Prices of titanium dioxide in Ukraine will grow in April

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Market participants in Ukraine expect prices of titanium dioxide (TiO2) to increase in April on the back of hryvnya depreciation and empting stock inventories, according MRC Price Report.

Converters and traders said they expected the price rise both Ukrainian and imported brands of titanium dioxide.
Price for imported brands of TiO2 will increase because of the exchange rate differences, despite the stability of prices in the foreign markets.

Many traders in the first months of the year were selling the material, which was bought at the old price.

Market sources confirmed the intentions of the Crimean Titan to change contract prices in April. Traders said the prices for Crimean titanium dioxide will be significantly increased from the middle of the month.

Spot price of titanium dioxide by brand the CRIMEA TiOx-220, CRIMEA TiOx-230, CRIMEA TiOx-280 in the domestic market were heard in the range of hryvnyas (UAH) 23,000-25,500/tonne CPT Kiev, including VAT. According to traders, prices for titanium dioxide are expected to UAH30,000/tonne CPT Kiev, including VAT in late April.

One of the reasons for the rise in price of Ukrainian material was the increase in gas prices for groups of companies Group DF, which includes Crimean Titan. Another important factor was the devaluation of hryvnya in the first quarter of 2014, the source added.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- North American suppliers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) have further reduced their prices for the CIS markerts. Offer prices for shipments in the second half of April dropped to USD1,000/tonne, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Lower PVC prices in Asia and a major drop in purchasing of many companies from the CIS markets were the main reasons for reductions in export prices in the United States. North American PVC suppliers announced their offer prices for shipments in the second half of April in the range of USD1,000-1,020/tonne CFR.

Last week's deals for shipments in the second half of the month were negotiated in the range of USD1,000-1,020/tonne CFR St Petersburg and Novorossiysk for Russian companies and USD1,010-1,030/tonne CIF Odessa Ukrainian companies, up by an average of USD40-50/tonne from March.

Many companies, particularly from Russia, said they were forced to refrain from purchasing resin in the United States, citing both lower prices in the domestic market and in China. Some market participants said companies would resume purchasing, if May export PVC prices in the US were reduced further by USD20-30/tonne.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- German specialty chemicals company Lanxess has expanded its Material Testing Center for high-tech thermoplastics in Dormagen with two sophisticated Kappa Multistation creep testing machines, engineered by Messphysik Materials Testing GmbH, the Zwick Roell Group’s competence center for creep testing, reported the company on its site.

These machines can be used to test how Durethan polyamides, Pocan polyesters and TEPEX continuous fiber-reinforced high-performance composites deform over time when exposed to constant mechanical load. The characteristic material data obtained from these tests is used in simulation tools to reliably predict the long-term behavior of corresponding components under continuous mechanical and thermal load.

The two machines can perform not only creep tests according to ISO 899-1, but also relaxation tests and tests with user-defined load profiles comprising several load sequences, and they can do so at temperatures of up to 200 °C.

The two new testing machines cover a load range of up to 10 kN per sample. Each one is equipped with five test axes installed in a temperature-controlled chamber. The test axes can be controlled individually.

"This way, we can perform five independent tests, such as creep and relaxation tests, right next to one another at identical temperatures, which saves space, money and time," Dr. Marcel Brandt, technical head of the Material Testing Center, said.

Elongation of the sample under load is measured optically (non-contact) by a high-resolution video extensometer mounted on each test axis.

Lanxess has steadily expanded its fully climate-controlled Material Testing Center in recent years.

As MRC reported earlier, last summer, Lanxess celebrated the opening of its first production facility in Russia. In the new plant at the Lipetsk site, Lanxess' subsidiary Rhein Chemie manufactures polymer-bound rubber additives for the markets in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), primarily for the automotive and tire industries. A production facility for the bladders used in tire production is to be added in 2016. The overall investment volume in euros amounts to a seven-digit figure and 40 new jobs will be created at the new plant in the medium term.

Lanxess is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 8.3 billion in 2013. The company is currently represented at 50 production sites worldwide. The core business of Lanxess is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Teknor Apex Company has introduced a new jacket compound that exhibits a low-temperature brittleness, which is the latest addition to a suite of rugged Flexalloy PVC elastomer products for jacketing and insulation of electric vehicle (EV) charger cables, as per Plastemart.

"All of the Flexalloy compounds for EV charger cable are abrasion resistant, resilient, and tough even at very low temperatures, yet cost-effective for large-volume production," said Michael Roberts, wire and cable industry manager. "The durability and elasticity of Flexalloy PVC elastomers make them high-performance alternatives to standard PVC compounds while being less expensive than premium materials like thermoplastic polyurethane."

Since introducing its first Flexalloy compound for EV charger cables in 2012, Teknor Apex has continued to expand its portfolio of products for this application.

As MRC informed before, last summer Teknor Apex Company presented a new rigid vinyl compound with a specially developed UV-blocking formulation, which provides clarity for photobioreactor and other outdoor tubing, along with high gloss and toughness for weatherable profile applications.

Teknor Apex is one of the world's leading custom compounders headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA. The company produces PA compounds in the UK, the U.S.A., and Singapore. Teknor Apex is one of the world's leaders of specialty PVC compounds which are used in a wide range of applications from wire and cable to automotive, medical, consumer and industrial products. The company also produces thermoplastic elastomers, nylon, bioplastics, chemicals, specialty compounds.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (Chevron Phillips Chemical) held a groundbreaking ceremony for its U.S. Gulf Coast (USGC) Petrochemicals Project at the Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Texas, said Reuters.

The groundbreaking ceremony signifies the start of construction for the USGC project sparked by shale resource development. The USGC project includes a 1.5 mln metric tpa (3.3 bln lbs/year) ethane cracker to be built at the Cedar Bayou facility in Baytown, and two 500,000 mln metric tpa (1.1 bln lbs/year) capacity polyethylene facilities to be built in Old Ocean, Texas.

The project will support 400 long-term direct jobs and 10,000 engineering and construction jobs. The estimated completion date for the USGC Petrochemicals Project is in 2017. The capacity expansion is targeting a 20% minimum increase in a phased approach.

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, one of the world’s top producers of olefins and polyolefins and a leading supplier of aromatics, alpha olefins, styrenics, specialty chemicals, plastic piping and polymer resins. Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC is equally owned by Chevron U.S.A. Inc., an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Chevron Corporation, and by wholly-owned subsidiaries of Phillips 66, and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.
MRC