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Steam cracker margins in NW Europe fall for the third consecutive month

Contract cracker margins in North-west Europe continued to be pulled down by high feedstock naphtha prices, pressing producers to increase November contract prices of ethylene, as per Pla...

25-Oct-10

PET prices rise in Asia, Europe, US despite fading high season

PET prices recorded increases in Asia, Europe and the US despite the fact that the high season has faded away. As per Chemorbis, this firm trend is mainly down to the strong upstream cost...

25-Oct-10

Petronas' 1.7 mln tpa methanol plant at Labuan running at about 80% capacity

Malaysia's Petronas is running its’ 1.7 mln tpa methanol plant at Labuan at about 80% capacity since end of last week, as per Platts. Natural gas supply disruption caused a shutdown on Oc...

25-Oct-10

SK Energy to restart smaller naphtha cracker after two years on petchem profits

SK Energy Co Ltd is restarting the smaller of its two naphtha crackers to cash in on recent strong petrochemical margins after a two-year shutdown due to poor profits, as per Reuters. The...

25-Oct-10

Qatar’s Tasweeq sells 200,000 tons of naphtha for November loading at premiums

Qatar’s Tasweeq sold about 200,000 tons of naphtha for November loading to several buyers at US$15-16/ton above Middle East quotes on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. As per Reuters, buyers i...

25-Oct-10

US recycling rate for post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate is 28% in 2009

The US recycling rate for post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is 28% in 2009, marking the sixth straight year that the nation’s recycling rate has increased, despite a four per...

25-Oct-10

Increasing demand will drive growth for plastic packaging in Southern Africa

Increasing demand from the emerging middle class and the growing food and beverage sectors will drive growth for plastic packaging in Southern Africa, according to a report from Frost & S...

25-Oct-10

Federal Reserve Chairman’s speech sparks some uncertainty about support for the economy

The upward trend in oil prices continues after Federal Reserve Chairman’s speech led to some uncertainty about the central bank’s support to the economy. Weighing down oil prices is EIA’s...

25-Oct-10

EPCL seeks permission for nil rates to import ethylene for EDC and VCM production

Pakistan’s Engro Polymer and Chemicals Limited (EPCL) is seeking permission to import ethylene at zero rate for production of Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM), Ethylene Dichloride (EDC). EPCL...

22-Oct-10

Middle East diverts cargoes to Europe: naphtha premiums rise

Naphtha premiums in the Middle East have risen this week after cargoes were diverted to Europe. Currently, Europe is faced with a widespread refinery and port strike in France that has ex...

22-Oct-10

Hubei Biocause Pharmaceutical to invest in propylene production

Hubei Biocause Pharmaceutical plans to to invest 301.96 mln yuan in propylene production, which uses the process of catalytic cracking of C4 olefin. About 200.02 mln yuan will be earmarke...

22-Oct-10

A technique to permanently bind antibacterial coatings to polymer layer eliminates biofilm in medical devices

Researchers at the University of South Australia are working on making medical devices safer by developing a technique that will permanently bind antibacterial coatings to a polymer layer...

22-Oct-10

BASF plans new production facility for customer specific antioxidant blends in Bahrain

BASF has announced plans to build a production facility for customer specific antioxidant blends (CSB) in Bahrain. The new CSB plant will come in addition to the existing tolling agreemen...

22-Oct-10

Canadian Association calls for 5 year extension of ACCA for new machinery and equipment

Members of Chemistry Industry Association of Canada are calling for a 5 year extension of the accelerated capital cost allowance (ACCA) for new machinery and equipment. The ACCA was first...

22-Oct-10

Air Products completes further expansion of Asia Technology Center in China

Air Products has recently completed further expansion of its state-of-the-art Asia Technology Center in the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai, China. The expansion will accelerate devel...

22-Oct-10

Zhejiang Shaoxing Sanyuan to start up new PP line by year end

China's Zhejiang Shaoxing Sanyuan Petrochemical plans to start up a new 300,000 tpa polypropylene line at its plant at Shaoxing, in Zhejiang province, by end 2010, as per Platts. This wil...

22-Oct-10

Tight supply props up domestic PE prices in SE Asia

Limited availability has pushed PE prices higher in local markets across Southeast Asia this week, with the largest increases being observed in LDPE and LLDPE film prices while HDPE film ...

22-Oct-10

Honam Petrochemical studying plans to build ethylene plant in Indonesia

South Korea's Honam Petrochemical Corp is studying plans to build a 450,000 tpa ethylene plant in Indonesia in 2010, at an estimated cost of US$500 mln. Honam is expected to visit Indones...

21-Oct-10

November PVC concluded deals in China near initial offer levels

In line with sellers’ earlier hike targets, November PVC offers were announced with monthly increases to China this week, as per Chemorbis. A major Taiwanese producer is now seeking a ten...

21-Oct-10

Growing imports, low domestic demand lead to polymer price reductions in India

Indian polymer producers have announced price reductions in polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE), as imports grow amid low domestic demand. Demand is low because during the festive se...

21-Oct-10