European PP prices fell by EUR20-30 /tonne for the markets of the CIS countries in January

MOSCOW (MRC) - January contract price of propylene in Europe was agreed down EUR35/tonne below the level of the December. European producers announced an decrease in January export prices of polypropylene (PP) for the CIS countries but not proportionally to the growth of the price of monomer, according to ICIS-MRC Price Report.

Negotiations over January prices of European PP began last week. All market participants reported the desire of producers to limit the decline in export prices of propylene polymers to a value less than the decline in monomer prices. In fact, we are talking about lowering prices by only EUR20-30/tonne.

January deals for homopolymer PP were agreed in the range of EUR1,100-1,160/tonne FCA, down on average by EUR20-25/tonne from December. Some producers still had significant restrictions on this month's shipments.

Deals for block propylene copolymers (PP block copolymers) were done in the range of EUR1,180-1,240/tonne FCA, while in December deals were done in the range of EUR1,210-1,270/tonne FCA.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The January contract price of ethylene was agreed in Europe down by EUR40/tonne from December. However, European producers did not cut proportionally to the monomer reduction their prices of some polyethylene (PE) grades for this month's shipments to the CIS markets, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Negotiations over January PE shipments from Europe to the CIS countries began last Tuesday. A reduction of EUR40/tonne in the contract price of ethylene in the region suggests a similar decrease in PE production costs. European producers reduced their prices of some PE grades by a greater amount than the reduction in the price of monomer. But the price reduction for other PE grades was less than the monomer price decrease. In general, European PE fell by EUR30-50/tonne, depending on the grade.

Thus, deals for January shipments of high density polyethylene (HDPE) were done in the range of EUR1,050-1,075/tonne FCA, for blow moulding and injection moulding PE, down by an average of EUR30/tonne from December. Prices of injection moulding HDPE dropped to EUR1,000-1,030/tonne FCA.

Prices of black pipe grade HDPE of PE 100 grade were in the range of EUR1,220-1,260/tonne FCA, down by an average of EUR30/tonne from December.

Deals for January shipments of European low density polyethylene (LDPE) were done in the range EUR930-985/tonne FCA, whereas last month's deals were done in the range of EUR980-1,035/tonne FCA.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Celanese Corporation, a global chemical and specialty materials company, has announced it has completed the acquisition of Next Polymers Ltd., one of India's largest engineering thermoplastics (ETP) compounders, as per the company's press release.

"This acquisition complements our rapidly growing India business and establishes Celanese as a leader in the Indian ETP market by broadening our ability to serve nylon and other engineered materials customers with high product quality and service levels, while also offering our customers a wider range of polymer products," said Scott Sutton, Celanese Chief Operating Officer. "This step also offers our new employees career growth opportunities as part of a global chemical and materials company focused on numerous stewardship initiatives."

By adding a new production unit in India, this acquisition further expands Celanese's global manufacturing footprint with a world-class domestic compounding facility and 10 production lines to support local customers in a fast-growing market and leverage a potential export base. The acquisition also grows Celanese's capability in compounding polymers with post-industrial content, an increasingly important focus area that reinforces the company's commitment to waste reduction and environmental accountability.

Celanese will manage Next Polymer's ETP product portfolio within its engineered materials business to include the following products: nylon 6 and nylon 66, polypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA).

Next Polymers specializes in custom compounding of various ETP materials and is located in Mumbai, India, with an approximate 20 kilo tons per annum compounding production facility in Silvassa, located in the union territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

Financial details of the transaction are not being disclosed at this time. Celanese announced its agreement to acquire Next Polymers in October 2018.

As MRC wrote before, in late December 2018, Celanese Corporation announced price increases for its GUR and GHR grades (UHMW-PE) to be shipped starting from January to Europe, the Americas and Asia. The price increases below are effective for orders shipped on or after 1 January, 2019, or as contracts otherwise allow, as follows:

- in Europe - by EUR150/tonne;
- in Asia - by USD150/tonne;
- in North and South America - by 10%.

Celanese Corporation is a global technology leader in the production of differentiated chemistry solutions and specialty materials used in most major industries and consumer applications. Based in Dallas, Celanese employs approximately 7,600 employees worldwide and had 2017 net sales of USD6.1 billion.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- BASF, which last year signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the Guangdong provincial government to establish a new "smart" Verbund site in Guangdong, said it has selected the city of Zhanjiang as the location of the proposed project, as per Apic-online.

BASF and the Guangdong government have now signed a framework agreement setting out further details for the planned site, which is expected to cost up to USD10-billion.

The project, to be implemented in phases, will include a 1-million-t/y steam cracker and several petrochemical units. The first plants could be completed around 2026 at the latest. This will be the company's second Verbund site in China.

A smart manufacturing concept is being further developed for the new site on the basis of cutting-edge technologies that maximize resource and energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact, BASF noted.
"By 2030, China's share of the global chemical production will increase to nearly 50%," said Martin Brudermller, chairman of the board of executive directors at BASF SE.

"Guangdong is a growing market for innovations from chemistry, and our new site will support customers in multiple industries."

As MRC informed before, in July 2018, BASF managed to wrap up a preliminary deal to build China's first wholly foreign-owned chemicals complex quite quickly, aided in part by trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. The proposed complex, worth some USD10 billion in investment to 2030, will be located in Guangdong, China's most populous province which had been worried about the impact of a US decision to heavily penalize telecom firm ZTE Corp, also based there.

BASF is the leading chemical company. It produces a wide range of chemicals, for example solvents, amines, resins, glues, electronic-grade chemicals, industrial gases, basic petrochemicals and inorganic chemicals. The most important customers for this segment are the pharmaceutical, construction, textile and automotive industries.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) - Vietnam’s Nghi Son oil refinery has exported its first batch of jet fuel, the company said, as per Reuters.

The batch of 8,000 cubic metres of jet fuel has been shipped to Singapore, the company said in a statement.

The 200,000-barrel-per-day refinery, which started commercial production in November, will produce 500,000 cubic metres of jet fuel this year for the domestic market, it added.

Kuwait Petroleum (IPO-KUWP.KW) and Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Co own 35.1 percent stake each in the USD9 billion refinery, wile PetroVietnam and Mitsui Chemicals Inc have 25.1 percent and 4.7 percent respectively.
MRC