PET imports to Russia in February grew by three times

Russian companies haven't worked before systematically with Indian producer of PET - JBF Industries. Last year overall imports of polymer from this producer made only 2.3 KT while this February PET supplies from this company plant in UAE has exceeded 4 KT.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Asian styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) prices have rebounded sharply on surging natural rubber (NR) prices and are likely to remain firm on news that major automakers in Japan are restarting their operations, industry sources said on Wednesday. Spot offers for non-oil grade 1502 SBR have been raised by USD 100-200/tonne to USD 4.000-4.100/tonne CFR (cost & freight) Southeast (SE) Asia and India, according to several Asian SBR producers.

The surge in demand for SBR is driven by soaring NR prices as well as improved sentiment, following news that major Japanese automakers, including Nissan and Mazda are resuming production this week after a massive earthquake struck Japan on 11 March.

The 9.0-magnitude earthquake, which triggered off a tsunami, caused extensive damage to Japan's infrastructure and disrupted power supply, crippling production down the supply chain.

Major Japanese automakers including Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda as well as tyre producers such as Bridgestone, Toyo Tire & Rubber and Yokohama Rubber and SBR producers, including Zeon and JSR Corp, had to reduce or halt production in the wake of the natural disaster.

MRC

(Plastemart) -- Dow Polyurethanes, a business unit within The Dow Chemical Company, along with Haier, presented a Dow-patented breakthrough rigid polyurethane insulation technology for household refrigerators and freezers. PASCAL technology is an advanced combination of excellent polyurethane insulation and efficient appliance case filling that addresses the productivity needs of manufacturers and the energy efficiency demands of consumers. PASCAL technology increases energy efficiency in refrigerators and freezers and supports appliance companies to meet the energy efficiency standards of governments around the world for the next 25 years.

MRC

(Arabian Oil and Gas) -- Homs Refinery Company in Syria is aiming to conduct a study to expand and rehabilitate its refinery located in Homs in central Syria, a source close to the project told arabianoilandgas.com. The company aims to reduce emissions by upgrading to the latest technology. ⌠They want to introduce a new isomerisation unit, a mild hydrocracking unit, said the source. ⌠They also want to build a new cooker and hydrotreating unit along with another unit for sulphur management, he added. The refinery has a processing capacity of 110.000 barrels per day and processes mainly Iraqi oil.

The refinery also aims to introduce an alternative sulphur management unit to convert the sulphur gas to H2SO4 (or sulphuric acid). ⌠The main issue facing the execution is securing the necessary funds to execute such a big project, said the source.

The Homs refinery came on stream in 1959 as the first refinery in Syria to meet the local market's demand for oil derivatives and export the rest. The refinery is currently causing significant environmental pollution obliging the government to look for ways to reduce its emissions.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Offers of polyethylene (PE) from China to Europe have grown quickly as prices in Europe rise and those in Asia remain flat, sources said on Tuesday.

An HDPE buyer, who admitted paying well above ┬1,300/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe) to its European supplier, said: ⌠I have been offered product at ┬1,250/tonne [DDP]. The sticking point for buyers to accept offers from overseas sellers is the amount of time it will take for the material to arrive.

The trader said the minimum amount of time it would take to receive material would be six weeks, plus time for clearing and loading the material onto pallets. ⌠If you ask me, it's closer to eight weeks than six in total. Sailing time alone is six weeks, the trader said.

A major European producer agreed with the trader, adding that that April would be another strong month. ⌠We expect a slender increase in the April ethylene monthly contract, and we will go for margin improvement in HDPE. Product is still tight and imports won't arrive before May, the producer said.

Not all European producers are expected to target margin improvement in April, however. Some major sellers had aimed to cover just the increase in ethylene in March, and they are also expected to follow this strategy in April, maintaining that the PE market cannot support continued price hikes, which have led to record high prices for some grades.

MRC