Chemical News
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Japan data: PAJ says crude stocks fall 10% on week to 79.33 mil barrels Dec 15 Dec 20,2018
Japan's crude oil stocks stood at 79.33 million barrels as of December 15, down 10.1% from the previous week, the Petroleum Association of Japan said Wednesday. The stocks also dipped 0.9% from a year earlier, S&P Global Platts data showed. PAJ data excludes floating storage and import barrels yet to arrive. Unfinished oil stocks, or oil pro...>>>
Crude oil futures recover from overnight fall; markets await EIA data Dec 20,2018
Crude oil futures moved higher during mid-morning trade in Asia Wednesday, recovering from an overnight slump that saw prices plunge by more than $3/b, amid mild bargain hunting. The market is awaiting the release of US crude stocks data later Wednesday for price direction. At 11: 10 am Singapore time (0310 GMT), ICE February Brent crude futures...>>>
Kobe Steel to double US aluminum extrusion plant capacity by 2020 Dec 20,2018
Japanese aluminum rolling mill Kobe Steel plans to double the output capacity of its Kentucky aluminum extrusion plant by the first half of 2020, on the back of automotive demand, the company said Wednesday. Kobelco Aluminum Products & Extrusions will be expanded to 1,000 mt/month from the current 500 mt/month, after installing a new melting fur...>>>
EU agrees 550g CO2 capacity scheme cap for new power plants in 2019 Dec 20,2018
EU negotiators have informally agreed a 550g CO2/kWh emission limit for new power plants taking part in capacity mechanisms, likely to apply during 2019, as part of a draft accord on the EU's new power market design regulation. Power plants starting commercial operation after the regulation enters into force -- likely to be around mid- to late-2...>>>
Northwest European orthoxylene Dec contract price fully settled at Eur840/mt, down Eur30/mt Dec 20,2018
The European December orthoxylene contract price has been fully settled at Eur840/mt (about $957/mt), down Eur30/mt from November's contract price, sources confirmed this week. Two buyers and a seller confirmed that they had settled at Eur840/mt. One of the sellers confirmed settling with more than one counterparty at the same level. And two bu...>>>
Producers sign more 2019 Asian paraxylene contracts as plants seen to start up on time Dec 20,2018
More term contract negotiations for Asian paraxylene were concluded this week between producers and buyers as major greenfield refineries will be starting production on time -- refuting earlier talk of delays, traders and end-users confirmed Wednesday. The term contracts were negotiated at premiums of minus 50 cents/mt to $3/mt for Platts CFR Ta...>>>
European Commission extends steel safeguards investigation Dec 20,2018
The European Commission has extended the steel safeguard investigation by up to two months, it said Wednesday. The initial investigation was to last nine months, starting from March 26 and ending in December. The EC said that if definitive measures were to be adopted, it would publish the new regulations by February 1. Preliminary safeguards we...>>>
Costa Rica will not impose safeguard duty on imports of steel bars: ministry Dec 20,2018
Costa Rica has decided not to impose a safeguard duty on imports of bars of steel for the reinforcement of concrete, the country's Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce said. A ministry investigation was analyzing a possible duty of 15% over the imported products. The investigation started on March 19 and applied to material under HS code ...>>>
US December propylene contracts unanimously confirmed at 8-cent decline Dec 20,2018
The US December propylene contract was confirmed by a majority of the market at an 8-cent decline from the November contract prices, trade participants said on Wednesday. The 8-cent decline was in line with market expectations targeting a 8-10 cent decline, and took polymer-grade propylene contracts down to 42 cents/lb and chemical-grade contrac...>>>
Colombian biofuels production hit by cheaper US imports Dec 20,2018
Colombian ethanol production totaled 341.87 million liters from January to October, up 10.5% from 309.44 million liters produced over the same period last year but still significantly below capacity on a flood of cheaper US imports, according to the Colombian Biofuels Federation, the country's largest trade group. Ethanol producers complained Tu...>>>
China buys 1.5 mil mt US soybeans as trade restarts Dec 20,2018
Two state-owned Chinese companies including China Grain Reserves Corp (Sinograin) and China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) on Tuesday purchased an estimated 1.5 million mt of soybeans from the US, according to market sources. This latest purchase puts the total quality acquired by China to 3 million mt of soybeans sinc...>>>
China's domestic purified terephthalic acid margin hits 3-month high of $56/mt Dec 21,2018
The profit margin for China's domestic purified terephthalic acid hit a three-month high of Yuan 388/mt or $56/mt on Wednesday, the highest since September 17, when the margin was calculated to be Yuan 1,231/mt or $180/mt, S&P Global Platts data shown. The healthy margin is a result of the fall in the cost of feedstock paraxylene amid the crude ...>>>
US natural gas storage falls 141 Bcf to 2.773 Tcf: EIA Dec 21,2018
US natural gas in storage fell by 141 Bcf last week, but much smaller withdrawals are expected over the next two reporting weeks, which should cut into some of the massive storage deficit before the end of the year. US natural gas in storage decreased to 2.773 Tcf for the week ended December 14, the US Energy Information Administration reported ...>>>
Center-South Brazil H1 December sugarcane crush winding down for the season: survey Dec 21,2018
The amount of sugarcane crushed in the first half of December in Brazil's key Center-South region was expected to be 11.5 million mt, an increase of 9.8% year on year and 21.3% lower than the previous two-week period, an S&P Global Platts survey of analysts found Thursday. Estimates from sugar-industry association Unica were for 12.6 million mt,...>>>
After months of record Bakken oil output, dip expected next month Dec 21,2018
Record-breaking North Dakota oil production is expected to level off early next year, but the output peak could still be years away, state regulators and analysts said. A combination of winter weather and sluggish upstream investment in the Williston Basin because of declining oil prices will likely cause output growth to plateau or slow in earl...>>>
Weekly US coal production jumps to 15-week high: EIA Dec 21,2018
Weekly US coal production reached an estimated 15-week high of 15.48 million st in the week that ended December 15, up 3% from a week earlier and 0.9% from the year-ago week, US Energy Information Administration data showed Thursday. It was the third straight week and fifth time in the last eight weeks that all four basins saw week-on-week incre...>>>
Canada expands targeted relief for steel, aluminum tariffs Dec 21,2018
Canada will provide targeted tariff relief on a broader range of steel and aluminum products from the US in response to requests from domestic end-users, the federal Department of Finance said. Canada introduced reciprocal tariffs of 25% on US steel imports and 10% on US aluminum imports July 1 after the US began collecting its own tariffs on im...>>>
US Government Accountability Office to review Section 232 metals tariffs Dec 21,2018
Following a request from US lawmakers, the Government Accountability Office is undertaking a review of the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariff exclusion process in early 2019, US Senator Pat Toomey's office said Wednesday. Toomey (Republican-Pennsylvania), along with Senators Tom Carper (Democrat-Delaware) and Doug Jones (Democrat-Alabama) sen...>>>
US soybeans net export sales up 285.38% on week as China resumes buying Dec 21,2018
US soybean net export sales for the 2018-2019 marketing year were at a high of 2.835 million mt for the week ending December 13, up 285.38% from the previous week, Department of Agriculture data showed Thursday. This week's report reflects the first round of buying from China since the 25% tariff on US soybeans was implemented in July. Since th...>>>
January olefins contract price negotiations begin amid bearish pressure Dec 21,2018
As the olefins January contract price settlement process begins, sentiment has turned bearish due to an array of factors including sharp falls in prices for feedstock naphtha and crude and on pressure coming in from spot markets. Indications for ethylene have ranged from a rollover to a Eur30 fall, while those for propylene have ranged from a ro...>>>