Chemical News
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Associated British Sugar production up 52% on year to 1.37 mil mt Sep 11,2018
London — Associated British Foods said Monday sugar production at its AB Sugar unit was set to total 1.37 million mt in its 2017-18 financial year ending September 15, up from 900,000 mt in 2016-17. After EU production quotas were removed in October 2017, increased sugar beet planted area and increased yields pushed EU production up 23.2% for th...>>>
Russia and US energy ministers to meet in Moscow Thursday to discuss oil and gas markets, Iran sanctions Sep 11,2018
Moscow — Russia's energy minister Alexander Novak plans to meet with his US counterpart Rick Perry in Moscow on Thursday to discuss oil and gas markets, Iran sanctions, and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Europe, Novak said Monday, as quoted by Prime news agency. "We will hold a meeting on September 13 in Moscow," Novak said in Vla...>>>
Ukraine's Jan-Aug titanium concentrate exports up 3.1% on year to 419,030 mt Sep 11,2018
Kiev — Ukraine's exports from January-August of titanium ore and concentrate -- a raw material used for titanium sponge production -- were up 3.1% year on year to 419,030 mt, the state customs service said Monday. Revenues from exports of the commodity increased to $87.7 million from $66.2 million a year ago, the customs service said. From Janu...>>>
AltaGas to sell three California gas-fired plants to private equity for $300 million Sep 11,2018
Houston — Canada's AltaGas said Monday it is selling assets, including three natural gas-fired power plants in California with combined capacity of 523 MW, to help finance its acquisition of WGL Holdings. Calgary-based AltaGas said it is selling its Tracy, Hanford and Henrietta facilities, located in the San Joaquin Valley, for about $300 millio...>>>
US ethanol margin slips on week Sep 11,2018
Houston — The US ethanol crush margin sank over the past week, moving to 1.84 cents/gal Monday from 6.19 cents/gal on September 4, the last time the Platts Crush Margin Tracker was published. US markets were closed on September 3 for the Labor Day holiday. The benchmark Argo market remained above its recent seven-month lows, but weakened while ...>>>
Strong US high-vol demand boosts Atlantic metallurgical coal prices Sep 11,2018
Houston — Atlantic metallurgical coal spot markets saw strong demand for high-vol B lift values to catch up with earlier increases for high-vol A and US low-vol. Apart from high-vol B purchases for Northwest Europe and Brazil, more spot demand was seen in Europe for October and Q4 loadings, according to sources. With domestic 2019 contracts acc...>>>
China data: Shandong independent refiners raise Aug run rates to 59% on better margins Sep 12,2018
Singapore —China's independent refineries in Shandong province have raised their run rates to around 59% of capacity in August, from a 19-month low of 52.5% in July, according to a monthly report from local information provider JLC. The higher run rates in August can mainly be attributed to less maintenance, as refineries that had shut in July h...>>>
Mexico oil production to reach 2.6 mil b/d by 2025: Lopez Obrador Sep 12,2018
Mexico City — Mexico's President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sunday he plans to focus on developing and exploring onshore and shallow water areas under the control of state oil company Pemex to boost the country's oil production. "We have a projection, and our plan is to have production of at least 2.6 million b/d by the end of the pr...>>>
Asian benzene-toluene spread narrows to 21-month low as benzene weakens Sep 12,2018
Singapore — The spread between benzene and its feedstock toluene narrowed to a 21-month low at $26.33/mt FOB Korea Monday amid weakening benzene prices and firming toluene, S&P Global Platts data showed. The last time the spread was slimmer was November 1, 2016, at $19/mt. Toluene was assessed at $818/mt FOB Korea Monday, almost stable from the...>>>
Japanese ferrous scrap price falls $1/mt in monthly auction Sep 12,2018
Tokyo — The highest bid at Tuesday's monthly auction for Japanese H2 grade ferrous scrap for export from Tokyo Bay by end October was down Yen 125/mt ($1.1/mt) from last month's winning bid, the organizer of the auction said. The highest winning bid in the auction held by Kanto Tetsugen, a group of scrap distributors around Tokyo, was Yen 34,735...>>>
India ends antidumping duties on graphite electrodes from China Sep 12,2018
Singapore — India has ended antidumping duties on graphite electrodes imported from China, effective September 6, according to a document from the Ministry of Finance. The duties were imposed on February 13, 2015, for a period of five years. On April 4, 2018, India's department of commerce began a review of the duties following an application f...>>>
Norwegian natural gas outage affecting UK SEGAL flows extended into Wednesday Sep 12,2018
London — Norwegian natural gas flows into the UK's Entry SEGAL Pipeline System will be affected for a third day on Wednesday as 'corrective maintenance' has been extended, Norwegian gas operator Gassco said Tuesday. Capacity on the pipeline, which delivers gas from the Norwegian Continental Shelf into the St. Fergus complex in Scotland, will see...>>>
Australia's wheat output in 2018-19 season seen down 10% at 19.1 mil mt: ABARES Sep 12,2018
Singapore — Australia was expected to produce 19.1 million mt of wheat in the 2018-19 (October-September) season, down 10% from 21.2 million mt in 2017/18, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences said. The decline in estimate is primarily attributed to reduced crop prospects from exceptionally unfavourable seaso...>>>
Stronger propane, butane threaten to push LPG from petrochemical feedstock slate: sources Sep 12,2018
London — Strengthening propane and butane prices in recent weeks have begun to threaten LPG's attractiveness as an alternative to naphtha for petrochemical cracking, according to market sources. Both propane and butane in Northwest Europe are sitting at levels seen during last winter, when LPG's attractiveness as a feedstock is typically at its ...>>>
Iran's oil output falls to 3.52 million b/d in August as US sanctions loom: EIA Sep 12,2018
Washington — Iranian crude production fell 200,000 b/d from July to 3.52 million b/d in August as US sanctions loom, and apparent hedging activity indicates some traders are preparing for a potential price spike above $80/b as a result of further declines in Tehran's exports, the Energy Information Administration said Tuesday. Iran's production ...>>>
Hurricane Florence brings little volatility for US ethanol markets Sep 12,2018
Houston — Ethanol markets along the US Atlantic Coast are seeing limited support from the looming arrival of Hurricane Florence later this week. Delivered rail cars to Richmond, Virginia, were trading at a 12 cents/gal premium to the benchmark Chicago market Tuesday morning, according to one source. Though slightly higher, values in central and...>>>
100 Spot Commodities Price Chart - 10/09/2018 Sep 12,2018
It was assessed by SunSirs that in the tracked 100 spot commodities,41 commodities increased in prices, 19 fell and 40 remained unchanged on 10/09/2018.The largest rises were Phenol (3.26%),Sulfuric acid (2.76%),Methanol (2.67%),while the largest falls...>>>
Contango structure in China crude futures may spur Dec physical profit-taking Sep 13,2018
Singapore — A contango structure in China's crude oil futures market may have spurred some buyers to settle September paper positions for physical barrels last week as higher indications for December contracts opened the door to profit-taking in forward months, physical and derivatives traders said this week. Trading in September-delivery crude ...>>>
US soybean production estimated at record high: USDA Sep 13,2018
Chicago — US domestic soybean production for 2018-19 was projected to rise another 107 million bushels to 4.693 billion on increased yield numbers, Department of Agriculture data showed Thursday. According to the agency's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates in September, the soybean yield forecast for the 2018-19 marketing year increa...>>>
German coal-fired margins hit 2018 high as carbon rally comes to a halt Sep 13,2018
London — German coal-fired power generation margins recovered from record lows this spring and reached their highest since December as the rally in European carbon allowance prices comes to a halt for the moment. S&P Global Platts data showed the German year-ahead clean dark spread (CDS) for a 45% efficient old coal plant at Eur6.44/MWh by close...>>>