Chemical News
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EU sugar, ethanol producers oppose Brazilian access to EU market Jul 04,2017
EU producers oppose any concessions to Brazil on sugar and ethanol as part of the EU-Mercosur negotiations, the International Confederation of European Beet Growers (CIBE) said Monday. Brazil currently benefits from the EU's trade concessions on sugar, which allow imports at a reduced duty. "From October 2017, Brazil's preferential access to the...>>>
India's fuel ethanol industry sees marginal impact from the new GST Jul 04,2017
India's new Goods and Services Tax has been officially rolled out on July 1, which brought up the tax on fuel ethanol to 18%. However, the industry sees marginal impact from the higher GST. Before the implementation of new GST, fuel ethanol was subjected to 12.5% central excise in India. Additionally, some states also imposed interstate duty of ...>>>
100 Spot Commodities Price Chart - 03/07/2017 Jul 04,2017
It was assessed by SunSirs that in the tracked 100 spot commodities,37 commodities increased in prices, 15 fell and 47 remained unchanged on 03/07/2017.The largest rises were Natural rubber (1.41%),Aluminum (1.26%),Nickel (1.16%),while the largest fall...>>>
Sinopec hikes East China butadiene offers by 6% amid tight availability Jul 05,2017
China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, raised its ex-works butadiene offers in East China by Yuan 500/mt or 6.3% effective Tuesday to Yuan 8,500/mt, equating to $1,049/mt on an import parity basis, market sources said. The last time the state-run company raised prices was last Tuesday, by Yuan 700/mt to Yuan 8,000/mt. Tight availabil...>>>
Feature: Bunker industry still weighing global sulfur cap response Jul 05,2017
With less than three years to go for the International Maritime Organization's global sulfur cap, bunker industry participants are still assessing how refiners and ship-owners will respond to the new rule that is set to disrupt the marine fuel product-mix as well as its pricing. On October 27, 2016, the IMO decided to cut bunker sulfur limits fr...>>>
Japan-bound coal exports from Australia's PWCS terminal slump to 26-month low in June Jul 05,2017
Coal exports from the Port Waratah Coal Services terminal at Australia's Newcastle port were lagging in June with shipments to Japan slumping to a 26-month low, data from the operator showed Monday. A total 7.89 million mt of coal was outloaded at PWCS in June, down 5% year on year and 18% from May, and was the smallest monthly volume since the ...>>>
US coal train loadings slide with declines across major basins: railroads Jul 05,2017
Total US coal train loadings have slipped following consecutive weeks of gains, with volumes falling across the major basins. Data filed by the four major US railroads -- CSX, Union Pacific, BSNF and Norfolk Southern -- for the week ended June 23 shows nationwide coal loadings averaged 98.1 trains/d, down from 102.3 trains/d the previous week. C...>>>
Idemitsu family files court injunction to stop Idemitsu's new share issuance Jul 05,2017
The Idemitsu founding family said Tuesday it had filed a court injunction earlier in the day at the Tokyo District Court to block Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan's board decision Monday to issue new shares through a public offering. The issuance would dilute shares held by the founding family, which has been opposing the refiner's merger with Sh...>>>
Brazil plans to test unconventional oil, natural gas production in 2018 Jul 05,2017
Brazil's government wants to start up a pilot project tapping unconventional oil and natural gas reservoirs next year, likely in the state of Bahia, as part of broader efforts to expand onshore output, a Mines and Energy Ministry official said. Latin America's biggest country is well behind the curve in development of unconventional resources su...>>>
Feature: Fuel oil backwardation steepens despite rising exports from Russia Jul 05,2017
The backwardation in the 3.5% FOB Rotterdam barge market has continued to steepen despite rising fuel oil exports from Russia in May and June, underpinned by strong refining margins and record high fuel oil cracks. The July/August structure of 3.5% FOB Rotterdam barges traded in a backwardation of $3.25-3.50/mt at the beginning of last week and ...>>>
Analysis: Asian oil buyers cautious despite clarity on Qatar co-loading Jul 05,2017
Confusion about co-loading of oil cargoes following Qatar's diplomatic isolation may have eased, but Asian buyers are still cautious of signing on the dotted line for cargoes, a move that could trim volumes from the Middle Eastern exporter until the deadlock is broken. On June 5, Saudi Arabia, joined by the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt, abruptly sever...>>>
Houston gasoline rack prices rally from 2017 lows ahead of record July 4 travel Jul 05,2017
Gasoline prices at the rack in Houston, Texas, have recovered from their recent year-to-date lows, tracking gains seen for the entire oil complex and ahead of what could be the most heavily traveled US Independence Day holiday weekend ever. The price for unbranded, unleaded regular grade gasoline was $1.4046/gal in Houston Monday morning, the lo...>>>
Gazprom hikes H1 natural gas export to Europe 12% on year, raises 2017 output forecast Jul 05,2017
Russian gas giant Gazprom has increased gas supplies to Europe and Turkey by 12% year on year in the first half of 2017, which has also encouraged the company to boost its gas output forecast to 450 Bcm this year, as it sees growing demand for pipeline gas in the region, CEO Alexei Miller said Friday. "Gas demand continues rising in 2017. In the...>>>
January-May Latin American steel imports from China jump 19% on year Jul 06,2017
Latin America imported 3.3 million mt of steel products from China from January through May 2017, up 19% from the same period a year ago, according to regional steel industry association Alacero. Of the total, 2.9 million mt was rolled steel products and 360,000 mt end-user products, compared with 2.4 million mt of finished steel and 315,000 mt ...>>>
Initial June US ethylene settlement down 2.75 cents/lb Jul 06,2017
Initial June US ethylene contract settlements Wednesday were reached at 30.5 cents/lb ($672/mt), down 2.75 cents/lb from May, market sources said. While some participants have concluded negotiations at that level, multiple sources said settlements were not yet marketwide. If fully accepted, the 2.75 cents/lb decrease would be within market ex...>>>
European polypropylene prices seen temporarily bottoming out in July Jul 06,2017
European polypropylene (PP) spot prices could temporarily bottom out in July following a Eur50/mt contract price drop in monomer propylene to Eur790/mt FD NWE in June. Buyers are expected to take advantage and build stock, which in itself could prevent spot prices from falling further than the monomer decrease would suggest, sources said on Wedn...>>>
Indonesia's Chandra Asri plans to boost ethylene output by 5% in Q1 2020 Jul 06,2017
Indonesia's Chandra Asri Petrochemical plans to boost the ethylene production capacity of its sole naphtha-fed steam cracker at Cilegon by 4.6% in Q1 2020, the company said Wednesday. The cracker's ethylene production capacity will rise to 900,000 mt/year from 860,000 mt/year, while its propylene output will increase to 490,000 mt/year from 470,...>>>
Ellba declares force majeure on supplies to Shell Chemicals Europe Jul 06,2017
Ellba has declared force majeure on supplies to Shell Chemicals Europe, Shell said Tuesday. "The styrene monomer and propylene oxide plant at the Moerdijk petrochemical complex in the Netherlands is owned by Ellba C.V. (a joint venture between Shell and BASF) and is currently shut down because of an unexpected failure of one of the reboilers in ...>>>
'Hot' Egyptian market pushes steel billet up again in fresh trading Jul 06,2017
The Black Sea steel billet market remained strong Wednesday with a fresh booking confirmed into Egypt at higher levels with tightening prompt availability. An Egyptian re-roller bought 5,000 mt of Ukrainian billet at $432/mt CFR, equating to around $417/mt FOB. This was confirmed with a source close to the deal. A London-based trader said ...>>>
US Mint June gold coin sales slide 92% year on year to 0.19 mt Jul 06,2017
Sales of gold coins by the US Mint totaled 0.19 mt in June, down 92% from 2.29 mt a year earlier, data from the agency showed Wednesday. The June total is down 59% from 0.45 mt in May and the same volume as was sold in April, which was then the lowest monthly total since December 2015. Monthly sales have been less than 1 mt since January, wit...>>>