EPCA '08: Summary of Monday's top stories

29 September 2008 18:12  [Source: ICIS news]

MONTE CARLO (ICIS news)--Here is a summary of Monday’s main news and events from the European Petrochemicals Association (EPCA) meeting.  

 

• SABIC will seek to broaden its geographic footprint into central and eastern Europe and push further downstream but only up to "three steps from the cracker", said Europe CEO Boy Litjens.

 

• Hopes that the European olefins industry would adopt a monthly contract system are fading fast after failing to find support from a key net buyer and Total reiterated its strong support for the quarterly olefins pricing mechanism.

 

• An initial European October barge styrene contract has been settled down €84/tonne ($124/tonne) from the previous month, a source at a major producer reported.

 

• The petrochemicals industry will start 2009 in a state of limbo due to volatility in the upstream energy complex, with one analyst saying oil could be anywhere from $70-200/bbl next year, a European buyer said.

 

• INEOS Olefins has entered into a formal consultation period with its employees over the possible closure of its ageing G4 cracker at Grangemouth in the UK, a company spokesman said.

 

• US demand for chemicals will slow down over the next few months despite a plan by Washington to inject up to $700bn into its economy to shore up failing banks, a producer said.

 

• Netherlands-based tanker and terminal firm Vopak expects the escalating credit crisis to aid its expansion strategy as financial players are no longer vying for the same assets, CEO John Paul Broeders said.

 

• Evonik has developed a new methyl methacrylate (MMA) process based on the classic acetone cyanohydrin (ACH) route but which avoids the production of ammonium bisulphate by-product, a senior company official said.

 

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By: Mark Watts
+44 20 8652 3214

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