Price-of-MEG – Italian-Microtex-Composites 28-04-2022 - Arhive
Price-of-MEG – Italian-Microtex-Composites
-MEGlobal reduced the May contract price of MEGs in Asia by USD20 per ton
MEGlobal, the world leader in monoethylene glycol (MEG) and diethylene glycol (DG), has nominated may’s MEG contract price for Asia at USD910 per tonne, USD20 per tonne below the previous month’s level, the company’s press service said.
The price was named on the terms of delivery of CFR Asia.
Earlier it was noted that MEGlobal raised the April contract price of MEGs for Asia by USD40 per ton compared to the level of March – to USD930 per ton, CFR Asia.
Despite stronger price pressures and reduced supply, the Asian MEG market remains under pressure as China’s COVID-19 non-proliferation policy has hit demand hard in refining and marketing. Price-of-MEG – Italian-Microtex-Composites
Spot MEG quotations fell to their lowest level since the beginning of the year due to a deterioration in demand in the processing sector amid a further reduction in production by large polyester producers.
MEG, along with terephthalic acid (TPA), is one of the main raw materials for the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
According to the ICIS-MRC Price Review, prices in the domestic market of the Russian Federation decreased in the second half of April. Players’ expectations for future prices in May remain mixed. Some market participants expect a further drop in the cost of spot, while others believe that good demand within the country will not allow prices to fall much.
MEGlobal, headquartered in Dubai (UAE), is a world leader in the production of monoethylene glycol (MEG) and diethylene glycol (DH).
-Kordsa to buy majority stake in Italian Microtex Composites
Turkish company Kordsa has decided to acquire the majority of shares of Italy-based Microtex Composites for 24.6 million euros.
“With this investment in composite technologies, Kordsa aims to increase its product diversity; grow the number of its client sectors; and also, to expand its service range in the automotive and motorsport sectors,” Kordsa said in a statement issued to the Public Disclosure Platfrom (KAP).
Kordsa, a subsidiary of Sabancı Holding, is planning to reinforce its place within the international market and its gross sales community with international investments.
“In line with the company’s target of transformation into an advanced material company, after the organic growth investments in Turkey and inorganic growth investments in the United States, a share purchase agreement dated April 20 was signed with regard to the acquisition of Microtex Composites,” said the statement.
Kordsa CEO İbrahim Özgür Yıldırım said: “I imagine that this funding, which can increase our portfolio of works within the tremendous luxurious automotive and motor sports activities segments, will create new alternatives for the works to be developed by Kordsa in several departments aside from aviation, the place our firm is in a powerful place.” Price-of-MEG – Italian-Microtex-Composites
-GREENPLAST: PLASTICS, TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABILITY
From the 3rd to the 6th of May 2022, Fiera Milano will host the entire plastics and rubber industry in Rho-Pero in an event dedicated to innovative solutions to boost environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, options for Reducing-Reusing-Recycling, and progress towards a circular economy. Companies in the industry have been investing in these areas for years, leading the way as dynamic market players.
GREENPLAST, organized by Promaplast srl, will allow all interested operators – Italian and non-Italian – to evaluate plastics and rubber processing technologies and the new Industry 4.0 paradigm with an emphasis on the Made-in-Italy, which has stood out all over the world for its hi-tech solutions ever since the awakening of an environmental awareness (many years ago and especially in the more developed countries). Price-of-MEG – Italian-Microtex-Composites
The leading Italian and international companies will have the chance to show their innovative solutions for environmental sustainability in the halls of the fairgrounds:
- virgin, low-impact, low-carbon-footprint raw materials, secondary raw materials, biopolymers, additives
semi-finished and finished products made from innovative, recycled, or biologically sourced materials
machinery, equipment, and systems that combine low energy consumption with high performance, high-efficiency processing and are able to use innovative, recycled and/or biologically sourced materials
systems and machinery for the selection, processing, and recycling of plastics and rubber, both in-line and post-consumption
support and consulting services for plastics and rubber production generally (from injection moulding to extrusion, from blow moulding to thermoforming, etc.) and recovery and recycling
public corporations, consortia, and organizations active in plastics and rubber recycling.
GREENPLAST will feature an international conference, hosting world renowned speakers who will discuss key issues relating to the trade fair: environmental sustainability and the circular economy, especially as they relate to packaging and plastic products. Price-of-MEG – Italian-Microtex-Composites
-Why VSF operating rate rises instead of falling under great cost pressure?
The cost of VSF has been rising this year with imported inflation, increasing demand in international market and higher logistics cost. It can be seen from the following table that the price of most raw materials is higher than the comparable 2021 level and there is substantial increase of energy and logistics cost, while the price of VSF is not very high.
VSF companies have been suffering losses this year with continued rising cost.
VSF price has gained ground by around 2,000yuan/mt this year, but profits have been in negative territory and losses seem to be widening since Apr, despite improving profits in Jan. Although the losses keep widening, the operating rate of VSF plants is rising constantly and is likely to reach 80% by the end of Apr.
The main reasons are as below:
- The theoretical loss of VSF plants has been around 1,000yuan/mt, but is still lower than the peak of 2020 and 2021 when the deepest loss was more than 2,000yuan/mt. According to CCFGroup’s estimation based on theoretical calculation, the variable cost can almost be covered by current price by disregarding depreciation and labor cost, which is roughly around the equilibrium point of shutting/running the facility.
- In fact, most VSF plants do not adopt on site procurement of raw materials and they generally purchase dissolving pulp as the major feedstock two months or even more than two months before. According to customs data, imported dissolving pulp arrived at Chinese ports in Mar is almost around $936/mt, which is lower than the trading price of $960-980/mt during the month. Price-of-MEG – Italian-Microtex-Composites
- Most VSF plants are equipped with feedstock or auxiliary materials. For example, Tangshan Sanyou and Zhongtai Chemical has caustic soda and Sateri has dissolving pulp. Once VSF units are shut down, those raw/auxiliary materials cannot be absorbed. Moreover, some companies are also coincided with downstream capacities, so the shutdown of VSF lines may cause lack of enough raw materials in downstream segment
-Energy transition is “now or never”, says Turmes
The war in Ukraine has thrown Europe into an energy crisis, highlighting its dependence on Russia. Luxembourg energy minister Claude Turmes (déi Gréng) wants to seize the opportunity to exit fossil fuels and speed up the green transition.
Cordula Schnuer: There is an energy crisis. Prices already started climbing last year. The war in Ukraine has exacerbated this. But to what extent is the crisis homemade?
Claude Turmes: We are now approaching what the Club of Rome analysed 50 years ago, which is one planet, 7 billion inhabitants, and these inhabitants using fossil energy to fuel their lives and economies. So, oil prices are high. They were already high before the war in Ukraine. Oil is a global market. And the prices were high because 7 billion inhabitants use oil. Price-of-MEG – Italian-Microtex-Composites
There were some covid effects. In the first phase of covid lockdown, oil was almost at zero. And that, for example, led to the closure of shale oil drilling in the US, which diminished supply. And then, in the later phase of covid, we had stimulus programmes on a global scale, like we never had before. That fuelled a world oil demand.
Gas has long been a regional market, with the EU’s biggest importer being Russia. This horrible attack by Russia on Ukraine is destabilising the gas market even more than the oil market. Because some power plants are run by gas that drives the electricity price up.
We are in an energy crisis because we are approaching the end of oil or the end of resources. And in the same moment, we are in a climate crisis. De facto, we are using too much oil or fossil fuels in general. This is not compatible with our climate policy. The only answer to this is quitting oil and fossil fuels as quickly as possible.
You said in parliament that there is a plan to respond to this crisis, the National Energy and Climate Plan. This aims to help Luxembourg achieve its climate goals to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030 and be climate neutral by 2050. How can it help in the short term?
–Faurecia will review lower-value assets as it ramps up divestment plan
Faurecia, which is changing its name to Forvia, said it would review business activities with a value of less than $1.1 billion.
Faurecia will review all its business activities under 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion), finance chief Michel Favre said, as the supplier ramps up its divestment plan following its acquisition of German lighting supplier Hella.
“We are building a very powerful group, so we need to focus on the key business,” Favre said in Faurecia’s first-quarter revenue call with analysts, where he ruled out plans to sell the group’s clean mobility business.
“All activities which are below 1 billion euros are under scrutiny,” he said, without saying how this would be calculated. Price-of-MEG – Italian-Microtex-Composites
The group on Tuesday doubled its divestment target to 1 billion euros in proceeds by the end of next year, as it suspended this year’s dividend payment and said it had protectively renegotiated its debt covenant.
Faurecia said it has bought 81.5 percent of Hella for a total price of 5.4 billion euros, but stopped buying shares at the end of February. Following the takeover, Faurecia is in the process of changing its name to Forvia.
Based on 2020 sales at Faurecia and Hella, the combined company would have ranked eighth on Automotive News Europe’s list of the top 100 global automotive suppliers, with combined sales of about $24 billion, just behind Hyundai Mobis, with sales of $25.1 billion.
2022 targets at low end
Also on Tuesday, Favre and CEO Patrick Koller issued annual targets at the low end of forecasts, citing caution linked to Chinese lockdowns and the war in Ukraine.
Price-of-MEG – Italian-Microtex-Composites