Styron increases prices for PS 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 February 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 EUR40/tonne;
- MAGNUM ABS resins by EUR50/tonne;
- TYRIL SAN resins by EUR40/tonne.

As MRC wrote before, in December 2013, Styron Europe GmbH and its affiliate companies in Europe increased prices for all PS and copolymer grades, as follows:

- STYRON general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS), STYRON and STYRON A-TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) by EUR20/tonne;
- MAGNUM ABS resins and TYRIL SAN resins by EUR30/tonne.

PS is a key strategic business for Styron and an industry it will continue to focus innovation efforts on to help their diversified customer-base remain competitive in the different markets they serve such as packaging, appliances, building and construction.

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) -- The weakening of the rouble against the dollar and stronger domestic demand allowed Russian producers of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to increase prices in February, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Weak demand for suspension PVC (SPVC) in December 2013 and January 2014 in Russia forced local producers to significantly reduce prices. After a January slowdown, February demand for PVC grew in Russia, and the weakening of the rouble against the dollar made imported material unprofitable for local converters. Russian PVC producers announced price increase in February, amid stronger demand and higher imported prices.

Quite a number of converters and major producers of window profiles shut down their plants for maintenance works in January 2014 on the back of almost a complete absence of demand for finished products from PVC and their sufficient stocks at warehouses. As a result, companies were forced to refuse from purchasing of material this month. Converters began to resume their production in February, which led to stronger demand for PVC.

Initially, some Russian producers intended to increase February PVC prices by more than Rb3,000/tonne from January, an increase was virtually proportional to the growth in prices of imported material. However, buyers managed to reduce the amount of the February increase in contract prices on the back of converters' limited working capital and weak demand for finished products from PVC.

Deals for Russian PVC were done in the first half of February in the range Rb44,000-47,600/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, for PVC with K = 64/67. Some converters said they managed in December 2013 and January 2014 to negotiate deals for February shipments of Russian PVC at Rb43,000-45,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

Devaluation of the rouble led to a more serious price rise in the spot market. Offer prices for Chinese acetylene PVC were heard in the range of Rb47,000-48,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, for PVC with K = 65. Offer prices for North American PVC were at an average of Rb47,000/tonne FCA Saint Petersburg and Novorossiysk, including VAT.

Some Russian producers do not rule out they will further increase PVC prices in March for the domestic market, amid a serious fall in imports and their higher prices, as well as under the pressure of seasonal demand.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Imports of expandable polystyrene (EPS) dropped in 2013 by 7.5 % compared to the previous year and totalled 24,200 tonnes, according to MRC DataScope.

Lower imports were accompanied by decreased EPS production in Ukraine amid a general fall in consumption in segments of finished products. Converters said reductions in consumption of finished products were mainly caused by the deterioration of the general economic situation in the country, as well as high interest rates on consumer loans, which led to retrenchment.

Chinese and European producers lost their position in the market. EPS shipments from China fell last year by almost 10 times from a year earlier (from 7,200 to 765 tonnes).

At the same time, the share of Russian material surged to 89% of the total EPS consumption in Ukraine. Imports of Russian EPS of SIBUR-Khimprom into Ukraine totalled more than 21,500 tonnes in 2013.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Mitsui Chemicals will build the world's first large-scale plant for xylylene diisocyanate (XDI) within its Omuta Works complex in Japan's Omuta City, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

The XDI plant will have a capacity of 5,000 tpy and start commercial operations in October 2015.

XDI is a functional material made with proprietary technology and offered only by the Mitsui Chemicals. Extensively used in coatings and engineering materials, it is widely used in products requiring safety and durability such as adhesives for food packaging, in special inks and coating materials such as those used in solar cells and smartphones, and in high-durability building sealants and microcapsules.

Additional demand is also expected by product shifts from different materials, according to Mitsui officials.

XDI is also used in the Mitsui's high refractive index ophthalmic lens monomers, sold under the brand name MRTM Lens, which allow processing and design freedom, and have strong durability, clarity, impact resistance, and thinness.

With the establishment of the new XDI plant, Mitsui Chemicals says it will aggressively expand its global business and strengthen its competitive position for its ophthalmic lens monomers operations as well as its coatings and engineering materials operations.

As MRC wrote earlier, last year, Dow Chemical signed a long-term ethylene off-take agreement with a new Japanese joint venture that will allow the chemical producer to enhance its performance plastics franchise. The joint venture is being formed between Japanese companies Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui & Co. to construct and operate a Linear Alpha Olefins unit on the US Gulf Coast.

Mitsui Chemicals,a Japanese chemical company, is a part of the Mitsui conglomerate. The company has a turnover of around 15 billion USD and has business interests in Japan, Europe, China, Southeast Asia and the USA. Mitsui Chemicals’ business portfolio includes petrochemicals, basic chemicals, polyurethanes, functional polymeric materials, functional chemicals, and films and sheets.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lotte Chemical Titan has restarted a polypropylene (PP) plant, reported Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Malaysia informed that the plant restarted on February 6, 2014. The plant was shut on February 5, 2014 for a brief outage.

Located at Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, the plant has a production capacity of 200,000 mt/year.

Lotte Chemical is also likely to take off-stream a cracker for maintenance turnaround in April 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for around four days. Located in Yeosu, South Korea, the cracker has an ethylene capacity of 1 million mt/year and propylene capacity of 480,000 mt/year.

As MRC informed previously, Hyundai Oilbank and Lotte Chemical Corp. have recently established Hyundai Chemical as a new venture in the "oil refining and synthetic fiber materials business". The venture, owned 60 % by Hyundai and 40 % by Lotte, will invest up to 1.2-trillion won, with production targeted to begin in the second half of 2016 at Hyundai’s Daesan plant in South Chungcheong province.

In early 2013, a major South Korean pertochemical and polymer producer, Honam Petrochemical, and one of the largest South Korean PET and PTA producer, KP Chemical, decided to merge into a new company with a new name Lotte Chemical Corporation. The newly formed company believes that this move will strengthen its position both in domestic and international markets and is in a line with Lotte Chemical's strategy to become a leading global company.

The Lotte Group currently has a presence in Indonesia via its subsidiary, Honam Petrochemicals, which acquired Malaysia’s polyolefin major Titan Chemicals in July 2010. Included in the acquisition was Titan’s Indonesian subsidiary - PT Titan Petrokimia Nusantara (TPN), which has a polyethylene (PE) production capacity of 450,000 tonnes/year.
MRC