MOSCOW (MRC) -- Radio-news as of 09.01.13.
1. Russian production of PET in 2013 to grow to 600 thousand tonnes
In 2013, Russian plant Polief, Bashkiriya, plans to increase production of PET granulate to 70,000 tonnes. After the successful launch of the project its total annual production will have made about 600 thousand tonnes by the end of the year. The company in December received the permission from Glavgosekspertiza to expand the production of bottle PET. The project will increase the capacity of PET production from 140 thousand to 210 thousand tonnes per year. The increase in production capacity could result in oversupply of the material in the domestic market. To keep the market balance Russian producers are going to continue displacing Asian imports and increasing exports.
2. Dow restarted St. Charles olefins plant.
The Dow Chemical Company announced that the Company's St. Charles Olefins 2 Plant near Hahnville, La. began producing on-spec ethylene on December 25, 2012, meeting previously announced targets to re-start the plant by year-end 2012. The start-up of Dow's St. Charles ethylene plant represents the first major milestone within the company's U.S. Gulf Coast investment strategy.This milestone is part of Dow's comprehensive investment plan to further connect its U.S. operations with cost-advantaged feedstocks from increasing supplies of U.S. shale gas and deliver long-term competitive advantage for Dow's downstream businesses.
3. Styron announces price increases for PS in Europe.
Styron Europe and its affiliate companies in Europe announced today price increases for all polystyrene grades. Effective immediately, or as existing contract terms allow, the January contract and spot prices for the products listed below will increase prices of general purpose polystyrene grades and high impact polystyrene grades by 110 Euros per metric tonnes, said Styron in its press release. The price increase responds to the rising costs associated with the manufacturing of polystyrene grades in Europe.
4. Mexichem regards consequences of VCM force majeure at PPG facility.
Mexichem, the Latin American leader in the production of polyvinyl chloride, continued with internal discussions in an effort to respond to a force majeure announced last week by its feedstock VCM supplier PPG in the USA. PPG declared force majeure for liquid caustic soda on a system-wide basis and on vinyl chloride monomer produced at its Lake Charles, Louisiana facility on December 27 following a chemical fire that began three days prior.
MRC