December 14, 2018

Dow Opens Polyol Plant in Thailand

Dow opens polyol plant in Thailand

Dow Chemical announced the opening of a new polyol plant for rigid polyurethane foam in Rayong, Thailand. According to the company, the facility increases its capacity to offer insulation materials and solutions with reliable, energy-efficient performance.

The polyol plant has a designed annual capacity of 79,000 t and is located at the Asia Industrial Estate (AIE) site in Rayong province. The AIE site covers 515 hectares and is home to six Dow manufacturing plants.

Approximately 150 guests from customers and partners joined Dow leaders to attend a dedication ceremony on 8 November 2018. The polyol plant strengthens Dow’s upstream plant integration in Thailand and further expands the company’s presence in Asia Pacific, following the recent opening of new polyurethane systems houses in Lote Parshuram, India and Zhangjiagang, China.

“This announcement demonstrates Dow’s commitment to our ongoing investment in Polyurethanes in order to bring to our customers a reliable supply of innovative solutions aligned to global trends such as population growth and energy efficiency,” said Jane Palmieri, business president, Dow Polyurethanes. “The Rayong facility is an important addition to Dow’s global polyurethanes manufacturing network, further enabling us to deliver industry-leading products that help customers minimise their environmental footprint, while creating lasting social, environmental and economic benefits throughout the entire product life cycle.”

“We are living in an era when innovative and effective solutions are needed to address imperative sustainability challenges, including energy consumption and climate change,” said Christina Yu, commercial director Asia Pacific, Dow Polyurethanes. “This is particularly important in Asia Pacific where significant population growth and increasing energy consumption is translating to higher demand for energy efficiency solutions, which Dow is best positioned to deliver as the world’s leading material science company.”

“This new plant further solidifies Dow’s key manufacturing base in Thailand and is an important milestone in our expansion in Asia Pacific, demonstrating our long-term commitment to the country and the region,” said Chatchai Luanpolcharoenchai, president of Dow Thailand. “With this boost in capacity and our advanced technologies, we are better positioned to meet increasingly sophisticated customer demands.”

www.dow.com

https://www.gupta-verlag.com/news/industry/22302/dow-opens-polyol-plant-in-thailand

December 10, 2018

Chinese TDI Update

Why the TDI Price Move in a Different Pattern This Year?

2018-12-04    [Source:PUdaily]

share:

1. Price movement throughout the year

The pattern of global TDI price movement for the full year takes shape as the year of 2018 is drawing to an end. This year, both prices in Renminbi and dollar terms show a downward trend. This is mainly because the facilities of BASF in Germany (with an annual capacity of 300,000 tons) and Sadara in Saudi Arabia (with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons) started normal operation, leading to increased global supply. On the other hand, due to the slowing global economy and growing uncertainties, the growth in demand slows, putting downward pressure on the prices.

But the Renminbi price and dollar one show different patterns of decline. Overall, the dollar price drops sharply. In contrast, the decline of Renminbi price is slower. In May and August, the price even bounced back. But in September and October, on the news that Wanhua put its new facilities into production, the price fell sharply. The patterns of decline are different because few of the additional TDI products from Germany and Saudi Arabia entered China as they mainly went to foreign markets. From January to September, over 11,000 tons of goods from Saudi Arabia entered China, only accounting for about 1% of domestic TDI consumption. This means limited impact on domestic demand and supply. In addition, it is worth mentioning that China exported more than 66,000 tons of TDI for the January-September period, decreasing by about 22% from the same period last year.

2. Average price for the full year
   The table below shows the TDI average price for 2017-2018. As for the average prices in Renminbi terms, the lower price is offered by Chinese manufacturers in east China, and the higher price is offered by foreign producers in Shanghai. In terms of the average prices in dollar terms, they reflect the price of goods sold in southeast Asia by Japanese and South Korean manufacturers. From the table it can be seen that although the global TDI price is on a downward trajectory, the average price remain high throughout the year, suggesting that TDI manufacturers can still make decent profits. Besides, benefitting from the faster decline in raw material cost than in sponge price the profits of downstream manufacturers rally. However, the dealers are faced with a difficult situation this year. The distinct pattern of price movement compared with the previous years and growing uncertainties have made their decision-making on trading more difficult. As a result, it is harder for them to make a profit.

3.Recent price movement
The recent TDI price has broken the law that the price will surely fall after it consolidates for a while. In the second half of November, the price neither went up nor fell. It didn’t go up because whether Wanhua would put into production its new facilities remained uncertain. And it didn’t fall due to short supply of goods from Shanghai. During the second half of the month, the trading remained thin and the market players were pessimistic about the future. The long sideways movement suggests that currently balance has been struck between supply and demand. The future movement of the price depends more on supply and demand than market players’ mentality.

http://www.pudaily.com/News/NewsView.aspx?nid=75067

December 10, 2018

Chinese TDI Update

Why the TDI Price Move in a Different Pattern This Year?

2018-12-04    [Source:PUdaily]

share:

1. Price movement throughout the year

The pattern of global TDI price movement for the full year takes shape as the year of 2018 is drawing to an end. This year, both prices in Renminbi and dollar terms show a downward trend. This is mainly because the facilities of BASF in Germany (with an annual capacity of 300,000 tons) and Sadara in Saudi Arabia (with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons) started normal operation, leading to increased global supply. On the other hand, due to the slowing global economy and growing uncertainties, the growth in demand slows, putting downward pressure on the prices.

But the Renminbi price and dollar one show different patterns of decline. Overall, the dollar price drops sharply. In contrast, the decline of Renminbi price is slower. In May and August, the price even bounced back. But in September and October, on the news that Wanhua put its new facilities into production, the price fell sharply. The patterns of decline are different because few of the additional TDI products from Germany and Saudi Arabia entered China as they mainly went to foreign markets. From January to September, over 11,000 tons of goods from Saudi Arabia entered China, only accounting for about 1% of domestic TDI consumption. This means limited impact on domestic demand and supply. In addition, it is worth mentioning that China exported more than 66,000 tons of TDI for the January-September period, decreasing by about 22% from the same period last year.

2. Average price for the full year
   The table below shows the TDI average price for 2017-2018. As for the average prices in Renminbi terms, the lower price is offered by Chinese manufacturers in east China, and the higher price is offered by foreign producers in Shanghai. In terms of the average prices in dollar terms, they reflect the price of goods sold in southeast Asia by Japanese and South Korean manufacturers. From the table it can be seen that although the global TDI price is on a downward trajectory, the average price remain high throughout the year, suggesting that TDI manufacturers can still make decent profits. Besides, benefitting from the faster decline in raw material cost than in sponge price the profits of downstream manufacturers rally. However, the dealers are faced with a difficult situation this year. The distinct pattern of price movement compared with the previous years and growing uncertainties have made their decision-making on trading more difficult. As a result, it is harder for them to make a profit.

3.Recent price movement
The recent TDI price has broken the law that the price will surely fall after it consolidates for a while. In the second half of November, the price neither went up nor fell. It didn’t go up because whether Wanhua would put into production its new facilities remained uncertain. And it didn’t fall due to short supply of goods from Shanghai. During the second half of the month, the trading remained thin and the market players were pessimistic about the future. The long sideways movement suggests that currently balance has been struck between supply and demand. The future movement of the price depends more on supply and demand than market players’ mentality.

http://www.pudaily.com/News/NewsView.aspx?nid=75067

November 30, 2018

China Introduces Standards for Athletic Surfaces

November 30, 2018

China Introduces Standards for Athletic Surfaces