactide raw materials and unique PLA production process is able to deliver a quality that is stable at much higher temperature ranges than other bioplastics. The properties of this polymer allow this to be used for many textile and packaging applications which have not been possible with other bio-based products so far and will thus open a large latent demand. PLA has many uses, like upholstery, disposable garments, awnings, food packaging, and disposable tableware.

MRC

(CENS) -- Formosa Plastics Group (FPG), Taiwan`s largest plastics conglomerate, will invest US$300 million to set up a synthetic rubber plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China.


Construction of the plant will begin sometime in October this year with mass production to start in two years. Initially the plant will be churn out 50,000 tons of IIR (isobutylene-isoprene rubber) per year to tap the tire market.


The group will invest in the rubber industry in both Taiwan and China through its subsidiary≈Formosa Synthetic Rubber Corp. (FSRC). In addition to the Ningbo plant, the group has three other proposals related to production of tires in China, bringing its overall investments to US$500 million.


In Taiwan, the FSRC`s investments in the rubber industry will be part of the group`s expansion project in its sixth naphtha-cracking complex in Yunlin County, central Taiwan. The FSRC plans to set up three plants in Taiwan with total investments of NT$15 billion.


In addition, Nan Ya Plastics Corp. under the FPG will also set up three new plants with total investments of at least NT$20 billion to drive the group`s involvement in the rubber industry.


MRC