Chemical News
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India's IG delays completion of PA plant expansion to mid-2013 Feb 19,2013
India's largest phthalic anhydride producer, IG Petrochemicals, now plans to complete the expansion of its PA plant at Taloja by mid-2013, a year later than initially scheduled, a company source said Monday. The reason for the delay is not known. When completed, the plant, located near Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra, will have a capacity ...>>>
NWE styrene's premium to benzene at highest since Oct on lower benzene Feb 19,2013
Styrene's premium to its feedstock benzene rose to its highest in four months in the Northwest European market, Platts data showed. The premium was assessed at $346/mt at Friday's close, mainly due to falling benzene prices. The premium is significantly higher than in December, when it sank below $100/mt several times. NWE benzene barges w...>>>
Australian Newcastle coal shipments sink to 12-week low in aftermath of rail strike Feb 19,2013
Disruption from a two-day strike by Pacific National rail workers in early February continued to filter through the Newcastle supply chain for coal exports last week, as shipments from the east Australian port slumped 38.5% to 1.82 million mt in the seven-day period ended Monday, said Newcastle Port Corp in a report. Total shipments from Newcast...>>>
British Columbia explores possible tax on future LNG exports Feb 19,2013
The British Columbia government has opened talks with Canada's natural gas industry about a possible new tax on LNG exports, which Premier Christy Clark estimates could generate C$1 trillion in cumulative GDP over the next 30 years. Counting on at least five operating LNG projects from the 10 candidates currently in various stages of development...>>>
Saudis exported 7.062 mil b/d of crude in Dec, 15-month low: JODI Feb 19,2013
Crude exports from OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia fell to 7.062 million b/d in December last year, the lowest level since September 2011 when exports averaged 6.813 million b/d, data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative, or JODI, show. Saudi Arabia told JODI its production had averaged 9.025 million b/d in December. In January, an industry...>>>
Athabasca to start study to expand Canadian oil sands facility Feb 19,2013
Canadian oil sands startup Athabasca Oil Corp said Monday it would start an environmental impact study as part of plans to expand its Hangingstone oil sands facility in northern Alberta to 82,000 b/d. "We currently hold regulatory approval [from the Alberta government] to construct, operate and recover 12,000 b/d of bitumen from the first phase ...>>>
ASIA THERMAL COAL: Newcastle high ash prices squeezed in Korean tender Feb 18,2013
A South Korean power utility was active in the spot Australian market Friday, and was close to purchasing at least one Q2-loading Capesize cargo of high ash thermal coal at a price equivalent to $74/mt FOB Newcastle on a 5,500 kcal/kg NAR and 20% ash basis, market sources said. In a tender that closed Thursday for two Capesize cargoes of 5,700 k...>>>
Asian polymer market shrugs off China's new preferential PE import duties Feb 18,2013
Asia's polymer market has shrugged off China's new preferential import duties for polyethylene from some countries, as the minimum price for the tax reduction to kick in is seen as too high and trade flows from these nations are almost negligible. Effective January 1, 2013, China will cut the polyethylene import duty for Least Developed Countri...>>>
NWE benzene's premium to naphtha sinks to 4-month low Feb 18,2013
Benzene's premium to feedstock naphtha slid to its lowest in the Northwest European market since October 18, breaching the psychologically important $400/mt mark for the first time since mid-November to be assessed at $379.75/mt at Thursday's close, Platts data showed. Naphtha in NWE has continued to strengthen on the back of arbitrage movements...>>>
Polystyrene, styrene industries cast eyes at potential New York City ban Feb 18,2013
The US polystyrene and styrene industries are concerned, but confident after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for the city to adopt a law banning expandable polystyrene foam from stores and restaurants, market sources said Friday. "There is zero panic," a source with a polystyrene producer said. "We know exactly what we are doing." Blo...>>>
Korea Gas steps up efforts on possible Australia Gladstone LNG stake sale Feb 18,2013
Korea Gas Corporation, the world's single-largest buyer of LNG, has stepped up efforts to sell part of its stake in Australia's Gladstone LNG project, a company official told Platts Friday. The South Korean state-owned company has selected South Korea's Samsung Securities and French investment bank Rothschild as advisers to look into the possibl...>>>
State regulators resist more federal fracking oversight Feb 18,2013
Harold Fitch, the man charged with overseeing Michigan's 15,000 oil and gas wells, told a House subcommittee Friday that growing hydraulic fracturing operations in his state have not caused any groundwater contamination or any other serious environmental risks. While issues have arisen over flowback water and increased water withdrawals for dril...>>>
Japanese kerosene demand weakening amid warmer weather Feb 18,2013
Japanese demand for heating kerosene appears to be passing out of its peak annual period, as the country starts to experience warmer temperatures against the same time of last year, industry sources said Friday. Japan's kerosene shipments fell on the year in the first half of February after many parts of the country -- particularly in the west -...>>>
UK gives green light to Statoil's $7 bil Mariner oil field project Feb 18,2013
The UK government Friday gave its consent to Norway's Statoil to go ahead with the $7 billion Mariner oil field development which is set to be the UK's biggest new North Sea project in more than a decade. Statoil took the final investment decision in December to develop the Mariner heavy oil field, a large, technical project which is expected to...>>>
China Dragon Aromatics' PX project under scrutiny for feedstock change Feb 06,2013
Dragon Aromatics' startup of its 800,000 mt/year paraxylene plant in China's Fujian province may not proceed as planned in March due to regulatory scrutiny about changes to its feedstock mix, some market sources said Tuesday. China's Environmental Protection Bureau said in a statement January 21 that it was ordering Dragon Aromatics to stop the ...>>>
West European Q4 olefin volumes down on the year: APPE Feb 06,2013
Western European production of ethylene, propylene and butadiene in the fourth quarter of 2012 was down from the same period of 2011, according to the Association of Petrochemical Producers in Europe this week. Ethylene production in the quarter was 4.497 million mt, representing a year-on-year decline of 5.15%. Propylene production totaled 3.42...>>>
Saudi Aramco plans 2.6 mil mt/yr PX, 820,000 mt/yr benzene capacity by 2017: source Feb 06,2013
New paraxylene capacity of 2.6 million mt/year and benzene capacity of 820,000 mt/year will be built in Saudi Arabia over the next four years by Saudi Aramco, a source close to the state company said Tuesday. These aromatics capacities will be at five refinery complexes in the country, the source added. Saudi Aramco is involved in all these pro...>>>
UK GAS: Prompt falls as imports rise to meet heightened demand Feb 06,2013
Prompt prices eased Tuesday morning on the UK's NBP gas trading hub as an uptick in demand was met by stronger imports. At 1200 GMT, the within-day gas contract was valued at 67.15 pence/therm, down by 0.70 p/th from Monday's close, and the day-ahead contract fell by 0.70 p/th to 67.25 p/th. Nominations for today show colder temperatures hav...>>>
Shareholders want ExxonMobil to report fracking improvement progress Feb 06,2013
For the third year in a row, some ExxonMobil shareholders want a vote on a proposal requiring the Irving, Texas, company to report its progress on limiting the environmental damage and community impact of hydraulic fracturing. New York City Comptroller John Liu announced an official filing on the proposal Tuesday. The comptroller serves as the i...>>>
Japan's JX sells 1.01 mil b/d oil products over Apr-Dec, up 5.3% on year Feb 06,2013
Japan's JX Nippon Oil & Energy sold a total 44.04 million kiloliters, or 1.01 million b/d, of oil products in the domestic market over April-December 2012, up 5.3% year on year, JX Holdings, the parent company of the largest Japanese refiner, said Tuesday. In the nine months to December 31, JX sold 5.66 million kl or 129,000 b/d of fuel oil for ...>>>