Japan's Maruzen restarts quake-shut naphtha cracker

(Reuters) - Japan's Maruzen Petrochemical Co Ltd said on Monday it began restarting its 480 KTa naphtha cracker in Chiba, east of Tokyo, earlier in the day, nearly a month after it was shut down following the magnitude 9.0 quake on March 11. The restart means only two crackers remain shut due to the quake. They are operated by Mitsubishi Chemical Corp at its Kashima plant, northeast of Tokyo, and have a total capacity of 828 KTa.

Mitsubishi Chemical, a unit of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings , said in late March that the restart of the crackers would take at least two months.

JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp, an oil refining unit of JX Holdings, was also forced to shut a 404 KTa cracker in Kawasaki after the quake, but it resumed operations on March 29.

Japan has a combined ethylene making capacity of 7.3 million tonnes a year, and nearly 17 percent of that capacity is currently off line due to the closure of the Kashima plants and a maintenance shutdown of Idemitsu Kosan Co's 374 KTa cracker at Chiba.

MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- In QI of 2011 the estimate of imports of polystyrene (PS) and styrene plastics to Russia made 35 KT (+13% to Q I of 2010), according to MRC analysts.

It was expected that a launch of EPS production at Sibur-Chimprom site will result in reduced imports of EPS. But imports substitution isn't observed. EPS imports remained at the level of 2010 - 12 KT. Growth of overall imports of PS and styrene plastics against the same period in 2010 occurred at the expense of double growth of GPPS imports (8 KT).

We observe the growth of not only PS and styrene plastics imports but of consumption in general. Over January-February 2011 domestic producers manufactured 122 KT (+7%). PG Prof (Styrovit) production of GPPS is now working almost at 100% capacities utilization. Average utilization of Nizhnekamskneftehim capacities made 93%.

It is no wonder that the main growth of feedstock imports (3 KT) fell at the XPS-plates sector. Now growing demand for GPPS in the XPS-plates sector has provided almost complete loading of domestic capacities. MRC analysts forecast a further growth of the sector whose driver may become the Program of energy saving in Russia.

Detailed analysis of PS market, long-term and short-term forecast of its development is available in MRC Annual report PS and Styrene Plastics in Russia 2011.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Belgium-based Solvay's proposed acquisition of France's Rhodia for EUR 3.4bn (USD 4.9bn) sets the stage for more chemical mergers and acquisitions (M&A), analysts said on Monday. Solvay's planned acquisition of Rhodia comes after US investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway announced its USD 9bn (excluding the assumption of about USD 700m in debt) acquisition of US-based lubricants and specialty chemicals firm Lubrizol on 14 March.

As Jefferies & Co. analyst Laurence Alexander noted in a research note, 32% of Rhodia's sales are from products that address sustainable development, including lightweight plastics for the automotive sector, and silica for environmentally-friendly tyres. Including the assumption of EUR 3.2bn in Rhodia debt, the deal is valued at EUR 6.6bn.

Rhodia generates around 20% of its sales from the automotive end market and around 40% of its sales from emerging markets.

⌠The main product within Rhodia's portfolio is engineering plastics based on polyamide or Nylon 6,6 - from which the company generates around 40% of its revenues, the analyst said.

MRC

(ICIS) -- Japan's production woes in the wake of the 11 March disaster have nudged up prices of selected petrochemical products in Asia over the past three weeks and will likely continue to influence regional trades going forward, industry sources said on Tuesday.

Widespread damage to logistics infrastructure in the northeastern part of the country, and the consequent shortage of electricity as Japan grapples with a nuclear crisis in quake-hit Fukushima prevents domestic industrial plants, including petrochemical facilities, from running at full tilt.

Supply from Japan has been falling and regional demand is being beefed up as the country needed to compete for imported material, creating strong upward pressure on product prices.

Most petrochemical plants in Kashima, which was near the epicentre of the 9.0-magnitude quake that triggered a massive tsunami, have remained shut, while others in the surrounding areas are gradually restarting operations.

MRC

(Evonik) -- Evonik Industries, Essen (Germany) has started up a new facility to produce high-purity isobutene at its site in Antwerp (Belgium). The new plant, which involved investment of tens of millions euros, can produce up to 110 KT isobutene p.a. and forms part of the site's integrated C4 production platform. The investment has tripled Evonik's production capacity for isobutene, which is used, for example, for butyl rubber for applications such as inner liners with low air permeability in automotive tires.

Evonik's integrated C4 production complex in Antwerp is on of the world's leading technology platforms in this field. As a specialty chemicals group, Evonik produces high-quality starting products and intermediates from crude C4, a by-product of ethylene and propylene production.

MRC