Dow Europe announces price increase for polyethylene in Europe, Middle East and Africa

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Dow Europe GmbH, a major US petrochemical producer, has announced a price increase for polyethylene (PE) resins across the European, Middle Eastern and African regions, reported the company on its site.

Effective June 1, 2013, or as contract terms allow, Dow Europe increases prices for all grades of its low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) resins by EUR100/tonne.

As MRC informed previoulsy, in early March 2013, Dow Europe announced a price increase for polyethylene for Europe, Middle East and Africa. The company raised prices for all PE grades: low density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE). The increase made EUR100/tonne.

In April, Dow Chemical announced a price increase for all PE grades of from 1 May by 4 cents/lb (USD88/tonne). This increase followed the previously announced PE price rise by 4 cents/lb for April shipments.

The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. Dow is a large producer of plastics, including polystyrene (PS), polyurethane, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and synthetic rubber. In 2012, Dow had annual sales of approximately USD57 billion. The company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 36 countries across the globe. In 2012, Dow's net profit fell by almost 2.5 times to USD1.19 bln compared with 2011 (from USD2.74 bln).
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsubishi Plastics, Inc. and the Quadrant Group of Companies have announced that Quadrant, the global engineering plastics leader, has become a fully-owned subsidiary of the MPI Group of Companies, reported Plastemart.

The partnership is expected to fuel significant growth, allowing Quadrant to continue investing in its core businesses, expanding and enhancing what is already the most innovative and broadly diversified material portfolio in the plastics industry.

Mitsubishi Plastics is committing its vast resources and inclusion in already established joint ventures to support Quadrant's future growth and success to an expanding global audience.

"We view this partnership with MPI as an opportunity to better serve our international customer base by providing an even broader mix of plastic technologies and application solutions. The resulting synergy will ultimately benefit both MPI and Quadrant customers as we combine resources and technologies to bring our advancements to market faster and with greater frequency," said Glen Steady, Global CEO of Quadrant EPP.

Through branch offices around the world and a continually growing team of over 2,000 members strong, Quadrant will continue doing business under its current name and logo.

As MRC wrote earlier, last summer Quadrant launched new Tivar polyethylene bearing grade Tivar HPV to support improvements to the productivity and safety of conveying systems and a reduction in maintenance. New Tivar HPV gives conveying systems a performance, cost and safety boost. It is an ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW-PE) developed specifically for wear components.

Quadrant is a leading global manufacturer of high-performance thermoplastic materials in the form of semi-finished products and finished parts with locations in 20 countries and more than 2 000 employees. Its specialty engineering thermoplastics and composites are superior in performance to metals and other materials and are used in a growing number of applications, primarily in the capital goods industry.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- PetroLogistics LP has announced plans to temporarily bring down its propane dehydrogenation facility commencing on Saturday, June 8, 2013, for repairs pertaining to two of the eight reactors at the plant, said Plastemart.

While the facility is down, the company will also complete certain other maintenance items. The Partnership believes that all necessary work can be completed in approximately 2 weeks and at a cost of less than USD5 mln. The Partnership will declare a force majeure event. Provided the plant resumes operations by June 20, 2013, the company anticipates total Q2 sales of approximately 260 mln lbs of propylene.

As MRC informed before, PetroLogistics LP (PDH), operator of the only dedicated U.S. propylene plant, is seeking permission to double the Houston factory’s output as supplies fall and competitors including Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) plan similar facilities.

PetroLogistics wants to add six combustion units to the five currently producing propylene, an ingredient in plastics, nylon and detergents, the Houston-based company said in an application to the Environmental Protection Agency.

PetroLogistics LP owns and operates a propane dehydrogenation ("PDH") facility that processes propane into propylene. The Company's product is utilized in the production of a variety of end uses including paints, coatings, building materials, clothing, automotive parts, packaging and a range of other consumer and industrial products.

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MOSCOW (MRC) -- LANXESS has inaugurated its new butyl rubber plant on Jurong Island in Singapore on schedule, according to the company's press release.

The specialty chemicals company has invested approximately EUR 400 million in the plant, which will have a capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year. The plant will create about 160 highly qualified new jobs that will mainly be filled locally. The facility is the most modern of its kind in Asia and will produce premium halobutyl rubber, as well as regular butyl rubber.

LANXESS is the first butyl rubber manufacturer to have a wholly-owned global presence. The newly opened plant in Singapore joins existing butyl rubber plants in Sarnia, Canada, and Zwijndrecht, Belgium. This means that the specialty chemicals company now has state-of-the-art facilities on three continents. The butyl rubber facility in Singapore went into operation in the first quarter of 2013 and is being ramped up gradually. Commercial production will start in the third quarter of this year. The facility is expected to achieve full capacity in 2015.

"This is the largest investment in the company’s history, and underlines the importance of Asia as a location for our synthetic rubber business," said Axel C. Heitmann, LANXESS’ Chairman of the Board of Management during the opening ceremony.

The butyl rubber market is expected to grow on average by 5% in the coming years, with the main driving force being the megatrend mobility, above all in Asia.

Jurong Island is located off the coast of the city-state and offers an infrastructure geared specifically to the needs of the chemical industry, thus providing ideal conditions for LANXESS. For example, the company has secured the long-term supply of isobutene, an important raw material for butyl rubber production, from a neighboring plant.

As MRC reported earlier, LANXESS also started construction of a new production facility for neodymium-based performance butadiene rubber (Nd-PBR) on Jurong Island last September. The direct proximity of these two plants creates valuable synergies for the company, for example through joint infrastructure and logistics.

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 9.1 billion in 2012. The company is currently represented at 50 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals. The Butyl Rubber business unit is part of LANXESS’ Performance Polymers segment, which recorded sales of EUR 5.2 billion in 2012.
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