Chemical News
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China's May coking coal imports fall 45% on month Jun 29,2017
China's coking coal imports in May plunged 45% month on month to 4.69 million mt as volumes from Australia, Canada and Indonesia dropped sharply, according to data released over the weekend by the General Administration of Customs. Top exporter Australia shipped 650,000 mt in May, down 84% on the month after Cyclone Debbie hitting Queensland, Au...>>>
Bolivia's YPFB scraps $2.2 billion polypropylene contract Jun 29,2017
Bolivian state oil company YPFB annulled a $2.2 billion contract for a polypropylene plant, the government said Wednesday. YPFB will call another public tender "in the next few months," Energy Minister Luis Sanchez said in a statement. Italy's Tecnimont and Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas won the contract in May to build a plant in the gas-rich Tarija...>>>
European July styrene contract price expected to be at a rollover or small decrease Jun 29,2017
The European July styrene contract price was expected to be at a rollover to the June price or see a small decrease, according to industry sources. The June styrene contract price was fully settled at Eur1,172.50/mt ($1,332/mt), up Eur42.50/mt from May. A rollover or a small decrease of around Eur20/mt will place the July settlement in the ra...>>>
Section 232 steel investigation result could be subject to 'fine tuning': AISI Jun 29,2017
US steel mills are expecting the US Department of Commerce to find that US national security is threatened by steel imports in its Section 232 investigation, but the potential remedies proposed may be subject to adjustments, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. "We certainly look forward to working with the administration as they ...>>>
South African gold producer says no more mining licences in wake of new charter Jun 29,2017
DRDGold, the 122-year-old South African gold producer, will no longer apply for mining licences because of Mining Charter III, CEO Niel Pretorius said Tuesday, calling it "a shambles." "We will not be applying for mining licences in this country any more because of the new mining rules. We do have mining licences to last us for 10 to 15 years, b...>>>
Pacific Ethanol to acquire ICP, integrate it with Pekin, Ill., plant Jun 29,2017
Pacific Ethanol's planned acquisition of Illinois Corn Processing and its plans to integrate ICP with Pacific's adjacent Pekin, Illinois, plant will provide significant cost savings and diversify products, the company said Tuesday. "[ICP's] beverage- and industrial-grade alcohol business diversifies our revenue with a less volatile and more pred...>>>
Weekly US coal carload volumes slip for first time in seven weeks: AAR Jun 29,2017
US coal carload volumes fell for the first time in seven weeks but remained well above year-ago counts, Association of American Railroads data showed Wednesday. For the week ending June 24, the AAR reported 85,975 coal carloads traveled US railways, down 1.3% from the previous week but up 11.2% from the year-ago week. The week-over-week decli...>>>
US Energy Secretary Perry pushes plan to boost oil, gas production Jun 29,2017
US Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Tuesday accused the Obama administration of hindering US fossil energy production and pushed the Trump administration's energy policy agenda focused on US "energy dominance." In a speech at the US Energy Information Administration's annual energy conference, Perry said that during the Obama administration produc...>>>
Feature: Vietnam delays Euro-4 emission standards for diesel vehicles to 2018 Jun 29,2017
Vietnam has decided to put on hold the implementation of Euro 4-equivalent emission standards for diesel cars until next year to allow automobile companies more time to adhere to the new guidelines. The decisions follow requests from importers and manufacturers to delay the implementation, given they were unable to adjust their business without ...>>>
100 Spot Commodities Price Chart - 28/06/2017 Jun 29,2017
It was assessed by SunSirs that in the tracked 100 spot commodities,34 commodities increased in prices, 13 fell and 52 remained unchanged on 28/06/2017.The largest rises were BR (3.68%),Iron ore (2.43%),Lead ingot (2.05%),while the largest falls were H...>>>
China's May ferromolybdenum exports fall 56% on month to 898 mt Jun 30,2017
China's May ferromolybdenum exports fell 56% month on month to 898 mt, data released by the General Administration of Customs over last weekend showed. It exported a record 2,047 mt in April, the highest since S&P Global Platts started compiling data in June 2009. Last month, China exported 350 mt of ferromoly to Taiwan, 240 mt to South Korea...>>>
Methanex reduces July North American methanol CP by 3 cents to 113 cents/gal Jun 30,2017
Methanex will cut its July North American methanol posted contract price by 3 cents to 113 cents/gal ($376/mt) FOB USG, the company said on its website Wednesday. Sources expected July methanol contracts to be slightly lower or a rollover from June. SCC also said it will cut its North American methanol posted contract price by 3 cents in July...>>>
Turkish injection-grade high density polyethylene spot prices drop to 8-year low Jun 30,2017
Turkish injection-grade high density polyethylene spot prices have collapsed to an eight-year low on extreme length in the market, sources said. Turkish prices were assessed on Wednesday at $1,078/mt CFR Turkey, down $27/mt on the week. The price drop was driven by competitive offers from Europe, on lackluster European demand. Part of the rea...>>>
July Asian paraxylene contract price nominations at $815-$840/mt day before deadline Jun 30,2017
Nominations by Asian paraxylene producers for the Asian Contract Price negotiations for July have so far been made in the range of $815-$840/mt, a day before the expected conclusion on Friday, market sources said on Thursday. The sharpest nomination so far has been made by Japan's Idemitsu Kosan, at $815/mt, down from its initial nomination of $...>>>
April US, Canadian aluminum demand up 1.4% year on year Jun 30,2017
Preliminary estimates show US and Canadian aluminum demand -- shipments by domestic producers plus imports -- totaled around 2.257 billion lb in April, a 1.4% increase compared with the same month in 2016, the Aluminum Association said Thursday. Demand for semi-fabricated mill products totaled 1.618 billion lb in April, which was 1.9% higher tha...>>>
Brazil's CSN alleges two distributors selling fraudulently selling steel Jun 30,2017
Brazilian integrated steelmaker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) is charging two distributors in the country with fraudulently selling the company's steel, a spokesman told S&P Global Platts on Thursday. "Fake companies created websites where they supposedly were distributing our products -- using CSN's name and logo," a the spokesman said. ...>>>
Asia ferrosilicon spot offers rise on depleting Chinese stocks Jun 30,2017
Spot offers for 75% Si ferrosilicon rose this week as Chinese offers rose on stable Chinese domestic demand which has depleted stocks and reduced availability, industry sources said Thursday. The Chinese yuan had strengthened against the dollar this week, giving FOB China offers a lift, the sources added. The dollar was trading at Yuan 6.794 ...>>>
European aluminum group calls for global forum on excess capacity Jun 30,2017
European Aluminium is advocating for the creation of a global forum on excess capacity with transparent data and monitoring tools, the industry lobby group said Thursday. Ahead of next week's G20 summit in Hamburg, the group said the G20 should "address the present situation of Chinese overcapacity, which causes global imbalances in the aluminiu...>>>
Turkish import ferrous scrap prices rise as supply tightness emerges Jun 30,2017
Supply of ferrous scrap tightened on Wednesday, and Turkish import prices from the deepsea jumped. Two US cargoes were sold into Turkey during the recent Eid al-Fitr holiday. One was bought by an Iskenderun electric arc furnace-based producer, containing 10,0000 mt of heavy melting scrap I/II 80:20 at $290/mt, 10,0000 mt of shred at $295/mt, ...>>>
Indian end-users of coal brace up for GST from July 1 Jun 30,2017
Spot market activities have begun to sag in India, as end-users of thermal coal, both imported and domestic, brace up for the new unified tax structure, effective July 1. Domestic coal consumers are welcoming the new Goods and Services Tax, or GST, which will bring down sales tax on coal to just 5% from the current 11%-12%. A Chennai-based en...>>>