Denton Plastics to install wash line for bulky HDPE

(plasticsnews) -- Denton Plastics Inc. is on the verge of becoming the first major plastics recycler in the Northwest -- and the second major plastics recycler in the U.S. -- to make an investment to add a wash line to process and recycle bulky injection-grade high density polyethylene.

"We are looking to put in a processing plant with grinding and washing equipment to handle bulky rigids," Chairman Dennis Denton said in an interview at the company’s Portland offices in mid-June. "The total investment, including the building, will be USD4 million to USD5 million".

Denton said the plan is to build a 40,000-square-foot building adjacent to the company’s 60,000-square-foot plastics recycling plant. He said the equipment for the new plant will cost between USD1 million and USD1.5 million.

The other major bulky rigid HDPE wash line in the United States is the new USD5 million wash line at KW Plastics Recycling in Troy, Ala., which is expected to start operations sometime this month. That line, which will have the capacity to reprocess 10 million to 12 million pounds monthly, will recycle items such as carts, crates, buckets, baskets, toys and lawn furniture.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) – Last week buying activity increased in the Asian market on rise of oil and ethylene quotations. As a result, the prices began to grow. Over the past week PE quotations went up by USD20-60/tonne, report MRC analysts.

In the Asian PE market many market participants started actively replenish their stock inventories on the back of increase in oil and ethylene quotations. PE supply was limited in the market since many makers had contracted their July volumes the week before.

Some market participants doubt the further growth of PE prices in Asia. Firstly, demand is not that high to maintain long-term rise in prices. Secondly, the Central Bank of China slashed interest rate which gave rise to many issues regarding the further economical growth of this country.

At the same time almost all the market participants are unanimous in their belief that demand for PE will have increased significantly by September (the peak month in the season).

Last week PE bid-offers mounted by USD20-60/tonne depending on the grade. LLDPE prices grew more significantly.

Polyethylene grew up in value on average by USD60/tonne to the level of USD1,200-1,290/tonne, CFR.
HDPE prices surged by USD20-70/tonne and were in the range of USD1,220-1,330/tonne, CFR.
MRC

(basf) -- BASF is planning to expand the manufacturing plant for vinylformamide (VFA) in Ludwigshafen. In addition, BASF intends to increase the polymerization capacity in Ludwigshafen and build a new polymerization line for VFA in China for further processing of the feedstock from Ludwigshafen. This facility will be built at the Zhenjiang site, Jiangsu province.

The total investment is in the three-digit million euro range and will create about 40 new jobs worldwide. Production is scheduled by the end of 2014.

Vinylformamide (VFA) is an important feedstock for water soluble, cationic polymers. These materials are used in the paper industry to increase the efficiency of the production process. Especially the VFA-based, polyvinylamine (PVAm) product line allows paper manufacturers to produce more environmentally friendly and considerably lower their costs.

With the enlarged capacity, BASF will be able to better serve paper makers around the world. “The expansion in Ludwigshafen will allow us to keep up with the growing demand for polyvinylamine. Growth is expected in Europe and the Americas, where paper makers are under an enormous pressure to reduce their cost of operations as well as in Asia, which we consider the growth engine of paper production and demand,” explained Dr. Uwe Liebelt, President of BASF Paper Chemicals division.
MRC

(plastemart) -- Players in Southeast Asia report that PVC demand has picked up this month despite July not usually being a a good month in terms of PVC demand in the region. The recent upward movement in upstream costs was also cited as a factor supporting healthier PVC demand as many players feel that the market is close to the bottom of its current declining trend.

A source at a Philippine producer stated, "We lowered our prices by PHP3000-5000/ton (USD71-118/ton) for July. We have been receiving a greater number of price inquiries since our most recent decreases, but have not been able to finalize any deals yet. We are hopeful that we will be able to sell more material in July than we did in June."

A PVC compounder in the Philippines added, "We are looking to purchase some material soon as we did not purchase any material in June."

A source at a Malaysian producer reported, "We are optimistic about our sales for July and August even though these months are normally a slow season. We are receiving a greater number of inquiries these days and are currently in negotiations with our customers as we find buyers’ price ideas to be too low to accept."
MRC

(Plastemart) -- Titan Chemicals has raised operating rates at its smaller of two naphtha crackers to about 95% capacity after reducing utilization rates last month on weak petrochemical margins.

Run rates have been hiked at the 260,000 tpa cracker since early July, while runs at its larger unit, a 407,000 tpa cracker have remained mostly steady, at about 95% of its capacity, The Malaysia-based major is seeking H2-August naphtha feedstock after having bought about 60,000 tons for H1-August arrival at prices ranging from a discount of USD2.50 to a premium of USD2/ton to Japan spot quotes on a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.

Titan Chemicals Corp. Sdn. Bhd. is Malaysia's first and largest integrated producer of ethylene, propylene, polyethylene and polypropylene. It is one of the largest polyolefins producers in South-East Asia.
Titan Chemicals has the largest manufacturing capacity for polyethylene.
MRC