Styron announces price increases for polystyrene and copolymers in Europe

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Styron Europe GmbH and its affiliate companies in Europe announced today price increases for all polystyrene (PS) and copolymer grades, reported the company on its site.

Effective immediately, or as existing contract terms allow, the January contract and spot prices for the products listed below will increase as follows:

STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS), STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) by EUR50/tonne; MAGNUM ABS resins and TYRIL SAN resins by EUR50/tonne.

As MRC reported earlier, Styron Europe increased prices for all PS, copolymer and expandable polystyrene (EPS) grades in December by EUR20-30/tonne.

Styron is a leading global materials company and manufacturer of plastics, latex and rubber, dedicated to collaborating with customers to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions. Styron’s technology is used by customers in industries such as home appliances, automotive, building & construction, carpet, consumer electronics, consumer goods, electrical & lighting, medical, packaging, paper & paperboard, rubber goods and tires. Styron had approximately USD 5.5 billion in revenue in 2012, with 20 manufacturing sites around the world, and 2100 employees.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- OAO Lukoil subsidiary Lukoil Neftochim Burgas AD has secured a €420 million line of credit from five international banks to finance the modernization of its Burgas, Bulgaria, refinery along the Black Sea, said SACE in its press release.

In addition to Italian export credit agency Instituto per i Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero (SACE), which will cover 95% of the 10-year loan - banks providing the credit line include Societe Generale, ING Bank, BNP Paribas, and UniCredit SPA, according to SACE.

The Burgas modernization project is being executed under a lump-sum turnkey contract for the engineering, procurement, and construction of Phase 1 of a heavy residue hydrocracking complex to be built at the refinery that Lukoil let to Technip in January 2012, says SACE.

The contract, worth more than EUR900 million, covers the detail engineering, procurement of equipment and material, construction, precommissioning, and commissioning of a 2.5 million-tonne/year vacuum residue hydrocracker based on Axens H-Oil process, Technip said in a Jan. 25, 2012, release.

Implementation of the project will allow the refinery to increase output of Euro 5 diesel fuel by 1.2 million tpy as well as to cease production of high-sulfur fuel oil, Lukoil said in a separate Jan. 25, 2012, release. The key element of the new complex, which is slated for commissioning in January 2015, is a tar hydrocracker with a planned capacity of 2.5 million tpy, according to Lukoil.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- India has lifted the 6.5% anti-dumping duty imposed on import of polypropylene (PP) from Oman in November 2010, Indian Ambassador to the Sultanate, JS Mukul told reporters in Muscat, reports Fibre2fashion.

The decision of the Government of India would give relief to the state-run Oman Polypropylene Company, as India is a major market for Oman’s PP.

The latest decision is in accordance with the very strong economic and trade relations between India and Oman, and it would lead to a further growth in bilateral trade, particularly in non-oil exports from Oman to India, Mr. Mukul said.

From April to October 2013, bilateral trade between India and Oman was around USD3.65 billion, and it may cross the USD5 billion-mark for the ongoing Indian financial year 2013-14, he informed.

During the seven-month period, Omani exports to India rose by 91% year-on-year to around USD2 billion.

India’s major export items to Oman include textiles.

Oman Polypropylene is an Omani based world-class petrochemical company based in Sohar, Sultanate of Oman. It is one of the leading manufactures of polypropylene in the Middle East. Oman Polypropylene produces homo-polymer and impact and random copolymer with a capacity of 340,000 MT /Year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- LyondellBasell announced that its methanol plant at Channelview, Texas, was placed into service in the fourth-quarter 2013 to take advantage of low-cost natural gas from shale formations, said the company in its press release.

The unit had been out of service since 2004 due to the rising cost of natural gas, the key feedstock for methanol production.

"The methanol plant re-start is the first in a series of U.S. Gulf Coast projects by LyondellBasell to take advantage of the natural gas price advantage that we enjoy from shale gas," said Patrick Quarles, senior vice president, Intermediates and Derivatives. "The methanol plant project and our other significant debottleneck projects will bring new capacity into our system earlier and at substantially lower cost than constructing entirely new facilities."

Other LyondellBasell growth projects include expansions of ethylene capacity at La Porte, Channelview and Corpus Christi, Texas, that will add 1.8 billion pounds to the company's annual capacity, and the expansion of a polyethylene facility in Matagorda County, Texas.

Methanol is used in the production of chemicals such as acetic acid and formaldehyde, and in products including adhesives, foams, plywood subfloors, solvents and windshield washer fluid. LyondellBasell is a leading manufacturer and global supplier of acetic acid. Methanol also is used in global gasoline production through direct blending, as well as for the production of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), a clean-burning gasoline component produced by LyondellBasell.

As MRC informed before, LyondellBasell has recently introduced Purell HP671T, a sterilizable, high fluidity polypropylene (PP) resin used in injection molded medical applications. Purell HP671T exhibits a very high stiffness, excellent transparency and an enhanced additive package offering increased resistance to gamma sterilization.

LyondellBasell is one of the world's largest plastics, chemical and refining companies and a member of the S&P 500. LyondellBasell manufactures products at 58 sites in 18 countries. LyondellBasell products and technologies are used to make items that improve the quality of life for people around the world including packaging, electronics, automotive parts, home furnishings, construction materials and biofuels.
MRC