Russian energy boss opposes Rosneft TNK-BP bid

(upstreamonline) -- Russia’s deputy prime minister with responsibility for energy policy Arkady Dvorkovich has reportedly said he would not support Rosneft buying BP’s share of Anglo-Russian venture TNK-BP.
Dvorkovich said the government had not yet held formal talks on the possible deal with Rosneft, but that "overall, it serves no useful purpose for any state company to expand its role in the economy", according to a report in the Vedomosti financial daily cited by Reuters.

"This purchase won't happen without the government's approval anyway," he added. The deputy prime minister also questioned the Russian state player’s ability to fund the purchase.

"You don't find USD30 billion lying around on the street. This means we have to see how the money would be raised, how quickly it is returned in the form of TNK-BPdividends, how it would affect Rosneft's financial situation, and whether it would bring other projects to a halt," Dvorkovich said.

BP announced in June that it would start the process of selling its half of Russia's third-largest crude producer after years of squabbling with the Alfa-Access Renova consortium of Russian billionaires, which owns the other half of the company.

A month later Rosneft said it was in talks to acquire half of the troubled venture, with talks open to other buyers for 90 days under the TNK-BP shareholders agreement.

Earlier this month Sechin said Rosneft had taken a time-out in talks to buy the TNK-BP stake to avoid falling foul of the shareholder pact.
MRC

(plasteurope) -- Chinese injection moulding machinery maker Haitian International (Hong Kong) generated sales of about CNY 3.2 bn (EUR 391m) in the first six months of 2012 – about 14.2% less than during H1 2011. Total profit even dropped by 19% to about EUR 60m. Haitian said it sold "more than 11,000 units". By comparison, in H1 2011 the company produced almost 15,000 individual units.

The group’s domestic business in particular caved in during H1 2012, as sales in China slumped by 21% as a result largely of fewer sales of small machinery. By comparison, export volumes rose by 2.4% to EUR 123m. Haitian’s sales figures for the first six months of this year also paled in comparison to H2 2011, down by 5.9% overall – a fact for which group CEO Zhang Jianming blames the long holiday period surrounding Chinese New Year.

The Haitian International Holdings Ltd. develops, produces and distributes injection molding machines under the brands ‘Haitian’ , 'Zhafir’ and 'Tianjian' and provides to its worldwide customers comprehensive support services.

As per MRC, the company has imported to Russia more then 400 of injection moulding machinery since 2009; 20% of the total volume has been supplied this year.
MRC

(plastemart) -- After a successful 5-year collaboration Huntsman Polyurethanes and Alberdingk Boley are looking forward to combine their complimentary strengths in a further development in the coating sector by engineering innovative adhesive and elastomer solutions for a diverse range of applications.

Companies partnership started in 2007 with a mutual desire to move the coating industry forward, i.e. to co-develop polyurethane solutions for the coatings market. Their endeavor resulted in development of innovative solutions based on advanced MDI SUPRASEC technology from Huntsman Polyurethanes and Alberdingk Boley’s ALBODUR range of polyols, castor oil-based and solvent-free products, which are helping to deliver high-performance coatings solutions to customers in Europe, America and the Middle East.

At present the two companies are taking their alliance to a new level by targeting applications in the adhesives and elastomers markets.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In August, imports of suspension PVC to Russia amounted to 36,800 tonnes. Imports volumes of resin from Ukraine and China shrank nearly twofold, while imports from the U.S. exceeded 22,400 tonnes, as per MRC analysts.

Last month, imports of SPVC to Russia made 36,800 tonnes, which is slightly less than imports in July – 38,300 tonnes. Expectedly, a significant increase in imports was provided by the resin from the United States, while the supply of resin from Ukraine decreased almost by half. Import of acetylene resin from China remained at the July level.
Due to the serious decline in export prices in late May and June, Russian companies actively contracted PVC from the U.S.. Cheap North American PVC started to arive to the market in the second half of July and was fully delivered in August. Besides, about 25% of the total imports of the U.S. PVC in August were shipped under the April contracts. As a consequence, last month the total import volume of the North American resin made 22,400 tonnes, up 24% from July.

Supplies of acetylene PVC from China in August actually stayed at the level of July and reached 3,900 tonnes. Serious disruption of the shipments of resin from China (more than 20 days), and suficient supply of PVC to the domestic market made many Russian companies seriously cut purchasing in China. But in late August and early September on the shortage in the market, Russian companies again started actively to import acetylene resin. It is expected that in September, imports of PVC from China will exceed the level of 10,000 tonnes.

Import of suspension from Ukraine in August dropped almost twofold to 4,500 tonnes. The reduction in resin imports resulted from limitation of the Ukrainian rail wagons and planned turnaround of Karpatneftehim. Small volumes of Ukrainian PVC are expected to be delivered in September.

Over the eight months of this year, the total volume of import PVC in Russia amounted to 255,100 tonnes, down 28% year on year.


MRC

(finder) -- Sabic has introduced a new polyethylene grade SABIC HDPE F4520, which combines a well-balanced set of mechanical properties with ease of processing and consistent quality. New collapsible tubes have an improved aesthetic appearance and squeezability when they are extruded from SABIC HDPE F4520. The new PE grade can be typically used for tubes for cosmetics, toothpastes, food pastes, and household and industrial products.

For tube manufacturers, the high consistency of SABIC HDPE F4520 is important, as this helps to ensure optimum aesthetics when it comes to decoration and printing. SABIC believes it will enhance chances of approval of the new grade with customers.

Tubes extruded in the new material are very flexible, making it easier for users to squeeze out the contents. The material is easy to process and can be used in monolayer tubes, in coextrusions and laminates. It can also be blended with other polyethylenes with the same melt flow range and is already approved at several major tube manufacturers.

Sabic is a diversified manufacturing company, active in chemicals and intermediates, industrial polymers, fertilizers and metals. It is the largest public company in Saudi Arabia. Sabic is currently the second largest global ethylene glycol producer, the third largest polyethylene manufacturer, the fourth largest polyolefins manufacturer and the fourth largest polypropylene manufacturer.

According to MRC data, Sabic is the third largest HDPE supplier to Russia. This year the company accounts for 12% of imports to Russian Federation. The Sabic's import share of HDPE in the Russian market has increased six-fold since 2009. The main imported grades are HDPE P6006, pipe Vestolen A6060R and film HDPE FI1157.
MRC