Celanese announces vinyl acetate-based emulsions price increase in the Americas

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company and a global leader in EVA emulsions, has announced that due to market conditions, including the global supply unavailability of vinyl acetate monomer, it will increase the price of vinyl acetate-based emulsions sold in the Americas, as per the company's press release.

PVAc homopolymer, vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE) and vinyl acrylic emulsions will increase by up to USD0.04/wet pound (USD90/tonne) effective June 16, 2014, or as contracts allow.

This announcement is in addition to the price increases for the same vinyl-based emulsions which were announced on March 7, 2014 and effective April 1, 2014, and announced on January 10, 2014 and effective on February 1, 2014.

As MRC informed previously, Celanese Corporation raised its April prices of vinyl acetate-based emulsions sold in the Americas as follows: PVAc homopolymer, EVA and vinyl acrylic emulsions will increase by up to USD0.03/wet pound (USD70/tonne).

This price increase affects all applications including, but not limited to, adhesives, paints and coatings, building and construction, nonwovens, glass fiber, carpet, paper and textiles.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Texas, Celanese employs approximately 7,400 employees worldwide and had 2013 net sales of USD6.5 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Major European plastics supplier Borealis has developed a portfolio of polypropylene compounds with a post-consumer recycled content for use in interior, exterior and under-the-hood automotive applications, said the producer in its press release.

Developed for Borealis' European customers, the three Daplen grades will enable the automotive industry to satisfy the need for materials with 'enhanced sustainability while ensuring performance on par with virgin materials', according to the company.

"We see a clear trend towards the use of recyclates together with virgin materials," states Jost Eric Laumeyer, global marketing manager for engineering applications for the Austria-headquartered company. "Today, answering the call for materials with increased sustainability and increasing resource efficiency is no longer an aspiration but a business imperative for the automotive industry."

As MRC wrote before, Jacobs Engineering Group has received a contract from Borealis to provide engineering, procurement, project management and construction management services for a project to increase cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) capacity at its manufacturing site in Stenungsund, Sweden.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. The only polyethylene (PE) producer in Sweden, Borealis’ Stenungsund facilities include a PE plant, a cracker for ethylene and propylene production, and an innovation center focused on research and development for infrastructure markets.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The Acrylic Polymers Business Line of Evonik Industries AG (in Podolsk) began producing extruded PLEXIGLAS solid sheets in Russia ten years ago and has been increasing its market share in the country ever since, as per Evonik's press release.

"Having a local presence was crucial if we were to strengthen our business in Russia’s growth market and continue to expand," said Michael Traxler, Head of the Acrylic Polymers Business Line at Evonik.

Evonik entered this market through the OOO DESTEK joint venture, in which it has a majority interest. DESTEK supplies the Russian market with several thousand metric tons of extruded PLEXIGLAS per year. Its main customers are from the illuminated advertising, noise protection, and furniture construction industries.

DESTEK has an outstanding distribution network that ensures supplies to the entire Russian market. In response to the strong demand for high-quality PLEXIGLAS products, Evonik started to expand production capacity back in 2009.

"In doing so, we advanced our growth strategy in Russia, further increased the availability of our products, and shortened delivery times," explained Andrey Ivanov, Director General of DESTEK.

DESTEK also offers specialty PLEXIGLAS products from other sites in the global production network of the Acrylic Polymers Business Line. To market these more effectively in Russia, Evonik opened a light studio in Podolsk in 2013 in which customers can see all of the benefits of PLEXIGLAS for themselves.

Evonik Industries is a worldwide manufacturer of PMMA products sold under the PLEXIGLAS trademark on the European, Asian, African and Australian continents and under the ACRYLITE trademark in the Americas.

As MRC informed previously, Evonik Industries is paving the way for a new technology whose applications include automotive finishes that are more scratch-resistant than ever before. The German specialty chemicals company has developed an industrial-scale method for producing silane-modified binders for automotive finishes. The advantage of these silane-modified binders: silane groups increase crosslinking density, making it possible to create automotive finishes that are flexible yet harder, leading to improved scratch resistance.

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2013 more than 33,500 employees generated sales of around EUR12.9 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of about EUR2.0 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- European producers have raised export polyvinyl chloride (PVC) prices for June shipments to the CIS countries by EUR10-15/tonne on the back of limited export quotas and higher ethylene prices, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Negotiations over June prices of European PVC for the CIS markets began this week. The June price of ethylene in Europe was agreed up by EUR10/tonne from May. Some producers reported limited export quotas for June. PVC prices were heard to rise by EUR10-15/tonne from May on the back of the factors stated above. At the same time, some producers maintained May prices for June shipments.

Negotiations over June European PVC prices are being held in the range of EUR760-810/tonne FCA. Export quotas are limited by the Polish and Hungarian producers.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Arkema, a France-based chemical manufacturer, has announced a price increase by 15% in Europe as of 1 June, 2014 on the Forane range of products, reported the company on its site.

These price increases are effective excluding existing contractual obligations and includes the following grades: Forane 404A, Forane 407A, Forane 407C, Forane 410A, Forane 427A, Forane 507.

These products are designed for air conditioning and low and medium temperature refrigeration systems (industrial, commercial, domestic and transport).

As MRC wrote before, Arkema raised prices of its whole Evatane range (high content ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer) by EUR150/tonne from April 1, 2014. This increase was due to rough market conditions, including the world wide unavailability of vinyl acetate monomer.

Marketed under the trademark Evatane, Arkema's EVA resins are used in highly diverse industrial applications, including hot-melt, cable, multilayer packaging film, technical polymer modification, solar panel, petroleum additives, bitumen and ink.

Arkema with annual revenue of EUR6.4 billion is a leading European supplier of chlorochemicals and PVC. Kynar and Kynar Flex are registered trademarks of Arkema Inc.
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