Chemical News
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Asian butadiene slumps to 5-month low; victim of US-China trade war Oct 26,2018
Asian butadiene prices slumped to a five-month low Wednesday, as it got caught in the ripple of the US-China trade war after downstream acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and synthetic rubber suffered. Platts FOB Korea butadiene marker tumbled 45% from its 2018 peak of $1,930/mt which it hit on May 17, to $1,060/mt Wednesday, the year-to-date low. ...>>>
Crude complex moves lower on rising US crude stocks Oct 26,2018
Crude oil futures were lower during mid-morning trade in Asia Thursday following the release of last week's US inventory levels, which showed a build in US crude stocks for the fifth consecutive week. At 10:33 am Singapore time (0233 GMT), the December ICE Brent crude futures moved 53 cents/b (0.69%) lower from Tuesday's settle at $75.64/b, whil...>>>
Sri Lanka halts sugar imports after government hikes duty and fixes domestic price Oct 26,2018
Sri Lankan importers have temporarily stopped importing sugar after the government hiked import duty and imposed a maximum domestic retail price, which made imports uneconomical, market sources said. The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) of Sri Lanka fixed the maximum retail price for white sugar at Rupee 100/kg on October 12, which is equivalent...>>>
Asia silicomanganese price poised to recover, ferrosilicon to track lower Oct 26,2018
Silicomanganese and ferrosilicon prices in Asia were poised to move in different directions after being stable for about a month, with the manganese alloy set for recovery while ferrosilicon was likely to slide, market sources said Thursday. S&P Global Platts assessed spot Chinese ferrosilicon at $1,280-$1,300/mt FOB China Thursday, down from $1...>>>
Coking coal cost a key challenge in India's steel industry growth: sources Oct 26,2018
India's steel industry will face several challenges as the nation is poised to become the next driver in regional economic growth, keynote speakers said at the Indian Steel Association's inaugural Steel Conclave Conference at New Delhi on Thursday. Challenges like the high cost of raw materials, including coking coal and thermal coal, transport...>>>
Rising Q3 Nordic power prices boost Statkraft as hydro output dips Oct 26,2018
A 77% year on year increase in Nordic power prices supported Statkraft's third-quarter earnings as the region's reservoir levels staged a mid-quarter recovery, the Norwegian state-owned power utility said Thursday. Nordic system spot prices averaged Eur50.50/MWh through Q3, up Eur22 from Q3 2017, while Statkraft's own generation of 13.1 TWh was ...>>>
European butadiene Nov contract price agreed down Eur100/mt at Eur1,075/mt: sources Oct 26,2018
The European butadiene November contract price has fully settled at Eur1,075/mt FD NWE, down Eur100/mt from October, market sources said Thursday. A drop had been widely anticipated, although earlier in the week there had been talk of the possibility of both double- and triple-digit decreases. The butadiene market in Europe has been facing down...>>>
Iron ore market tightness to keep prices around $70/mt: ANZ Research Oct 26,2018
This year's tightness in the iron ore market looks likely to persist, anchoring benchmark prices around $70/mt over the next couple of quarters, analyst ANZ Research said in a report Thursday. In addition, China's supply-side reform measures should see demand for high-grade ore remain strong, it said. Tightness in the market has been exacerbate...>>>
Ukraine grains terminals focus on corn as harvest pressure grows: sources Oct 26,2018
Ukrainian grains terminals are prioritizing corn over other grains as the corn harvest keeps apace, adding length to the market, sources said. With limited storage capacity and limited buying interest, prices have been subdued. The additional length generated by the corn harvest has found it difficult to make its way out of the country as key d...>>>
OPEC concerned over oil market oversupply risks in 2019 Oct 26,2018
OPEC's key technical committee is examining the oil market outlook for 2019 as the group tries to balance supply concerns from Iran and other vulnerable producers along with the possibility of a resurgence of US shale and weakening demand growth that risks a return to oversupply next year. OPEC's Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee said in a ...>>>
100 Spot Commodities Price Chart - 25/10/2018 Oct 26,2018
It was assessed by SunSirs that in the tracked 100 spot commodities,18 commodities increased in prices, 39 fell and 43 remained unchanged on 25/10/2018.The largest rises were Caustic soda (2.69%),Coke (2.36%),Iron ore (2.10%),while the largest falls we...>>>
Moly oxide plants in China's Liaoning suspend operations on government checks: sources Oct 29,2018
Around four molybdenum oxide production plants, or roasters, in China's Liaoning province have suspended production this week ahead of government environmental inspections, market sources said Friday. The roasters, mostly clustered in the Huludao area, each have capacities of 1,000-2,000 mt/month, which is small. One trader said 150 mt/day of o...>>>
Japan's Osaka Steel keeps Nov section prices unchanged Oct 29,2018
Osaka Steel, Japan's largest producer of sections, said on Friday that it has decided to leave its prices for November contracts unchanged. The company last raised prices by Yen 3,000/mt ($27/mt) for October contracts. Osaka Steel does not reveal its list prices, but spot market prices of channels (100x50 mm) in Osaka and Tokyo are Yen 87,000-8...>>>
Philippines' H1 Oct domestic ethanol price steady at Pesos 54.6/liter Oct 29,2018
The Philippines domestic bioethanol reference price remained steady from the previous half-monthly cycle at Pesos 54.6/liter ($1,092/cu m) in the first half of October, but was up 12.6% year on year, data released Thursday by the Sugar Regulatory Administration showed. In the feedstock market, Negros molasses firmed 2.98% to Pesos 8,091.08/mt in...>>>
Analysis: India's steel industry trends change as imports/exports fall Oct 29,2018
Although India's imports and exports of finished steel products both fell during April to September, countries affected by the US Section 232 tariffs have adjusted their shipment trends to India, data from the Joint Plant Committee showed. Higher imports were seen from South Korea at 1.32 million mt, up 13.8% from 1.16 million mt on year but imp...>>>
Iranian fuel oil exports decline in Oct ahead of US sanctions: sources Oct 29,2018
Fuel oil supply from Iran is expected to decline to below 1 million mt in October from the usual 1.2 million-1.4 million mt a month, ahead of the US sanctions in November, market sources said this week. Market sources said buyers are gradually reducing their commitments to buy fuel oil from Iran in preparations of the sanctions. Total export vo...>>>
France's Total to expand its LNG exposure, boosted by oil prices Oct 29,2018
French energy major Total plans to increase further its exposure to the LNG market in the coming months while leveraging the current high oil price, the company said Friday in its third quarter earnings report. "At the start of the fourth quarter, Brent continues to trade at $80/b due to supply tensions and the geopolitical context," said the co...>>>
BASF declares force majeure on methyl methacrylate from Ludwigshafen Oct 29,2018
German chemicals major BASF has declared force majeure on methyl methacrylate from its Ludwigshafen site, the company confirmed late Thursday. The force majeure on MMA, a major downstream market for phenol co-product acetone, comes after BASF declared force majeure on other products at its Ludwigshafen site in recent days, including n-butanol, i...>>>
Glencore's Australian coking coal production up 20% on year in Jan-Sep to to 5.4 mil mt Oct 29,2018
Glencore's Australian coking coal production for the first nine months of 2018 rose to 5.4 million mt, up 20% from 4.5 million mt a year earlier, the company said Friday. The increase in production was up as the previous year was affected by industrial action, also the acquisition of the Queensland-based Hail Creek mine contributed about 900,000...>>>
North Sea crude oil complex dips but arbitrage windows bolster market Oct 29,2018
The favorable position of the North Sea crude oil market in current arbitrage trade is bolstering cargo differentials, preventing them from slipping to much weaker levels despite a small decrease in values this week. A closed arbitrage to Europe from the US Gulf Coast and an open one from Europe to Asia, is keeping the market for delivered Nort...>>>