Kuraray will increase the prices of its elastomer products, effective for all shipments on and after 1 March 2010. Details of the price revisions are given below.

Merquinsa announced a price increase of EUR 200.00 per tonne across the European region, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent; and USD 300.00 per tonne in Asia, Latin America and North America for all Pearlstick and Pearlbond TPU speciality resins.

Chemtura has entered a long-term strategic sourcing agreement with Albemarle. Under the agreement, Chemtura will source BA-59P, DE-83R, Firemaster 2100, n-propyl bromide and sodium bromide from Albemarle. Additionally, Albemarle is assigning its brine interests in Chemtura's West Brine production unit located in Union County, AR, USA, to Chemtura, which will further strengthen the company's bromine operations and maximise productivity.

At Tessenderlo Frank Coenen, 50, succeeds Gérard Marchand, 66, as new Group CEO as per 15 January 2010.

“SPE PRO”, a new free online service from the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE), provides a regularly updated selection of professionally edited briefs in key sectors of plastics technology and polymer science, enabling site visitors to keep abreast of the latest developments.

PolyOne Corporation reported net income of USD 24.0 million, or USD 0.25 per diluted share on revenues of USD 552.5 million in Q4 2009, compared with a net loss of USD 282.6 million or USD 3.07 per diluted share on revenues of USD 541.8 million in Q4 2008. On a comparable basis, earnings per share before special items and one-time tax items increased 75 % over prior year levels to USD 0.14 per diluted share compared to USD 0.08 per diluted share recorded in Q4 2008.

On 1 February 2010, Kraton Polymers LLC, a global producer of styrenic block copolymers, announced a general price increase in North and South America of 10 cpp or USD 220 per tonne across all markets and end-uses, for its SEBS polymers and SEBS compounds. There will also be a general price increase for SEPS polymers and SEPS compounds of 15 cpp or USD 330 per tonne.

Bayer MaterialScience (BMS) has opened a new pilot facility for the manufacture of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at Chempark Leverkusen, Germany. The company has invested some EUR 22 million in the planning, development and construction of the facility, which is the largest of its kind in the world and has an annual capacity of 200 tonnes.

On January 18, 2010 Kraton announced a general price increase in Europe, Africa and the Middle East of EUR 100 /MT across all markets and end uses, for its SBS and OE SBS polymers.

Eastman Chemical has completed the expansion of its Regalite hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin facility in Middelburg, the Netherlands. With this expansion, the original capacity has increased by 65 %. In addition, the company has further optimised its production process with this expansion, now using less energy per tonne of end product.