Chemical News
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US senators unveil bills aimed at ending certain breaks for oil, gas firms Mar 19,2013
Two US Senate Democrats Monday introduced bills aimed at cutting some federal support for oil and gas companies. California Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced the Drilling Royalty Relief Prohibition Act, which would prohibit the Interior Department from waiving royalty payments for oil and gas offshore drilling in waters deeper than 400 meters....>>>
China 100 Spot Commodities Price Chart - 15/03/2013 Mar 18,2013
It was assessed by SunSirs that in the tracked 100 spot commodities,9 commodities increased in prices, 31 fell and 60 remained unchanged on 15/03/2013.The largest rises were Nickel (1.05%),Chloroform (0.74%),Toluene (0.62%),while the largest falls were...>>>
Indonesia's Amoco Mitsui declares force majeure on PTA supply from Merak plant: sources Mar 18,2013
Amoco Mitsui PTA Indonesia declared force majeure on purified terephthalic acid supplies from its 485,000 mt/year plant at Merak, with effect from Monday this week, after the operating rate at the plant unexpectedly dropped, sources close to the company said Friday. The reason for the drop in the operating rate, from 100% of capacity, was uncle...>>>
Abengoa's Rotterdam plant outage boosts European ethanol margins Mar 18,2013
The unexpected shutdown of Spanish Abengoa's 480 million liter/year Rotterdam ethanol plant in mid-December has helped boost grains-to-ethanol crushing margins in Northwest Europe to multi-month highs, data compiled by Platts show. Abengoa's Rotterdam refinery -- Europe's largest ethanol production facility by nameplate capacity -- was shut down...>>>
ASIA THERMAL COAL: CFR cargoes trade at $83.50-84.75/mt in Chinese market Mar 18,2013
Chinese buyers were bargain-hunting in the seaborne market against a backdrop of generally bearish demand and were heard Friday to have snapped up two Capesize spot cargoes of 5,500 kcal/kg NAR coal for $83.50-84.75/mt CFR south China, with a third at $73.50/mt FOB Newcastle, according to market sources. One transaction was for a late-March arri...>>>
EURO GAS: Prompt recovers after weak open as outages fuel supply worries Mar 18,2013
Prompt gas contracts on Continental European hubs recouped early day losses by midday Friday as two unplanned outages at Norway's gas fields, which send gas to the UK and the Continent, cut gas flows and sparked supply worries, one trader said. The day-ahead gas contract on the Dutch TTF trading hub was valued at Eur28.10/MWh, after changing han...>>>
NYMEX April gas futures settle 6 cents higher on temperatures, nuclear outages Mar 18,2013
NYMEX April natural gas futures settled 6 cents higher at $3.872/MMBtu Friday on forecasts for below-normal temperatures through the end of March and higher-than-normal nuclear outages, analysts said. The contract has gained 22.7 cents in the last three sessions, and hit an intraday high of $3.924/MMBtu Friday, highest for a front-month contrac...>>>
Italy's Eni, China's CNPC may cooperate on Africa projects: CEO Mar 18,2013
Italy's Eni may be looking at developing further joint projects with China's National Petroleum Corp after the offshore Mozambique deal signed Thursday, Eni's CEO Paolo Scaroni said. Speaking to journalists after the presentation of Eni's 2013-2016 strategic plan in London, Scaroni said, without referring to any specific project, that "since we ...>>>
PetroChina completes 200,800 b/d crude pipeline linking northwest, Sichuan refinery Mar 18,2013
Chinese state company PetroChina has completed a new crude oil pipeline linking Lanzhou in northwest Gansu province with Chengdu in central Sichuan province, the company said on its website Friday. "From now, there will be 10 million mt/year (200,800 b/d) of crude oil transmitted from Lanzhou to Chengdu," PetroChina said, adding that this is an ...>>>
Analysts, BOEM expect robust Central Gulf of Mexico Sale 227 next week Mar 18,2013
With oil prices still elevated and operator appetite for offshore drilling seemingly limitless, Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 227 appears headed for vigorous bidding and dollar totals that may match or even surpass 2012's collective $1.7 billion in high bids, according to analysts. But sale sponsor US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management was m...>>>
Iron scrap in 2013: Price increasing Mar 15,2013
Iron scrap is a new、resource recycling industry in china and has broad development prospects and great potential .But, bowed to the factor of technology and equipment , compared to developed countries , the utilization rate in china is still low. In early 1998, the utilization rate in America reached 52% and 86% now. From some policies of 18th cpc...>>>
Asia natural rubber prices fall after China's order to clear stocks at Qingdao warehouses Mar 15,2013
Natural rubber prices in Asia this week slid to the lowest levels in four to six months, after Chinese authorities Tuesday ordered local warehouses in Qingdao, Shandong province, to clear part of their rubber stocks within 10 days due to safety concerns, market sources said. Platts assessed TSR 20 (Technically Specified Rubber) for April and May...>>>
Shell 'more than possible' to re-enter polyethylene market with Pennsylvania complex: EVP Mar 15,2013
Shell Chemicals is more than likely to re-enter the polyethylene market with its new proposed petrochemical complex in Pennsylvania, but it would not be a core business for the company, Executive Vice President of Shell Chemicals Graham Van't Hoff said in an interview Thursday. Polyethylene is currently not part of the company's portfolio. In M...>>>
China 100 Spot Commodities Price Chart - 14/03/2013 Mar 15,2013
It was assessed by SunSirs that in the tracked 100 spot commodities,9 commodities increased in prices, 49 fell and 42 remained unchanged on 14/03/2013.The largest rises were Hydrochloric acid (13.85%),Caustic soda (1.59%),Steel I bean (0.69%),while the...>>>
S Africa's Eskom admits coal delivery suffering in wildcat strikes Mar 15,2013
South Africa's national power generator, Eskom, said Thursday that there has been very little coal delivered to its power stations during the 10-day wildcat strikes at five Exxaro Resources mines. Eskom spokesman Hilary Joffe said the utility had 48 days worth of coal stockpiles Thursday, which were running down as the strikes wear on. "There...>>>
Korea Gas' 2012 LNG imports rise 2.9% to 34.97 mil mt as profits increase Mar 15,2013
South Korea's state-run Korea Gas Corp, the world's largest buyer of LNG, said Thursday it imported 34.97 million mt of LNG in 2012, up 2.9% from a year earlier. The state utility said it plans to import 37.90 million mt of LNG in 2013, up 8.4% year on year, to meet growing power generation demand. South Korea's LNG imports have grown rapidly...>>>
UPDATE: BG Group in 'secret' talks to develop Gaza-Marine gas field: report Mar 15,2013
The UK's BG Group is holding "secret talks" on the possible development of the Gaza-Marine offshore gas field, Israeli economic daily Globes reported Thursday. A spokesman for BG told Platts the company does not speculate about "what we may or may not do with the assets in our global portfolio." However, the spokesman noted that in 2007 the c...>>>
BP can bid in next week's Central Gulf offshore lease sale: US BOEM Mar 15,2013
BP can bid in next week's Central Gulf of Mexico offshore lease sale, but will be disqualified if, after a 90-day review, the company remains under the suspension that was imposed on federal contracts after its guilty plea to Macondo oil spill-related charges, the US Department of Interior said Thursday. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management sai...>>>
Crude futures settle higher as equities provide support Mar 15,2013
Crude futures settled higher Thursday, with the ICE April Brent contract bouncing off Wednesday's 2013 lows to expire 90 cents higher at $109.42/barrel. The May contract settled up 72 cents at $108.96/b. NYMEX April crude closed US trading up 51 cents at $93.03/b after breaking out of a narrow, $92.15-92.95/b trading range immediately ahead o...>>>
Sinopec cuts butadiene price in East China by 5.4% to Yuan 14,000/mt Mar 14,2013
China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, has cut its ex-works prices of butadiene in East China by 5.41% effective Wednesday, market sources said. Offers from Sinopec's subsidiaries in eastern China, Yangzi Petrochemical, Shanghai Petrochemical, and Zhenhai Refining and Chemical, are now Yuan 14,000/mt or around $1,870/mt on an import par...>>>