INEOS ChlorVinyls increases December SPVC prices

MOSCOW (MRC) -- INEOS ChlorVinyls has announced a price increase for suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) effective from 1 December 2013, reported the Switzerland-based producer at its site.

Prices of pipe grade suspension PVC delivered in bulk in Europe were raised to EUR1,145/tonne, while prices of pipe grade SPVC delivered in bulk in UK/Ireland rose to GBP1,025/tonne.

As MRC informed previously, Ineos already increased its SPVC prices in June, 2013, as follows: prices of pipe grade SPVC delivered in bulk in Europe was at EUR1,035/tonne; for pipe grade SPVC delivered in bulk in UK/Ireland - GBR935/tonne.

Earlier this year, Ineos and Solvay agreed to merge their chlorvinyls activities into a EUR 4.3 billion (USD5.6 billion) 50-50 joint venture. The combination would form a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer that will rank among the top three worldwide. The combined business would have around 5650 employees across nine countries and would pool each company's assets across the entire chlorvinyls chain. This includes PVC, which is the third most-used plastic in the world, caustic soda and chlorine derivatives.

INEOS ChlorVinyls is one of the major chlor-alkali producers in Europe, a global leader in chlorine derivatives and Europe's largest PVC manufacturer.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Higher propylene prices led to a proportional rise in polypropylene (PP) prices in Europe. European producers have announced an increase of EUR25-30/tonne for PP prices for the CIS countries, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

The December contract price of propylene in Europe was agreed by EUR30/tonne higher than in November. Consequently, European producers announced a virtually proportional price increase for PP to be shipped in December to the CIS markets.

Negotiations over December shipments of European PP began at the beginning of the week. Offers for homopolymer of propylene (homopolymer PP) were heard in the range of EUR1,180-1,240/tonne FCA. At the same time, some European producers can offer for export only homopolymer PP of raffia grade. Offers for block copolymers of propylene (PP-impact) started at EUR1,240/tonne FCA.

Some market participants said the current strengthening of the euro against the dollar and other national currencies, which started in the second half of November, had led to a further rise in European PP prices.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India has lifted an anti-dumping duty imposed on polypropylene (PP) imported from Saudi Arabian suppliers, including Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), the world’s biggest petrochemical maker, as per Bloomberg.

India imposed a 6.5% anti-dumping duty in November 2010 on PP imports from Saudi Arabia, Oman and Singapore because it said the shipments were valued at less than normal prices and would hurt domestic manufacturers.

Reliance Industries Ltd., controlled by Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, has a 70% share of the country’s polypropylene market, according to its website.

Saudi companies affected by the duty, including Advanced Petrochemicals Co. (APPC) and National Industrialization Co. (NIC), said at the time they would ask the World Trade Organization to pressure India to lift the tax. India and Saudi Arabia would be able to resolve the dispute without going to the WTO, India’s Trade Secretary Rahul Khullar said in December 2010.

Central Board of Excise and Customs Chairman S.K. Goel couldn’t immediately be reached on his office telephone for comment.

Total petrochemical exports from Saudi Arabia to India amount to USD200 million a year, Abdulrahman al-Zamil, a trade representative for Saudi petrochemical makers, said on 28 November, 2010.

The statement didn't mention the tax on polypropylene imports from Singapore and Oman. The duty was retroactive to July 30, 2009, and valid for five years from then.

As MRC reported previously, the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue) Government of India vide its Notification No. 25/2013 -Customs dated 8th May 2013 had increased the customs duty on plastic polymers (except polycarbonate) from 5% to 7.5%.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Swiss-based chemicals major Ineos is building a new furnace at its petrochemical plant in Rafnes, Norway, as it expands capacity to use ethane made from US shale gas it will store in a tank under construction at the site, the chemicals and refinery, according to Reuters.

Ineos is building an ethane storage tank that will enable the plant to produce 570,000 tonnes per year of ethylene, a key substance in making plastics. The extra furnace will enable it to produce 620,000 tonnes per year.

The Norwegian plant currently houses 11 furnaces which process ethane gas and some oil-based liquids into ethylene. By the end of 2015 it will have built a 12th, Geir Tuft, the commercial director, told journalists at the site.

Tuft said that the company was spending around USD160 million on building the tank, the furnace and import facilities.

The move, taking advantage of the availability of cheap shale gas now being produced in the United States, will enable Ineos to stop buying more costly propane and make it more profitable on a long-term basis.

"It's more than likely now that the plant will be here in 2030," Tuft said.

As MRC informed earlier, in October 2012, Ineos announced it signed an agreement to secure ethane from the US that it will use as a feedstock to operate its steam crackers in Europe. It has agreed a long-term deal with Range Resources Corp. for the lifting of ethane from the Marcus Hook facility, located near Philadelphia, from 2015.

Ineos operates steam crackers in Grangemouth in the UK, Cologne in Germany, Lavera in France and Rafnes in Norway.

INEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company consisting of 15 standalone business units, headquartered in Rolle, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom. It is the fourth largest chemicals company in the world measured by revenues (after BASF, Dow Chemical and LyondellBasell) and the largest privately owned company in the United Kingdom.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP, owner of the broadest portfolio of PPS products and compounds worldwide, has announced that its Xtel polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) alloy products will now be marketed under the Ryton PPS brand name as XE or XK PPS alloys, according to the company's press release.

The goal of the brand change is to reduce confusion between the different Chevron Phillips Chemical PPS product lines and leverage the strength of the Ryton PPS brand.

"For years, the Ryton PPS brand has been recognized by customers as a trusted name for quality products because of its excellent chemical resistance, long term property retention and dimensional stability at high temperatures," said Kyle Mathis, Engineering Polymers General Manager for Chevron Phillips Chemical. "Aligning all our PPS products under the same brand reinforces to customers the quality of our high performance XE and XK products."

In addition to maintaining the chemical resistance, strength and thermal stability of traditional PPS compounds, Ryton XE and XK PPS alloys offer higher ductility and toughness while expanding the processing options to include extrusion and blow molding.

Because of their unique characteristics, XE and XK PPS alloys are well-suited for use in a variety of applications including under-the-hood automotive connectors, residential water meters and irrigation valves, as well as energy storage and lithium battery components.

Product brand changes are expected to be phased in over the next several months, beginning in January 2014.

As MRC reported earlier, in November, 2013, Yokogawa Electric Corp. selected as the main automation contractor for Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP’s USGC Petrochemicals Project, which was first announced in March 2011. The project will include an ethane cracker with capacity to produce 1.5 mln tpa and two new polyethylene facilities, each with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons. The ethane cracker will be built at Chevron Phillips Chemical’s Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas, and two polyethylene units will be built at a site in Old Ocean, also in Texas and near Chevron Phillips Chemical’s Sweeny plant.

Chevron Phillips is a chemical producer jointly owned by Chevron Corporation and Phillips 66. The company was formed July 1, 2000 by merging the chemicals operations of both Chevron Corporation and Phillips Petroleum Company. A 50/50 venture, the company continues to be governed by a board of directors composed of two members from each of the parent companies. Chevron Phillips is headquartered at The Woodlands, Texas (a northern suburb of Houston), and is a major producer of ethylene, propylene, polyethylene, polypropylene, K-Resin(r) SBC, ryton polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), alpha-olefins, polyalphaolefins, aromatic compounds and a range of specialty chemicals.
MRC