In Japan 25% of ethylene production halted due to quake

(Japan Today) -- About 25% of domestic production of ethylene, a key material for petrochemical products, has been halted following last week's devastating earthquake in Japan, the head of the petrochemical industry body said Thursday.

One-quarter of domestic manufacturing capacity of ethylene has stopped,'' Kyohei Takahashi, chairman of the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association, said at a press conference.

Takahashi, also chairman of Showa Denko KK, suggested that the halt in ethylene production will have effects on a wide range of industries.

Mitsubishi Chemical Corp has been forced to halt operations of its plant with Japan's largest ethylene production capacity in Ibaraki Prefecture due to damage caused by the earthquake that hit northeastern and eastern Japan.

MRC

(Nation) -- The Thai companies are among many of its rated refining and marketing (R&M) companies that have some degree of downstream petrochemicals production, consisting largely of aromatics. Thai Oil, SK Innovation and GS Caltex will all be well positioned to supply the refining gap left by Japanese producers. PTT Chemical and Indonesia-based Chandra Asri Petrochemical will also benefit, Moody's said.

Over time, the sustainability of higher product prices, in light of a rising amount of new production capacity in the Middle East and elsewhere, will be important drivers for these firms' cash flow, Moody's said in a report entitled "Situation in Japan Rebalances Asia Pacific's Energy Market".

Japan is a major exporter of petrochemical products such as polyethylene, polypropylene, PET and PVC to neighbouring countries, and China in particular.

The disaster has stopped about 4.6 million tonnes of ethylene production, amounting to half of Japan's total capacity, and affected facilities with capacity to produce 950 KTa of paraxylene.

MRC

(Thomas Net) -- The Dow Chemical Company and Milliken & Company have announced the launch of AGILITY NX clear polypropylene (PP) resins, a next-generation family of PP offering excellent aesthetics, excellent functionality and enhanced operational efficiencies for greater impact on the sustainability profile of PP. The announcement was made at the 2011 International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago.

The new AGILITY NX resins bring together Dow's breakthrough polymer design and production capabilities for random copolymer PP resins with Milliken's innovative Millad NX(TM) 8000 clarifying agent. These new resins are suitable for clear, injection-molded food and consumer storage containers, thin-wall retail food packaging and other demanding consumer goods applications.

AGILITY NX is the first family of products in Dow's new AGILITY portfolio of high-performance polyolefins, engineered to improve functionality, efficiency and aesthetics.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Complicated supply chains and the vagaries of energy policy cloud the effects that the multiple Japanese disasters will have on the US chemicals industry, an economist said on Thursday. A massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on Friday. The disasters damaged the cooling systems at several nuclear reactors at the Fukishima-Daiichi complex.

The damage led to explosions and fires at the reactors, and workers are still struggling to avert a major nuclear disaster. However, the crisis in Japan may have little direct effect on chemical trade with the US because the volume is relatively small, said Kevin Swift, chief economist for the American Chemistry Council (ACC).

The US chemical industry is expected to have revenues of more than USD 720bn (EUR 518bn) in 2010, Swift said.

By contrast, US chemical exports to Japan were only USD 10bn in 2010, he said. That accounted for just 3% of Japanese consumption.

In fact, Japan's chemical industry mainly serves its manufacturing customers, Swift said. "The Japanese chemical industry is relatively balanced."

Out of all the US exports to Japan, about 40% are basic industrial chemicals, Swift said. Another 13% are downstream products such as resins, rubber and fibres. Pharmaceuticals make up 32%, he said. Agricultural chemicals, specialties, consumer products and other chemicals make up the rest. The indirect effects of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami are harder to measure, Swift said. For example, Germany is shutting down seven of its 17 nuclear plants for a safety review.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Asian petrochemicals are feeling the effects of Japanese production losses on Friday, a week after the massive earthquake and tsunami caused widespread devastation. Regional supply of paraxylene (PX) was notably tighter, with three Japanese facilities owned by Tokyo-headquartered JX Nippon Oil & Energy shut since 11 March.

Spot PX prices pulled back slightly on Friday, following sharp gains through the middle of the week, as JX Nippon Oil declared a force majeure on supply. Japan, a major PX exporter in the region, supplied China with 1m tonnes of the material in 2010.

Meanwhile, the main downstream market for Asian PX - purified terephthalic acid (PTA) - has started to suffer from tighter PX supply, with some Chinese producers bringing forward planned turnarounds at plants.

Supply of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) in Asia is also being affected by the shutdown of Japan-based Maruzen Petrochemical's 170 KTa facility in Chiba, 40km (25 miles) east of Tokyo.

The facility, damaged by fire after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami, seems unlikely to restart soon. Maruzen Petrochemical has cancelled its MEK shipments, originally due to be loaded this month, its customers said.

A few shut-down plants are slowly coming back on stream in the northeast of Japan, including two of the six shut refineries: a 175.000 bbl/day refinery in Chiba owned by Kyokuto Petroleum Industries - a joint venture between US major ExxonMobil and Japan's Mitsui Oil - and TonenGeneral Sekiyu's 335.000 bbl/day unit in Kawasaki.

MRC