Chemical News
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Americas: US spot HDPE blow molding prices increase on European demand Mar 10,2011
US HDPE blow molding spot export prices increased nearly 3.5 cents/lb ($77/mt) to 64 cents/lb ($1,411/mt) FAS Houston, trading sources said Wednesday. "I can export all day at 64," a trader said. Traders said they were able to easily sell blow molding into into Antwerp at $1,540/mt CFR. Considering freight of about $70/mt, there was plenty ...>>>
Americas: Cheaper ethane leading revival of US petchem industry: ExxonMobil Mar 10,2011
The growing supply of ethane in the US has reversed the widely-held assumption of a US petrochemical industry losing market share to other regions of the world, according to the president of ExxonMobil's petrochemicals division. Stephen Pryor, the president of ExxonMobil Chemical Co. and a senior vice president of the parent company, told the CE...>>>
Asia: Petchem industry urged to look at alternatives to naphtha as feedstock Mar 10,2011
The petrochemical industry needs to diversify its feedstocks, moving away from over-reliance on naphtha which is subject to price volatility and fluctuating shifts in supply, Samsung Total Petrochemicals Senior Vice President Jean-Baptiste Roques said at the 15th annual Condensate and Naphtha Forum held in Doha over Monday and Tuesday. "Let's f...>>>
Europe: NWE benzene slumps by $60/mt for March as sellers step in Mar 10,2011
Spot Northwest European benzene prices fell by at least $60/mt for March and around $35/mt for April Wednesday morning, as sellers were forced to offer aggressively as sources reported an increasingly lengthening market. There was uncertainty over the market direction at the beginning of the day, with March seen at a wide bid/offer range of $1,...>>>
Americas: Profit-taking ends rally in Central Appalachia OTC thermal coal Mar 10,2011
Central Appalachia over-the-counter thermal prices ended their five-day winning streak Tuesday, as low trading volumes in the session probably signified some profit taking, one source said. Price assessments were taken down along the entire forward curve, with the CAPP barge front months back in contango. CAPP barge April prices dropped $1.75...>>>
Americas: Economic, environmental impacts of gas fracking contested in New York Mar 10,2011
With a June 1 expiration looming for an executive order prohibiting most hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in New York, a debate Tuesday highlighted the contentious economic and environmental issues at play. While some speakers at the Fordham University Law School forum argued that the prohibition unfairly keeps royalty owners and gas produce...>>>
Asia: Shell signs pact with China Xinjiang government on CBM development Mar 10,2011
Shell has signed a framework agreement with the government of the Xinjiang autonomous region in northwest China to jointly explore and develop coalbed methane other other unconventional gas resources in the region, according to a statement published Wednesday by the local government. The agreement was signed on February 28 by Vice Chairman Kurax...>>>
Europe: German E.ON says gas renegotiations not just about a spot-index Mar 10,2011
Johannes Teyssen, CEO of Germany's E.ON, Wednesday said that contract renegotiations with producers including Russia's Gazprom over long-term gas contracts were not just about spot indexation. They were also looking at positive ways to grow the share of gas in the European energy market, he said, speaking at the company's annual results webcast....>>>
Americas: Tapping US oil reserves no solution on prices: Senator Murkowski Mar 10,2011
Despite rising crude oil and gasoline prices and instability in oil producing states, the US should not tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, US Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican said Tuesday. Murkowski, the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said Democrats who want to open SPR to address rising gasoli...>>>
Asia: India regulator urges Reliance to up KG-D6 gas output to 67 mil cu m/d Mar 10,2011
India's upstream regulator is urging Reliance Industries to drill additional wells in the offshore Krishna Godavari basin in accordance with the field development plan and meet its natural gas output target of 67 million cubic meters a day, S.K. Srivastava, director general of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons said Wednesday. Under the dev...>>>
Africa: Nigeria ready to back any OPEC moves to stabilize oil market:NNPC Mar 10,2011
Nigeria is ready to support OPEC in stabilizing the international oil market following the turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa that has caused global crude prices to spiral upwards, state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said Wednesday. The political violence in Libya has cut its oil output by as much as two thirds. "Alth...>>>
China: Sinopec Maoming Petchem's 2.5-mil-mt/yr CDU on fire Mar 10,2011
A 2.5-mil-mt/yr crude distillate unit at Sinopec Maoming Petrochemical caught fire at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, a refiner source told C1. The accident would not impose obvious impact on the refinery's crude throughput in March due to limited refining capacity of the CDU, according to the source. Maoming Petrochemical was scheduled to process 1.25-...>>>
S. China commercial fuel oil inventory slightly falls to 1.77-mil mt Mar 10,2011
Commercial fuel oil inventories of major oil terminals in South China amounted to 1.76-1.78-mil mt up till Mar 9, slightly down 20,000mt from the previous survey, 380,000mt higher than one year earlier, C1's research showed. The volume accounted for 64% of the total storage capacity of the terminals. About 60,000mt of fuel oil was channeled out ...>>>
China: PetroChina Dalian Petchem to refine 4.5% less crude daily in Mar Mar 10,2011
PetroChina Dalian Petrochemical plans to process 1.48-mil mt of crude in March, with daily throughput down 4.5% from the previous month, revealed a refinery source. The refinery shut No.2 fluid catalytic cracker for 45-day maintenance on Feb 25, the source said. Nearby 10-mil-mt/yr Dalian Wepec went into overall turnaround on Feb 25, expected...>>>
China: Shandong Wantong Petchem acquires Zibo Huikaifeng Chemical Mar 10,2011
Shandong Wantong Petrochemical Group bought 100% stake in Zibo Huikaifeng Chemical and renamed the latter as the Zibo Branch of Shandong Wantong Petrochemical, revealed a source with Wantong Petrochemical. "Acquisition agreement has already been signed, but handover is still underway," said the source. The news was later confirmed by a source...>>>
Asian styrene moves lower despite stronger upstream costs Mar 09,2011
Spot styrene prices in Asia have lost some ground over the past weeks even as crude oil and naphtha prices raced ahead to reach their highest levels since 2008. Players commented that styrene demand has not been responsive to tightening supplies in the region as existing stock levels have proven high enough to dissuade styrene buyers from purchasi...>>>
Energy crisis looms as oil supply growth lags demand-Hess CEO Mar 09,2011
HOUSTON-Investment in oil supply is not keeping pace with the global demand growth of around 1m bbl/day, setting up a shortfall that puts the energy balance in peril, said the head of independent US oil company Hess on Tuesday. "An energy crisis is coming, likely to be triggered by oil," said John Hess, who serves as the company's CEO and chairm...>>>
Asia: Saudi Kayan plans to start up Jubail polycarbonate plant end March Mar 09,2011
Saudi Kayan plans to start operations at its polycarbonate plant at Jubail, Saudi Arabia, at the end of March, sources close to company said Tuesday. The startup of the plant, which can make up to 260,000 mt/year of polycarbonate, will indicate that the company's phenolics complex is fully operational. On March 2, Saudi Kayan started operatio...>>>
Americas: Platts US Morning Market Analysis: Prices lower as crude falls Mar 09,2011
Petrochemical prices fell overnight in Asia as crude and naphtha feedstock prices settled lower. April Brent futures shed $2.86/barrel to $114.12/b at 0830 GMT in Asia, against $116.98/b at the corresponding time on Monday. The CFR Japan benchmark for naphtha dived $25.01/mt to $988.38/mt. The Asian benzene price plunged $30.50/mt, wiping out a $7 ...>>>
Asia: China sees toluene, SM, isomer-MX stocks rise on demand, credit woes Mar 09,2011
The recent fall in demand for styrene monomer, isomer-MX and toluene following a tightening of credit have pushed up inventories in East China to the highest levels in more than six months. Industry sources said they had expected demand to improve after the Lunar New Year holidays, but this has not happened. One reason for the weak demand i...>>>