Styron announces price increase for polycarbonate and PC compounds in Europe

(styron) -- Styron Europe GmbH and its affiliate companies in Europe announced price increases for all CALIBRE polycarbonate (PC) and EMERGE compounds and blends products. Effective December 1, or as contract terms allow, the prices for these products will rise by EUR 230 per metric ton.

"Following the elevation in costs of the key raw materials associated with the production of CALIBRE and EMERGE as well as a decline in polycarbonate pricing over the past few months, PC margins have eroded steadily," said Nicolas Joly, Product Market Manager for Polycarbonate, Compounds and Blends. "This is at a time when we continue to see demand for PC growing at a steady pace in the global market. With margins well below acceptable levels in Europe, this increase is essential to move returns back towards minimum sustainable levels,” continued Joly.

Styron is a leading global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, dedicated to collaborating with customers to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions.

Styron's technology solutions are used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, commercial transportation, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires.

Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic polymer that is used in the production of automotive, electronic, automotive, aircraft and security components.
MRC

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- Austrian oil and gas company OMV AG will divest its 45% stake in German refinery Bayernoil Raffinerie GmbH by 2014, according to material presented by the company at its London media summit Wednesday.

OMV announced in January that it would focus its refinery business on refineries with integrated petrochemical or upstream operations, which Bayernoil does not have. In October, OMV CEO Gerhard Roiss told Dow Jones Newswires the company was in talks to divest the stake, but declined to comment further.

The presentation material also said that gas drilling in the Domino block in the Black Sea would begin at the end of 2013. Earlier this year, the company announced a possibly very large gas discovery and has been carrying out 3D seismic surveys.

OMV is an integrated international oil and gas company, headquartered in Vienna. OMV’s main business is in Exploration & Production (E&P), Gas & Power (G&P) and Refining & Marketing (R&M). With group sales of more than EUR34 billion (2011) and a global workforce of around 30,000 (2011), OMV is the largest listed manufacturing company in Austria.
MRC

(hydrocarbonprocessing) -- Russia's government has approved state-controlled oil giant OAO Rosneft's USD55 billion acquisition of TNK-BP from BP and its partners, a spokeswoman for Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Wednesday.

"All the directives on the purchase of 100% of TNK-BP by Rosneft have been signed," the spokeswoman said.

Rosneft agreed to deals last month to buy TNK-BP, Russia's third-largest crude producer, from BP and its partners, the AAR group of tycoons, for USD55 billion in cash and shares.

Interfax Wednesday quoted a source as saying that Rosneft's board of directors had approved the purchase of the BP stake at a meeting Tuesday. A Rosneft spokeswoman confirmed that the acquisition had been discussed, but declined to comment on the decision.
MRC

(plastemart) -- The global market for metallocene ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth around USD4.2 bln in 2011 and is expected to reach USD6.5 bln by 2017, growing at an estimated CAGR of 6.9% from 2012 to 2017, as per MarketsandMarkets.

EPDM market is in a state of high production capacity utilization and this kind of situation leads to a market price rise and offers wide scope to manufacturers for new capacity addition. Ethylene and propylene are the major raw materials in the production of EPDM and any change in the demand and supply of these raw materials could have a major impact on the EPDM industry.

Asia-Pacific is the largest EPDM market, which is expected to rise due to robust growth in end-user industries such as automotive, wire & cables, and lubricant additives in China and India. Key market participants in the global EPDM market are LANXESS AG (Germany), ExxonMobil Chemical Corp. (U.S.), Dow Elastomer (U.S.), Mitsui Chemical (Japan), Kumho Petrochemical (South Korea), Lion Copolymer (U.S.), Versalis (Italy), JSR Corporation (Japan), Jilin Chemical (China), SK Global Chemical (Japan), Nizhnekamskneftekhim Inc. (Russia), Sumitomo (Japan), etc.

As MRC informed earlier this year, Lanxess is building the world's largest plant for EPDM synthetic rubber in China. The German specialty chemicals company is investing EUR235 million in the unit in Changzhou (Jiangsu Province). This is the largest investment the company has made in China to date. Besides, Dow Chemical has unveiled its plans to construct a new world-scale plant for the production of EPDM, sold under the trademark of NORDEL IP Hydrocarbon Rubber.

EPDM are synthetic rubber and are known for their high-quality performance in various industrial applications for their resistance properties to heat, ozone and weather, polar substances, and electrical insulation. They are used in the manufacturing of seals, washers, glass-run channels, radiators, garden and appliance hose, tubing, pond liners, belts, electrical insulation, vibrators, O-rings, solar panel heat collectors, electrical cable jackets, roofing membranes, etc.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In October, the production volume of finished goods from polymers in Russia grew by 20,3% year-on-year. The largest increase in the output was recorded in the sector of plastic pipes production, report MRC analysts.

Last months, the output of finished goods from large polymers in Russia increased by 20.3% year-on-year, according to Rosstat (Federal State Statistics Service). Meantime, the production volume of plastic products grew by 3,3% from September. In October, decrease in production was registered only in the sector of plates, films and non-combining sheets production. In other sectors, there was still a positive dynamics of growth in output.

In October, the volume of production of plastic pipes, hoses and fittings made about 82,000 tonnes, while in September this index made 78,900 tonnes. In general, over the past ten months, the total production volume of pipes, hoses and fittings from polymers rose by 31% year-on-year and made over 610,400 tonnes.

Last months, production of plates, sheets and films fell by 2,1% from September and made about 73,100 tonnes. The total output of plates, sheets and films in January-October, 2012, made about 690,300 tonnes, up 10% year-on-year.

In the sector of PVC windows and sills production there was also an increase in output. In October, plastic windows and sills output reached a record level over the past two years and made 2900 thous. sq m, up 16% year-on-year, but only up 4,8% from September. In January-October, 2012, the output of plastic windows and sills grew by 5,1% year-on-year and made 20,33 mln sq m.
MRC