Chemical News
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Asian PVC prices fall 2.5% on month in November despite feedstock cut Dec 05,2011
Asian PVC prices fell $22.90/mt or 2.5% in November to average $879.60/mt CFR Far East Asia, compared with $902.50/mt CFR Far East Asia in October, Platts data showed Friday. The November average was also down 13.6% year on year, the data showed. PVC prices were flat at $865/mt CFR Far East Asia for the first two weeks of November, then beg...>>>
Saudi Polymers plan to start up polyolefins complex by year-end Dec 05,2011
Saudi Polymers plans to start up its new integrated polyolefins complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia by the end of the year, a source close to the company said Friday. This is slightly later than expected as the company had earlier planned to start up the complex by November. The cause of the delay is unclear, but the source said the plant will s...>>>
USGC n-butane hits six-week high on tight supply: sources Dec 05,2011
Spot values for December non-LST normal butane rose nearly 10 cents Friday to a six-week high on tightly supplied inventories, market sources said. Platts assessed non-LST normal butane at the Mont Belvieu, Texas, trading hub at $1.9815/gal, up 9.35 cents from Thursday. This was the highest level since $1.9865/gal on September 15. "[The marke...>>>
Domestic Chinese LNG output to reach 7.5 mil mt/year by 2015: report Dec 05,2011
Domestic LNG production in China is expected to reach 7.5 million mt/year by 2015, from the current level of 2.5 million mt/year, the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation said, according to a report by Shanghai Securities News late Thursday. More than 20 LNG plants are currently operational, with another 40 over plants still under co...>>>
Analysts welcome Gazprom 2012 capex cut plan but still skeptical Dec 05,2011
Russian Gazprom's plans to reduce its capital expenditures in 2012 by more than 30% year-on-year is seen as a positive sign for the shareholders of the gas giant who have long been critical of its high capex and low dividends, analysts said Friday. On Thursday, Gazprom's management committee considered a draft budget of around Rb800 billion ($25...>>>
Singapore's Sinostar postpones acquisition of China oil processing plant Dec 05,2011
Singapore-listed Sinostar PEC Holdings has postponed its proposed acquisition of Dongming Runchang Petrochemical Co, which owns a heavy oil conversion facility in east China's Shandong province, due to the current "unfavorable market conditions and uncertain economic outlook." Sinostar PEC said in a statement Thursday that it had also entered in...>>>
Sparks fly at US House hearing on Keystone XL pipeline proposal Dec 05,2011
A US congressional hearing on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline extension grew somewhat testy Friday over the issue of keeping the products refined from Canadian oil sands within the US. The House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Energy and Power held the hearing to highlight the job creating potential of the 1,700-mile pipeline that would ca...>>>
Analysis: MF Global proves Enron-era accounting lives on Dec 02,2011
The fact that MF Global was able to use the technique highlights how off-balance-sheet moves are evolving as quickly as new accounting rules intended to stop them. Earlier this year, the Financial Accounting Standards Board changed its rules to bar an off-balance-sheet loophole that had helped Lehman Brothers get into trouble in 2008. The fixes ...>>>
USGC ethane falls to under 80 cents on weak chemical demand Dec 02,2011
US Gulf Coast ethane spot values for December delivery fell to under 80 cents/gal Wednesday, on weak demand from the chemical sector, market sources said. "Crackers [are] slowing down because of weaker derivative demand ... I think December will be very slow," said one trade source. Platts assessed purity ethane at the Mont Belvieu, Texas, t...>>>
Asian paraxylene, benzene for Feb arrival firm as China cuts bank reserve rate Dec 02,2011
Asian paraxylene was pegged at $1,394/mt CFR Taiwan/China Thursday morning, edging down 50 cents from Wednesday's close, as laycans rolled over from H2 December/H1 January to H1 January/H2 January. But on a day-to-day basis, first-half January and second-half January were PX prices pegged $21/mt higher, amid higher bids seen for February arrival...>>>
Neste Oil gets nod to sell Belgian petrochemical plant to Chevron Phillips Dec 02,2011
Finland's Neste Oil said Thursday it has received the green light to sell a Belgium petrochemical plant to Chevron Phillips Chemical International, enabling it to focus more on expanding its base-oil business. Neste Oil said the competition authorities had approved the sale of its polyalphaolefin production facilities, quality control laboratory...>>>
Germany's Lanxess targets over Eur1 bil sales in China in 2012 Dec 02,2011
German specialty chemicals group Lanxess said Thursday it was aiming to achieve sales of over Eur1 billion ($1.3 billion) in China in 2012. Its sales in China have grown rapidly over the past five years, reaching Eur800 million in 2010, accounting for 11% of the company's overall turnover. "Greater China will continue to be a cornerstone of o...>>>
N. American PVC Oct operating rates at 79%, down 5% from Sep Dec 02,2011
North American PVC operating rates in October were at 79%, which represented a decrease of more than 4% from September and 9.3% compared to the same time period in 2010, according to an industry report published this week. According to the monthly report, which compiles data from different consulting firms, PVC production in October totalled 1.2...>>>
Russia Gazprom chairman sees gas deal with Ukraine by year-end Dec 02,2011
Russia's state-owned gas giant Gazprom expects to sign a new gas deal with Ukraine by the end of the year, Chairman Alexei Miller said in a statement Thursday. "Our negotiations have demonstrated significant progress. I think we can expect to reach an agreement on developing our cooperation in the gas sphere by the end of the year," Miller said ...>>>
BG Group hopeful on long-planned Italy LNG import terminal Dec 02,2011
BG Group found reason to hope this week that it is making progress toward ending its eight-year battle to build an 8 Bcm/year LNG import terminal at the southern Italian port of Brindisi, BG spokesman Neil Burrows said Thursday. The project has been in a state of limbo for years as BG struggles to overcome numerous hurdles, including vehement o...>>>
Neste Oil gets nod to sell Belgian petrochemical plant to Chevron Phillips Dec 02,2011
Finland's Neste Oil said Thursday it has received the green light to sell a Belgium petrochemical plant to Chevron Phillips Chemical International, enabling it to focus more on expanding its base-oil business. Neste Oil said the competition authorities had approved the sale of its polyalphaolefin production facilities, quality control laboratory...>>>
Ultra low sulfur diesel ARA barge premium at 7 month low on backwardation, low Rhine Dec 02,2011
The steep backwardation of the ICE gasoil futures contract and the low water levels in the Rhine river has driven the 10 ppm ultra low sulfur diesel barge premium to its lowest level since April, Platts data shows. The 10 ppm ULSD FOB Rotterdam barge premium to front month ICE gasoil futures dropped $2.25/mt Wednesday to be assessed at $15.25/mt...>>>
China factory sector shrinks first time in nearly 3 years Dec 01,2011
The official and HSBC purchasing managers' indexes are likely to feed worries that the global economy is on a slippery slope as the euro zone is marred by its debt crisis, reinforcing expectations that China will ease policy further. The official PMI released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) fell to 49 in November from ...>>>
Taiwan's CPDC to invest $989 mil to build phenol-acetone plant in east China Dec 01,2011
Taiwan's China Petrochemical Development Corp., or CPDC, said that it plans to invest T$30 billion ($989 million) to build a phenol-acetone plant in east China's Jiangsu province. "The project is still being discussed ... The plant will produce phenol and other products such as acetone," said a spokesman from CPDC, declining to provide more info...>>>
Polyethylene terephthalate buying interest seen with price at 2011 low, for cargoes up to July Dec 01,2011
Polyethylene terephthalate bottle-grade chip end-users from regions like Europe, the Middle East and South America are starting to seek cargoes for up to June 2012 with current prices at one-year lows, Platts data shows. FOB NEA PET was assessed at $1,425/mt on Wednesday, down $3/mt on the week while FOB SEA PET was assessed at $1,440/mt, down $...>>>