Chemical News
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US spot PX at near one-month low amid weakening Asian PX prices Feb 27,2013
US spot paraxylene fell $15/mt Tuesday to nearly a one-month low assessment of $1,595/mt FOB US Gulf Coast tracking weaker Asian levels. US spot PX was last seen at this level on January 28, when the assessment was at $1,595/mt FOB USG. US spot PX then rose after that assessment amid strong Asian PX demand, reaching a 16-month high at $1,640/mt ...>>>
ASIA THERMAL COAL: CFR China market rangebound ahead of Chinese parliament Feb 27,2013
Buying interest stayed muted at south China's trading hubs for imported thermal coal Tuesday, and CFR delivered prices were rangebound at $86/mt and remain capped by competitively priced domestic thermal coal, traders said. The Chinese spot market has lacked direction for several weeks, and international traders were hoping that a key meeting of...>>>
Asia to be 2nd largest global gas market by 2015 with 790 Bcm/year demand: IEA Feb 27,2013
Asia will become the second-largest global natural gas market after North America by 2015 with annual demand rising to 790 billion cubic meters, the International Energy Agency said in a report released Tuesday. "Asia is already home to the world's fastest-growing gas market. But expanding the role of gas in Asia will depend on regional market c...>>>
Germany's Wintershall targets 2013 increase in oil, gas output Feb 27,2013
Germany's Wintershall expects to increase its oil and gas output in 2013 mainly as a result of higher volumes from its operations in Russia, Norway and Libya, the company's parent BASF said Tuesday. In its outlook for 2013, BASF said Wintershall would close a number of key deals, helping it raise output. In 2012, Wintershall's production rose...>>>
China's overseas equity output to hit 3 mil b/d by 2015: IEA chief Feb 27,2013
China's oil and gas companies could lift their total overseas equity production to 3 million b/d by 2015, the executive director of the International Energy Agency said Tuesday. "Chinese national oil companies are present everywhere in [the] fastest growing fields," Maria van der Hoeven said in an interview with Platts in Tokyo. "Assuming tha...>>>
S-Oil, ExxonMobil nominate Mar PX ACP at $1,750/mt CFR, up $65 Feb 26,2013
South Korea's S-Oil nominated its paraxylene Asia Contract Price for March at $1,750/mt, up $65/mt from its February settlement, sources close to the negotiations said Monday. There are four ACP sellers in Asia -- ExxonMobil, Idemitsu Kosan, JX Nippon Oil and Energy and S-Oil. ExxonMobil also nominated its March PX ACP at $1,750/mt CFR, up $65/...>>>
Borealis Q4 profit jumps 72%, bearish on European polyolefins business Feb 26,2013
Borealis reported Monday a 72% jump in fourth-quarter net profit to Eur100 million ($133 million) from Eur58 million a year earlier, but gave a downbeat view on the 2013 outlook for its European polyolefins business. Sales grew to Eur1.87 billion in Q4 from Eur1.59 billion a year ago, thanks to its strong fertilizer business and increased contri...>>>
NWE ethylene, propylene supply tightens on production issues Feb 26,2013
European ethylene and propylene supply has tightened amid a spate of production issues, though the impact of this on spot prices is being moderated by poor derivatives demand, according to industry sources. Availability to the market had already been constrained by the prolonged outage at Naphtachimie's 745,000 mt/year cracker in Lavera, France,...>>>
OTC coal derivatives drop 31% on-year in Jan to 181.45 mil mt: LEBA Feb 26,2013
Total traded volumes of OTC and exchange-cleared financial coal derivatives in January fell 31% year on year to 181.454 million mt, according to data published Monday on the London Energy Brokers' Association website. The figure is 49% higher than December 2012's monthly volumes of 121.77 million mt, the lowest volume of 2012. API2 (CIF ARA) ...>>>
Russia, China may reach basic gas supply deal by end March: report Feb 26,2013
Russia and China may reach a basic agreement on the supply of Russian gas to the Asian giant by the end of March -- in time for the visit to Moscow by Xi Jinping, secretary general of the Communist Party of China -- Russia's deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Monday, according to Russian news agency Prime. "[Russia's] Gazprom and the C...>>>
UK tax breaks push offshore oil, gas investment to 30-year high of $20 bil Feb 26,2013
UK offshore oil and gas investment has risen to its highest level in 30 years, thanks to changes in the tax regime introduced over the past four years, industry association Oil & Gas UK said Monday. Investment soared to GBP11.4 billion ($17.3 billion) in 2012 from GBP8.5 billion ($12.9 billion) in 2011, and is expected to rise to at least GBP13...>>>
EPA approves use of camelina oil as biodiesel feedstock under RFS Feb 26,2013
Biodiesel producer sources applauded the US Environmental Protection Agency Monday after the EPA finalized its rule to approve camelina oil as a low-carbon feedstock under the Renewable Fuel Standard. "This decision adds to the growing list of biodiesel feedstocks that meet the EPA's standards for Advanced Biofuel and gives us yet another optio...>>>
UAE's ADNOC to push Apr-Mar term naphtha cycle forward by a month Feb 25,2013
The UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Co will shift its April 2013-March 2014 naphtha term cycle forward by a month, changing it to a May 2013-April 2014 term cycle instead, Asian naphtha trade sources said Friday. Should the term be brought forward, it would be in line with the Middle Eastern company's decision last year to change its January-Decemb...>>>
Union steps up campaign against proposed sale of Israel Chemicals to Canadian potash giant Feb 25,2013
Workers at Dead Sea Works Ltd have stepped up their campaign against the proposed sale of Israel Chemicals to Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, union officials said on Friday. Dead Sea Works committee chairman Armond Lankry said on state radio that workers would hold protests in the coming weeks to prevent the proposed deal. Dead Sea Works is a whol...>>>
Clariant opens new Tarragona specialty polymers plant in Spain Feb 25,2013
Switzerland-based chemicals group Clariant said Friday it has started up a new specialty polymers plant at its Tarragona production site in Spain. The plant, which cost Eur16 million ($21 million) and took two years to build, produces specialty polysulfonates. Polysulfonates have a wide range of applications, from face creams in the cosmetic...>>>
Panamax coal freight rates gain as grain cargoes absorb tonnages Feb 25,2013
Panamax coal freight rates on established routes from South Africa's Richards Bay and Indonesia to India ended the week higher on Friday as grain cargoes in the Atlantic basin absorbed tonnages from both hemispheres, sources said. Panamax freight rates are expected to remain strong in the coming weeks, helped by grain cargoes from the east coast...>>>
Ukraine may quit European Energy Community over natural gas disputes: Yanukovych Feb 25,2013
Ukraine may quit the European Energy Community in reaction to its lack of support for the country in ongoing natural gas disputes with Russia, President Viktor Yanukovych said Friday. The warning comes two weeks after Yanukovych said he was unhappy that the community had given a green light to Russian gas pipeline projects bypassing Ukraine on t...>>>
US Northeast spot gas prices down nearly $4/MMBtu as demand fades Feb 25,2013
US Northeast spot gas prices fell as much as $4 or 39% Friday on expectations that weather demand will fade due to an impeding warm-up scheduled to start on Monday. Regional temperatures will top out in the high 30s over the weekend, but warm to as high as nearly 50 degrees Monday, as much as 6 degrees above average levels. Total Northeast de...>>>
Spread between Gulf Coast ULSD and heating oil widening in paper, physical Feb 25,2013
The premium of Gulf Coast ultra low sulfur diesel to heating oil widened Thursday to 9.3 cents/gal, the highest it has been since October 4, when the spread was 10.25 cents/gal. On Friday, Gulf Coast ULSD was pegged at NYMEX March heating oil futures plus 6.95 cents/gal while heating oil was pegged at minus 1.80 cents/gal, an 8.75 cents/gal pre...>>>
Oil markets close week higher after mid-week selloff Feb 25,2013
NYMEX April crude settled 29 cents higher at $93.13/barrel Friday after a largely rangebound trading session, bouncing back slightly after a two-day selloff. "We're pretty unchanged with the market attempting to stabilize after the past couple days of blood-letting," Tradition Energy commodities analyst Gene McGillian said, referring to the sell...>>>