PP prices in the Middle East will likely remain firm

(ICIS) -- Polypropylene (PP) prices in the Middle East will likely remain firm and even increase in May, buoyed by short availability of the material, with two major suppliers due to shut plants for turnarounds, industry sources said on Friday.

Regional converters are hurting from the strong prices, but PP producers had to either rollover values or adjust them higher to keep a decent spread from feedstock propylene, even when demand is not strong, they said.

PP raffia grade, which is used in packaging of grains, was discussed at USD1.700-1.740/tonne (EUR 1.173-1.201/tonne) CFR (cost and freight) GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and USD 1.720-1,740/tonne CFR East Mediterranean (East Med) on Friday, market sources said.

Propylene was at USD 1.550-1.580/tonne CFR NE Asia at midday, while US crude futures were hovering at USD 108/bbl.

According to ICIS data, spot PP prices surged 21% since the start of the year on the back of rising raw material costs.

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(ICIS) -- US-based Dow Chemical increased its dividend by 67%, the company said on Thursday, the first increase since 2009 when the company was contending with a series of crises. The increase will bring the dividend to 25 cents/share, up from 15 cents/share, where it had been since 2009. Back then, Dow was struggling with uncertain credit markets, unprecedented lower demand for chemical products, the global recession and what it called at the time, "pending business issues". Specifically, Dow was intent on preserving its investment-grade rating. Meanwhile, the company had just reached a settlement to acquire Rohm and Haas for USD 78/share. Before the February 2009 decrease, Dow's dividend was 42 cents/share. The new dividend will be payable on 29 July to shareholders of record on 30 June.

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(Emirates 24/7 Business) -- International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic), which is owned by the Abu Dhabi government, said it was going ahead with a proposed USD 3 bln refinery at Fujairah in the north of the United Arab Emirates.

The 200.000 barrel per day (bpd) oil refinery will be located near Abu Dhabi's main oil pipeline and deep water export terminals in Fujairah, Ipic said on Wednesday. "It will be designed to process UAE crudes such as Murban, Upper Zakum and Dubai," it said.

Shaw Stone and Webster has been awarded the project management consultancy contract for the front-end engineering and design (Feed), it said. The project is currently in the pre-Feed stage and project completion is scheduled for mid-2016.

"The refinery project in addition to being of strategic importance will create social and economic benefits for Fujairah and other Northern Emirates as well as creating employment opportunities during the operational phase in the UAE," said Khadem al Quabisi, managing director of Ipic, in a statement.

Various financing options including project financing are under consideration for the project, the statement said without giving details.

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(SZ Energy News) -- China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) plans to start work on a 1 mln tpa naphtha-fed steam cracker in Huizhou, Guangzhou province, by end of 2013-early 2014, as per Platts. Capacities include 1 mln tpa of ethylene, 500 KTa of propylene and 150 KTa of butadiene.

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(Fibre2fashion) -- Royal Dutch Shell announced that, its ethylene plant at Pulau Bukom in Singapore is not anticipated to start before mid-May. Shell had declared a force majeure due to an unplanned operational problem issue on March 21.

The Singapore petrochemical complex has a yearly capacity to produce 800 KT of ethylene, 230 KT of benzene and 450 KT of propylene.

Under the force majeure clause, a company can skip and miss delivery contracts because of circumstances beyond their control.


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