Chemical News
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Venezuela's Sidor lacks raw materials, halting some production: minister Mar 17,2017
Sidor, Venezuela's largest steelmaker, has some of its productive lines stopped due to the lack of raw materials, the Minister of Basic Industries Juan Arias said Thursday. "In Sidor, some productive lines are not currently operating because the company is seeking for raw materials to be able to resume operations," said Arias Thursday. Low in...>>>
Supply concerns keep molybdenum prices firm Mar 17,2017
The molybdenum market continued to firm Wednesday, with speculation that prices could hit $9/lb by the end of the week, a level not seen since January 2015. "Some see higher numbers already and the trend as the friend," one European trader said on talk of higher prices in Asia. Others said they were holding back offers while watching the mark...>>>
Gold gains as Federal Reserve lifts interest rates, signals slower tightening Mar 17,2017
Gold gained as much as $25 overnight to a 10-day high of around $1,225/oz in early trade Thursday. The move higher followed a rise in US interest rates late Wednesday in which the Federal Reserve also signaled it would be sticking with previous projections of three rate increases this year, defying some predictions of a more aggressive forecast....>>>
India's Nalco to lift aluminum output by 60,000-120,000 mt in fiscal 2017-18 Mar 17,2017
India's Nalco plans to boost aluminum production by between 60,000 mt and 120,000 mt to between 440,000 mt and 500,000 mt in fiscal 2017-2018, running from April-March, sources close to the company's operations said. This may be partially matched with a planned ramp-up in alumina output of 100,000-200,000 mt, to 2.2 million-2.3 million mt, one o...>>>
US ethanol RIN generation in Feb falls 8% from Jan: EPA Mar 17,2017
US ethanol RINs generated in February fell by 99 million RINs, or 7.89%, from January to 1.155 billion RINs, Environmental Protection Agency data showed Thursday. February biomass-based diesel (D4) RINs rose by 18.13 million RINs, or 9.33%, to 214 million RINs generated. Advanced biofuel (D5) RIN generation fell by 306,000 RINs, or 5.44%, to ...>>>
Turkey ARC: Steel scrap pressured by price strength exposure Mar 17,2017
The Turkey region steel market is showing stronger scrap prices having reduced margins with rebar, awaiting a catch up in steel prices or a correction in scrap to reduce relative strength for the feedstock, analysis using Platts Turkey ARC indices showed Wednesday. The implied melt margin using TSI scrap and Platts rebar spot prices has weakened...>>>
100 Spot Commodities Price Chart - 16/03/2017 Mar 17,2017
It was assessed by SunSirs that in the tracked 100 spot commodities,23 commodities increased in prices, 29 fell and 47 remained unchanged on 16/03/2017.The largest rises were Silver (2.66%),Iron ore (1.54%),Zinc (1.38%),while the largest falls were Eth...>>>
Sinopec lowers orthoxylene ex-works offers in East China by Yuan 200 to Yuan 7,100/mt Mar 20,2017
China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, lowered its ex-works orthoxylene offers in East China by Yuan 200/mt on Monday, trade sources said Friday. Yangzi-BASF and Sinopec Zhenhai, the company's subsidiaries in East China, are currently offering OX at Yuan 7,100/mt, equivalent to about $863.80/mt on an import parity basis. This i...>>>
Strong export demand drives large propane stocks draw in winter 2016-17: EIA Mar 20,2017
US propane inventories fell 59 million barrels since October despite a mild winter, largely on record exports, the Energy Information Administration said Friday. "As domestic propane consumption has remained relatively flat or declined on an annual basis, US exports of propane have continued to increase," EIA said in its Today In Energy feature....>>>
Analysis: Bullish olefin expectations remain despite upstream falls Mar 20,2017
Bullish expectations remain for the olefin markets, ethylene, propylene and butadiene in April despite a fall in upstream costs this month. Naphtha, the primary feedstock for olefin production in Northwest Europe, has fallen 7% in March to be assessed at $451.25/mt CIF NWE on Thursday. Meanwhile, major petrochemical building blocks, ethylene,...>>>
Michigan aluminum die caster Muskegon Castings recovers from fire Mar 20,2017
Michigan aluminum die caster Muskegon Castings has moved production to other nearby facilities and continues to supply its primary customer, Subaru of America, after fire destroyed its building earlier this week, an official with Port City Group said Friday. John Essex, CEO of the Port City Group, said in an interview that while a force ma...>>>
Steel inventory levels likely to support US sheet prices: sources Mar 20,2017
Inventories held by steel service centers in US are at levels that should support the higher domestic mill prices announced last week, sources said Friday. The $30/st price increases were being fully applied, according to one mill source. "Spot deals at any price levels are still small volume, but it's early," he added. Inventories are low an...>>>
Coking coal at $160/mt expected for Q2 and Q3 benchmarks: FBR Mar 20,2017
Coking coal industry reference prices in the second and third quarters of 2017 may end up close to current spot prices, with a growing sense of market stability after a peak in prices seen at the end of last year, US investment bank FBR said Friday. FBR said it cut its estimate for Q2 and Q3 coking coal benchmark prcing under the accords to $160...>>>
Poland's JSW sees Q4 coking coal sales rise 6% on quarter Mar 20,2017
Europe's largest hard coking coal miner Jastrzebska Spolka Weglowa (JSW) said late Thursday it increased its coking coal sales 6% quarter on quarter in October-December to 1.682 million mt, in a period that saw its average coking coal price rise 74%. JSW said it achieved an average price for its hard and semi soft coking coal of $148/mt in Octob...>>>
Russia's Rusal forecasts global aluminum deficit to widen to 1.1 mil mt in 2017 Mar 20,2017
Russian aluminum producer Rusal said Friday it expects global aluminum deficit to widen to 1.1 million mt in 2017 from 0.6 million mt in 2016, as strong demand growth is seen outpacing the increase in supply. Rusal put global aluminum demand in 2017 at 62.7 million mt, up 5% from a year ago, and supply at 61.6 million mt, up 4.3%. China's alu...>>>
Feature: US ethanol value analyses miss octane premium: professors Mar 20,2017
Typical ways of looking at the value of ethanol as a gasoline blendstock in the US miss the value that the biofuel's higher octane brings, according to an article from two agriculture professors this week. "This is a simple, straightforward analysis meant to provoke discussion," Scott Irwin, professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaig...>>>
Coal traffic on Indian Railways over Apr 2016-Feb 2017 falls 4% on year Mar 20,2017
The Indian Railways carried 482.57 million mt of coal from April 2016 to February 2017, down 4% from a year earlier, according to data released by the Directorate of Statistics and Economics Thursday. Of the total volume transported by the Indian Railways during the first 11 months of fiscal 2016-2017, 413.56 million mt comprised domestic coal w...>>>
100 Spot Commodities Price Chart - 17/03/2017 Mar 20,2017
It was assessed by SunSirs that in the tracked 100 spot commodities,18 commodities increased in prices, 27 fell and 54 remained unchanged on 17/03/2017.The largest rises were Natural rubber (3.18%),Zinc (1.40%),Styrene (1.33%),while the largest falls w...>>>
Vietnam's steel imports value from China rise sharply in 2 months Mar 21,2017
Vietnam's imports of Chinese steel rose sharply in value over the January-February period, according to Vietnam's General Department of Customs. China remained Vietnam's largest steel supplier with a total of 1.53 million tons exported in the period, worth 786 million U.S. dollars, up 7.6 percent in volume and 61.8 percent in value year-on-year,...>>>
US January propylene exports to Latin America dip 2.47% on month: AFPM data Mar 21,2017
Propylene exports from the US Gulf Coast to key destinations in Latin America totaled 35,500 mt in January, down 900 mt from December, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers data showed Monday. Colombia imported 18,100 mt, 2,700 mt less month on month, while Mexico imports rose 1,800 mt or nearly 12% to 17,400 15,600 mt from December, dat...>>>