Brent crude futures fell by more than $1/bbl

(ICIS) -- Brent crude futures fell by more than $1/bbl on Thursday amid concerns over eurozone debt, but the price spread between WTI and Brent narrowed, with the US benchmark buoyed by a plan to reverse the oil flow of a pipeline from the US midwest to the Gulf coast region.


At 12:05 GMT, January Brent crude on London's ICE futures exchange was trading at $109.50/bbl, down by $2.38/bbl from the previous close. Earlier, the North Sea benchmark fell to a session low of $109.35/bbl, down by $2.53/bbl from Wednesday's close.


December NYMEX light sweet crude futures (WTI) were at $101.03/bbl, down by $1.56/bbl from the previous close. Earlier, the US benchmark fell to a session low of $100.84/bbl, down by $1.75/bbl.


Concerns over the eurozone rose on Thursday amid tensions between France and Germany over the role of the European Central Bank (ECB) in countering the eurozone debt crisis. France has urged the ECB to take on a more active role. Analysts have suggested the ECB should buy large volumes of European bonds in a move similar to the quantitative-easing programmes implemented by the US and UK. However, Germany insists that European regulations prevent such measures.


Perspectives of development of polymer markets, pricing issues and other important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit will be organized by MRC with the support of ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an access to the live video of the Summit, speakers" presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit partcipant.


MRC

Asia's diethylene glycol prices to fall further through the rest of the year

(ICIS) -- Asia's diethylene glycol (DEG) prices are expected to fall further through the rest of the year because of the arrival of a large volume of deep-sea cargoes in China, market sources said on Thursday. The prices fell to a 16-month low of $980-990/tonne (┬725-733/tonne) CFR (cost & freight) CMP (China Main Port) on 17 November, down by $10-30/tonne from the previous week, according to ICIS.


A total of 50,000-55,000 tonnes of deep-sea cargoes for loading in December were heard to be offloaded into China, traders said.


China normally imports 25,000-30,000 tonnes/month of deep-sea cargoes, with 80-85% coming from the Middle East. The remaining imports are from the region, mainly Taiwan. ⌠We received offers of 2,000 tonnes of Canada-origin cargoes from US-based Dow Chemical, which was not seen in the market in the last two years, a major Shanghai-based trader said. In addition, there were offers of 3,000 tonnes of Canada-origin cargoes from Shell, the trader added.


The demand in Europe is poor possibly because of the slowdown in the solar panel manufacturing industry, where DEG is used as a cutting solution, according to an industry source. China rarely imports DEG from Europe and regularly imports the material from Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Kuwait and Iran.


Perspectives of development of polymer markets, pricing issues and other important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit will be organized by MRC with the support of ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an access to the live video of the Summit, speakers" presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit partcipant.


MRC

Nigeria's TDI market to remain soft for the rest of 2011

(ICIS) -- Nigeria's toluene di-isocyanate (TDI) market, the largest in Africa, will remain soft for the rest of 2011 because of the extended monsoon and ahead of the festive Christmas period, leading to a bearish outlook for TDI prices, industry sources said on Thursday.


The longer-than-expected rainy season in Nigeria has shifted the traditional peak period in the key downstream foam sector, which is usually ahead of Christmas, by more than three months to January or February 2012, regional traders and foamers said.


Heavy rainfall has led to poor road conditions, hindering the transportation of the hazardous TDI liquid. Nigerian foamers have had to seek new shelters for their foam products, which are typically kept in open warehouses.


As a result, foam factories are being operated at 50-60% capacity, which is 20-30% lower than during the seasonal peak, dampening the import interest for fresh TDI material, traders and foamers based in Nigeria said.


Perspectives of development of polymer markets, pricing issues and other important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit will be organized by MRC with the support of ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an access to the live video of the Summit, speakers" presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit partcipant.


MRC

In Japan two of its three vinyl chloride monomer plants closed

(PlastEurope) -- An explosion and fire at the Nanyo complex (Shunan City, Yamaguchi prefecture) of Japanese chemicals and plastics producer Tosoh killed a 52-year-old worker and shut two of its three vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plants on 13 November. Down after the blast were the no. 2 VCM line with reported capacity of 550,000 t/y and the no. 3 VCM line with capacity of 400,000 t/y. The no.1 plant with capacity of 250,000 t/y is believed to have been off stream since October for maintenance.


Following the incident, Tosoh's feedstock supplier, Idemitsu, closed the ethylene pipeline to the site and also halted its 623,000 t/y cracker naphtha temporarily. Latest reports indicate that the cracker is back up but operating only at 80% of capacity. The plant shutdowns at Tosoh have taken out about 1.2m t of VCM out of the Japanese market, according to news agencies. This is about a third of the nation's overall capacity of 3.5m t/y.


Perspectives of development of polymer markets, pricing issues and other important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit will be organized by MRC with the support of ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an access to the live video of the Summit, speakers" presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit partcipant.


MRC

Revised cost estimates of the Assam Gas Cracker Project approved by Cabinet Committee

(Plastemart) -- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved the revised cost estimates of the Assam Gas Cracker Project to the tune of Rs 8,920 crore (on as-built-basis). The project schedule has also been revised with mechanical completion by July 2013 and commissioning by December 2013. This would be funded by capital subsidy of Rs 4,690 crore as well as debt and equity of Rs 2,961 crore and Rs 1,269 crore respectively. In case, the planned loans do not materialise, the same would be picked up as additional equity by the promoters. According to an official statement, the revised capital subsidy would be sought by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals from the Ministry of Finance, Planning Commission in the current fiscal and the next by way of additional budgetary support.


Perspectives of development of polymer markets, pricing issues and other important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit will be organized by MRC with the support of ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an access to the live video of the Summit, speakers" presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit partcipant.


MRC