June prices of pipe grade HDPE rose by Rb2,000-3,000/tonne in Russia

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Seasonally stronger demand and tight supply have led to higher prices of pipe grade high density polyethylene (HDPE) in the Russian market. Prices of pipe grade polyethylene (PE) had risen by mid-month by Rb2,000-3,000/tonne from May, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Russian producers announced an increase in June contract prices of pipe grade HDPE on the back of stronger demand. At the same time, limited working capital of most pipes producers and a serious competition in the finished products market were major constraining factors in pricing of pipe grade HDPE in Russia.

Demand for pipe grade PE pipe grew in June. Upcoming scheduled outages for maintenance at Gazprom neftekhim Salavat (in July and August) and at Kazanorgsintez (in September and October) only heated the situation in the market. Some Russian pipes producers were still trying to build up inventories, despite the total lack of working capital and a low number of orders.

Deals for Russian natural PE100 were done in the range of Rb75,000-78,000/tonne FCA, including VAT, in the first half of June, while deals for coloured PE100 started from Rb79,000/tonne FCA, including VAT, depending on the terms of payment and quantaties. Prices of imported material rose to Rb85,000/tonne FCA, including VAT.

Weak demand for plastic pipes has led to a serious increase in competition among producers in recent years. The upward price dynamics for PE pipes is far behind the cost of its feedstock. Thus, there are still prices for PE pipes of small and medium diameter in the range of Rb86/kg FCA, including VAT, in the market, while prices of the feedstock -coloured PE100 - have come close to this level. The factor of a high competition in the finished pipes market is a serious constaint for price increases of pipe grade HDPE in the Russian market, and this trend will continue until the end of the year.

As reported earlier, demand for plastic pipes has been subsiding in the Russian market for the second consecutive year. According to official data of Rosstat, the overall production of plastic pipes in Russia fell to 198,000 over the first five months of 2014, down by 12.6% year on year. Last year's output totalled 586,400 tonnes of plastic pipes, down by 17% compared with the same figure of 2012.
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MOSCOW (MRC) -- PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) is likely to shut a linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) plant for maintenance turnaround, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in Thailand informed that the plant is planned to be shut in mid-July 2014. It is likely to remain off-stream for around three weeks.

Located at Map Ta Phut, Thailand, the plant has a production capacity of 400,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, last year, Indonesian state-owned energy company Pertamina signed an agreement to purchase petrochemical products from Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical. The agreement serves as a pre-marketing strategy for Pertamina and PTT’s joint Indonesian petrochemical business. Under the agreement, PTT will deliver at least 5,000 tonnes of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) products each month to Pertamina for sale in Indonesia.

Recently, Pertamina and PTTGC have announced that they will start joint shipments of PE to the Indonesian market from 1 July 2014.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SABIC has passed the milestone of having more than 10,000 patents either issued or pending approval, making it the largest owner of intellectual property in the Middle East, as per the company's press release.

SABIC has also significantly increased the rate at which it obtains patents with 2013 seeing a record 373 patent applications filed by the company, a rise of over 300% from the figure in 2010. 2014 could see a further increase with 159 new patent applications applied for in just the first three months of the year.

On average, SABIC files a new patent application every 18 hours, each based on the work of approximately four researchers. This represents greater efficiency than any other top ten company in the chemical industry.

"Intellectual property is an important tool to help SABIC achieve its business goals," said Ernesto Occhiello, SABIC Executive Vice President, Technology and Innovation. "Our 10,400 global patent dockets are a reflection of our emphasis on innovation to support our growth," Occhiello said, pointing out that SABIC also has over 550 active disclosures under review.

As MRC wrote before, SABIC developed a new grade of high density polyethylene (HDPE) - SABIC HDPE PCG4906 - for large containers used in healthcare applications in close cooperation with Mauser, a well-known supplier of blow moulded industrial packaging solutions.

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. It is the largest company in the Middle East.
SABIC is currently the second largest global ethylene glycol producer and is expected to become number one after the introduction of these new projects. SABIC is the third largest polyethylene manufacturer, the fourth largest polyolefins manufacturer and the fourth largest polypropylene manufacturer. It is also the world's largest producer of mono-ethylene glycol, MTBE, granular urea, polyphenylene and polyether imide.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- With immediate effect, or as existing contracts permit, BASF, the world's petrochemical major, is increasing its European sales prices for Ethyleneamines (EEA), as per the company's statement.

The price increase will be as follows: ethylenediamine (EDA) - by EUR50/tonne, diethylenetriamine (DETA) - EUR50/tonne or by the equivalent amounts in local currency.

The price increase will also apply to current supply agreements as soon as and to the extent permitted by their terms and conditions.

Ethyleneamines are high-class intermediates used in the manufacture of crop protection agents and paper chemicals, surfactants for detergents and cleaning products, process chemicals for gas treatment, lubricants and cement additives as well as active pharmaceutical ingredients.

BASF produces ethyleneamines at its Verbund sites in Antwerp, Belgium and Nanjing, China.

As MRC wrote previously, BASF increased its May prices for all its Lupranat MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate) basic products by EUR70 per metric ton and for its Lupranat TDI (toluene diisocyanate) basic products by EUR50 per metric ton in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. BASF had sales of about EUR74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- KraussMaffei is supplying four injection molding machines manufactured in China to BSH Bosch and Siemens Hausgerate GmbH (BSH) in China, said the company in its press release.

The large MX-series machines will be delivered to the BSH facility in Nanjing from KraussMaffei's Chinese plant in Haiyan, where they will be used to produce washing-machine tubs. BSH Nanjing has already been using linear robots from KraussMaffei since 2008.

KraussMaffei has supplied BSH with complete production solutions for the fully automated manufacture of washing-machine tubs for many years. BSH manufactures these tubs in three large injection molding plants in Russia, Turkey and China. The company has ordered four new large machines from the MX Series, two of which were put into operation back in February 2014, for their plant in China. The other two MX 850-8100 machines will be installed there in the summer. The new MX machines are the first to be supplied to BSH directly from KraussMaffei's production plant in Haiyan.

Based on their positive experiences of collaborating with KraussMaffei, the BSH laundry experts decided to use the fully automated injection molding solutions consisting of the MX 850-8100 with LRX linear robots. Once the metal bushings required for the tub have been checked, the LRX 500 is used to place them into the mold and remove the finished parts. Bushings of varying diameters are needed depending on the size of the tub being made, and the robots provide these bushings quickly and in the correct size. Getting this right is especially important because the accuracy of the bushing/bearing unit design is a decisive factor in the longevity of the washing machines. These modular units from KraussMaffei Automation have been used to automate the production of injection-molded parts in China since 2008.

From its production plant in Haiyan, KraussMaffei supplies production solutions that are specially tailored to the needs of Asian customers and meet the company's globally applicable quality standards. The MX series of large machines, which are manufactured and assembled locally in China, are designed for use in the automotive, electronics, packaging and transport industries.

As MRC wrote before, Two leading pipe manufacturers from Russia have recently chosen KraussMaffei Berstorff as a systems supplier for premium-quality technology and invested in PO pipe extrusion systems. Isoljazionny Trubny Zawod (ITZ) is seeking to enter into a long-term partnership with KraussMaffei Berstorff. Polyplastic Group is already a satisfied KraussMaffei Berstorff customer and, consequently, has placed a follow-up order.

The KraussMaffei Group is a global leader in the plastics and rubber processing industries. The company covers all areas of injection molding machinery, extrusion technology and reaction process machinery, which gives it a unique selling point in the industry.
MRC