News

Oil Surges to One-Year High on U.S. Gasoline Supply Decline

By Mark Shenk

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil surged above $80 a barrel in New York to a one-year high after a U.S. Energy Department report showed a greater-than-forecast gasoline supply drop.

Gasoline stockpiles fell 2.21 million barrels, more than twice the median of analyst forecasts, to 206.9 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 16, according to the department’s report. Oil also advanced as U.S. equities increased and the dollar slipped against the euro, bolstering the appeal of commodities.

“The gasoline number has clearly changed the landscape,” said John Kilduff, senior vice president of energy at MF Global in New York. “The industry is seen constraining fuel supply, which is underpinning the market.”

Crude oil for December delivery climbed $1.37, or 1.7 percent, to $80.49 a barrel at 11:43 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures touched $80.64, the highest since Oct. 14, 2008. Prices are up 80 percent this year.

Oil traded at $78.76 a barrel before the release of the report at 10:30 a.m. in Washington.

Gasoline for November delivery climbed 4.17 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $2.0294 a gallon in New York. Futures touched $2.0325, the highest since Aug. 31. Prices are up for an eighth day, the longest stretch since July.

Gasoline stockpiles were forecast to drop by 850,000 barrels, according to the median of 16 analyst estimates in a Bloomberg News survey....

To read the complete article click here: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601207&sid=aid8wQijqf4o

NAPCOR AND APR REPORT HIGHEST PET RECYCLING RATE SINCE 1997

2008 Rate Report Shows PET Container Recycling Rate Up for Fifth Year at 27%

By NAPCOR & APR

SONOMA, CALIFORNIA, October 22, 2009 - The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR, and the PET Resin Association (PETRA) announced today the release of the “2008 Report on Postconsumer PET Container Recycling Activity” and a 2008 Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) recycling rate of 27%. This is the highest recycling rate in over ten years and represents an increase of 9.8% over the 2007 rate of 24.6%. Over 1.45 billion pounds of PET bottles were collected in the United States in 2008, the highest PET container collection volume recorded to date.

“This healthy rate increase is a real reminder of the ongoing viability if recycling and the country’s commitment to it,” said Bill O’Grady, APR Chairman and Vice President of Talco Plastics. “We at APR certainly support increased recycling and end-use markets for recycled resins, and we see the increasing PET recycling rate as an encouraging trend.”

The Report also details the end-uses for the record 915 million pounds of recycled PET utilized in U.S. Manufacturing application, including fiber for carpet and apparel, strapping, sheet, film, food, beverage, and non-food bottles and containers.

“It is very satisfying to see this significant jump in PET recycling rate,” said Tom Busard, NAPCOR Chairman and Vice President, Global Procurement and Material Systems, Plastipak Packaging, Inc. “Using recycled PET in the manufacture of goods and packaging is energy and resource-efficient and a good example of sustainable practice. We are committed to working with our industry partners to meet increased demand from the manufacturing applications that use-or would like to use-recycled PET.”

To read the complete article please clcik on link http://www.napcor.com/pdf/RRate2008.pdf

Crude Oil is Poised to Top $100 a Barrel: Technical Analysis

By Mark Shenk

Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil is poised to top $100 a barrel after breaking out of a five-month range, according to technical analysis by Auerbach Grayson, a brokerage in New York.

Futures traded between $56 and $75 a barrel from May 8 to Oct. 13. They climbed above $80 yesterday before closing lower for the first time in nine days. A price decline represents a buying opportunity, according to Richard Ross, a technical analyst at Auerbach Grayson.

“We broke out strongly from a five-month period of consolidation,” Ross said in a telephone interview. “The longer the period that we break out of, the stronger the following move will be.”

Oil will next hit resistance at $103.76 a barrel, which corresponds to a 61.8 percent retracement of crude’s collapse from its record of $147.27 last July to $32.40 in December. The significance of this percentage move comes from the ratios between numbers in the Fibonacci sequence, used by traders to predict points of resistance and support.

“The headline number is $100, but the real target is $103,” Ross said. “That would be a gain of about 25 percent from where prices are now. It’s nothing to sneeze at, but not unusual either. That’s less than the move we’ve seen from June’s lows.”

Futures have climbed 36 percent since dropping as low as $58.32 a barrel in June.

NAPCOR concerned about impact of PLA bottles on the PET recycling stream

By Mike Verespej
July 24, 2009
PLASTICS NEWS STAFF

SONOMA, CALIF. (July 24, 11 a.m. ET) -- The National Association for PET Container Resources has joined a growing list of PET recyclers and plastic recycling officials who are concerned over the potential contamination of the PET recycling stream by water bottles made from polylactic acid.

“The entire premise that you can simply add PLA containers into the PET recycling stream, successfully sort them out, and eventually find markets for the material is like advocating that mixed ceramic materials be thrown right in with the recyclable glass stream to be sorted out, and that eventually there will be enough of this mixed material that someone will want to buy it,” said Mike Schedler, technical director of NAPCOR, in a statement issued July 24 by the Sonoma, Calif., association. “It just isn’t a viable solution from anyone’s point of view.”

The issue of whether PLA could damage the PET recycling stream moved to the forefront three weeks ago. That’s when bioplastics manufacturer NatureWorks LLC released test results conducted for them which concluded that near infrared technology (NIR) can separate 93 percent of PLA out of a PET recycling stream, and that the remaining level of contamination would not create an appreciable haze or color difference.

Those test results were immediately challenged by the Association of Post Consumer Plastic Recyclers in Washington.

“APR has been consistent in its position on PLA,” said APR Executive Director Steve Alexander in a phone interview. “PLA needs to be separated from PET before the reclamation process starts. Period. PLA at levels of more than one-tenth of one percent in a PET recycling stream is not acceptable. Anything beyond that amount has been shown to contaminate the PET recycling stream.”

In addition to their apprehension over possible contamination issues, recyclers are concerned with both a potential yield loss and increased costs they might have to incur to separate out PLA bottles, which have been in the market since April 2008 when Primo Water Corp. began using PLA bottles.

If PLA bottles enter the PET recycling stream, it would “transfer significant system costs and logistics burdens to the PET recyclers, impacting the viability and continued sustainability of their businesses,” said NAPCOR chairman Tom Busard, who is also president of recycler Clean Tech Inc. in Dundee, Mich.

NAPCOR Executive Director Dennis Sabourin agreed. “The reality is that the PLA container becomes a contributor to PET bale yield loss, which is already a big concern for PET reclaimers. So not only is there an increased cost for sorting and a higher yield loss, but without any practical way to aggregate the sorted [PLA] material, or markets for it, it is destined for landfill.”

NAPCOR and APR also question part of the test methodology and some of the assumptions made for the tests and about the results — specifically that all recyclers could easily add and use the near-infrared sorting technology used in the tests, that 7 percent contamination is acceptable and why PLA bottles without labels or caps were used for the test, as that doesn’t mirror reality.

“The tests assume every reclaimer uses the same sortation technology that was used in the test,” Alexander said. “That is like saying that we all drive the same model of car. It is simply not the case. In addition, from what we have seen, we cannot figure out how they reached their 93 percent success diversion rate. Again, even if we grant them that number, it far exceeds the one-tenth of one percent level beyond which the stream is contaminated,” he said.

NAPCOR agreed. “NIR systems are not currently used by all recyclers and require significant investment, typically $200,000 or more,” said the association. “Those who invest in these systems expect them to be able to sort at 95 percent or better. Other sorting systems were not part of the recent tests, nor were ways to address quality issues such as PLA getting stuck in the dryers during the PET reclamation process.”

When the test results were released, Tim Ronan, senior vice president of marketing for Primo Water, said he did not have information about contamination levels in the dryers.

The tests were conducted for NatureWorks and Primo Water and verified by independent consulting firm Plastics Forming Enterprises LLC. They used a NIR machine from TiTech VisionSort GmbH, based in Oslo, Norway.

Similarly, Ronan said NatureWorks and Primo were assured by PFE that there was no need to include caps or labels on the PLA bottles.

“I’m not sure that [these tests] answer all the questions recyclers have about PLA and its potential to contaminate the PET recycling process,” Alexander said.

About 75 pounds, or 1,500 Primo Water bottles, without caps or labels, were flattened and added to a load of PET deposit bottles weighing approximately 35,000 pounds. That volume was selected to mimic conditions if Primo had the fourth highest market share in water bottles.

“NAPCOR has no wish to impede the recycling of additional resins, including PLA,” Sabourin said. “But we can’t sanction putting successful programs in jeopardy through the premature inclusion of other resins into the PET system.”