Indian Oil cuts HDPE and LLDPE prices

(plastemart) -- With effect from 27 Sept 2012, Indian Oil Corp has announced price reductions of Rs3/kg for HDPE/LLDPE (except LBM). Additionally, price protection has been withdrawn with effect from 27 Sept 2012.

For LBM and PP grades, price has been rolled over and price protection has been extended till 30 Sept or next price revision whichever is earlier.

The Indian Oil's world-class naphtha cracker at Panipat is the largest operating cracker capacity in India. The naphtha cracker comprises of the following downstream units: polypropylene (capacity: 600,000 tpa), high density polyethylene (HDPE) (dedicated capacity: 300,000 tpa) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) (350,000 tpa swing unit with HDPE), mono ethylene glycol(MEG) plant (capacity: 325,000 tpa).

The company's PP unit is designed to produce high quality and high value niche grades including high speed biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) (used for food packaging and laminations), high clarity random co-polymers (used for food containers and thin walled products) and super impact co-polymer grades (used for batteries, automobile parts, luggage and heavy duty transport containers). Polyethylene is used for making injection moulded caps, heavy duty crates, containers, bins, textile bobbins, luggage ware, thermoware, storage bins, pressure pipes (for gas and water), small blow-moulded bottles, jerry cans, etc.
MRC

(yahoo finance) -- This year's success of Westlake Chemical on soaring demand for its products, mostly for polyethylene and leather-cloth, has helped the owners of the company to get into the U.S. ranking of billionaires published by Bloomberg.

Three members of Chao family of Chinese origin (James Chao, Albert Chao,and Dorothy Chao Jenkins) own a combined 70% of Westlake Chemical. James Chao is Westlake's chairman; Albert is president and chief executive officer; and their sister, Dorothy, sits on the company's board.

The chemical maker's shares have risen almost 90 percent this year. Each of the family members has a net worth of at least USD1.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Westlake shares have increased more than sevenfold since March 2009, making it the third-best performing stock by return in the chemicals industry, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The surge has been fueled by low natural gas prices and increased demand for plastics in developing countries. The company generated USD259 million in net income on sales of USD3.6 billion in 2011. The profit was up 17% from the year before.

Westlake Chemical Corporation is a U.S. manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals and polymers, headquartered in Houston, Texas. The range of company's products includes ethylene, polyethylene (PE), styrene, propylene (PP), caustics, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and plastic products.
MRC

(Platts)-- China imported 70,871 mt of general purpose polystyrene in August, a decrease of 16.3% from July and a fall of 24.3% from the same month last year, customs data released Saturday showed.

The main source of GPPS to China was Taiwan with 27,215 mt, followed by Hong Kong with 17,721 mt and South Korea with 16,443 mt.

Asian Petrochemicalscan provides weekly market updates, commentary and assessments ranging from naphtha feedstocks to aromatics, olefins, and polymers in Southeast Asia, Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

Meanwhile, imports of high-impact polystyrene increased 9.7% month on month to 26,949 mt in August, and jumped 30.1% year on year.
MRC

(canplastics) -- Onex Corp., Canadian largest buyout firm, has purchased processing machinery manufacturer KraussMaffei Group from Madison Capital Partners for USD730 million (EUR568 million).

Munich, Germany-based KraussMaffei manufactures machinery for the injection molding, extrusion and reaction process segments. It has approximately 4,000 employees and operates key manufacturing facilities in Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia and China. For the twelve months ended June 30, 2012, the company generated approximately EUR1.0 billion in revenues.

The deal is expected to close by March 2013.

"We’re very pleased to be partnering with Onex given its track record and experience in our industry," commented Jan Siebert, Chief Executive Officer of KraussMaffei. "With Onex' backing, we intend to strengthen our global presence and build on our success at the high-end of the industry."

As per MRC, KraussMaffei Berstorff was selected as the system supplier for high-tech plastics processing machines by Azenco, the largest company in the construction industry in Azerbaijan.

Toronto-based Onex is a conglomerate that typically buys leading companies and holds them for several years with intentions to sell them after their value has appreciated. The company has experience with plastics companies: it previously owned Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd., and currently owns extrusion equipment supplier Davis-Standard LLC.


MRC

(styron) -- Hong Kong-based Styron has increased prices of general purpose polystyrene grades and high impact polystyrene grades in Asia by USD80/mt on increased manufacturing costs, the company said in a statement this week.

Styron has a 260,000 mt/year polystyrene plant in Hong Kong, and can produce 52,000 mt/year of GPPS and 208,000 mt/year of HIPS.

The price of PS feedstock styrene monomer has increased by USD63/mt, or 4.3%, from USD1,466/mt CFR China on September 3 to USD1,529/mt CFR China on September 25.
SM was assessed at year-to-date high of USD1,572/mt CFR China on September 27.

Styron LLC is a plastics, rubber, and latex company owned by Bain Capital. Styron's annual revenue is approximately USD3.7 billion, and comprises approximately 2,100 employees in 30 countries. Its products primarily serve the automotive, appliances, packaging, electronics.
MRC