Chemical News
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Explosion hits Valero refinery in Texas City, Texas Apr 20,2018
An explosion erupted Thursday afternoon at Valero's 225,000 b/d refinery in Texas City, Texas, according a statement from the city. While details of the fire were still unknown, there was no shelter-in-place order and all refinery personnel had been accounted for, according to Texas City's official Twitter account. A company spokeswoman was...>>>
Sinopec hikes East China butadiene price for second time this week Friday Apr 23,2018
China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, raised its ex-works butadiene offer price in East China for the second time this week to Yuan 10,100/mt, or $1,346/mt on an import-parity basis, Friday, up Yuan 200/mt or about 2%, market sources said. On Monday, the state-run company had increased the prices by Yuan 400/mt to Yuan 9,900/mt. The...>>>
Record Indian sugar output pressuring prices, sugarcane debts rising: ISMA Apr 23,2018
India's sugar production is expected to top 29.5 million mt in the 2017-18 season, the highest amount on record, which is pressuring domestic prices, the Indian Sugar Mills Association said. Retail prices have decreased 8% since November to an average of Rupee 38.88/kg (58.84 cents/kg) on Thursday, according to data from India's Ministry of Cons...>>>
California ethanol market climbs on tightness, plant maintenance Apr 23,2018
The market for California ethanol has spiked in recent days as scarce product and plant maintenance has driven up rail car prices. "Spot singles are in a pinch and trading at explosive values," said one source. California rail cars with sub-71 carbon intensity (CI) were heard traded at $1.77/gal Friday. Sub-70 CI rail cars, which would normal...>>>
Contango structures emerge for NWE toluene, mixed xylenes on prompt demand weakness Apr 23,2018
The Northwest European toluene and mixed xylenes market structures have shifted into a contango, driven by weak prompt demand. But there was firm buy interest for May on both products in the Platts Market on Close windows Thursday. The April CIF ARA prices of toluene and MX were assessed Thursday at $793/mt and $777.50/mt, while the correspon...>>>
US April PX CP slips as feedstock MX prices surge on supply, demand Apr 23,2018
The US April paraxylene contract price was heard settled Friday at 48 cents/lb, sources said Friday. The settlement marks a second consecutive decline for the contract, this time down a half cent from the March settlement. US prompt spot paraxylene prices have averaged $906.50/mt FOB USG so far in April as supply-side conditions were heard ...>>>
US April propylene contracts initially settling 1 cent/lb lower: sources Apr 23,2018
US April propylene contract prices were beginning to settle Friday at a 1 cents/lb decrease -- to 46 cents/lb for polymer-grade product and 44.5 cents/lb for chemical-grade product, sources said. One buyer, one producer and two other market sources confirmed settlement at that level. The settlement, if accepted marketwide, would be in line wi...>>>
US coal loadings drop across all major basins, NAPP up 18.1% Apr 23,2018
US coal train loadings dropped 1.2% on week due to decrease in shipments across major basins except Northern Appalachia. Data filed with the federal Surface Transportation Board by the four major US railroads -- CSX, Union Pacific, BNSF and Norfolk Southern -- for the week shows US coal loadings averaged 93.6 trains/d, down from 94.7 trains/d th...>>>
FERC commissioners troubled by reliability vulnerabilities tied to fuel security in parts of US Apr 23,2018
Although natural gas and power prices were relatively low across the US last year, fuel-security issues plaguing New England and Southern California led to some close calls for grid operators tasked with keeping the lights on, commissioners reflecting on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's 2017 state of the markets report said Thursday. T...>>>
German government confirms plan to add LNG infrastructure Apr 23,2018
Germany's new government plans to add LNG infrastructure with the planned import terminal at Brunsbuttel the most likely project as the cleaner fuel will become key to reducing shipping emissions, the economy and energy ministry said in a statement. Germany's new maritime policy coordinator Norbert Brackmann and the state minister for Schleswig-...>>>
Crude oil futures edge down in Monday morning trade Apr 23,2018
Crude oil futures were marginally lower during mid-morning trade in Asia Monday following a rise in US oil rig count and profit-taking. At 10:30 am Singapore time (0230 GMT), June ICE Brent crude futures were down 10 cents/b (0.14%) from Friday's settle at $73.96/b, while the new front-month June NYMEX light sweet crude contract was 18 cents/b (...>>>
100 Spot Commodities Price Chart - 20/04/2018 Apr 23,2018
It was assessed by SunSirs that in the tracked 100 spot commodities,38 commodities increased in prices, 16 fell and 46 remained unchanged on 20/04/2018.The largest rises were Iron ore (2.94%),Dried cocoons (2.49%),Paper (1.96%),while the largest falls ...>>>
Asia petrochemicals outlook, w/c Apr 23 Apr 24,2018
The petrochemical market in Asia got a boost last week from firmer upstream crude oil futures, with ICE June Brent crude futures gaining more than $1/b Friday compared to a week earlier. Eyes are still on the crude market this week, along with feedstock naphtha prices amid the steam cracker turnaround season. AROMATICS Asian paraxylene pric...>>>
Japan's special steel orders fall 10% on year in Feb to 1.52 mil mt: JISF Apr 24,2018
Special steel orders booked in Japan during February dropped 9.8% year on year to 1.52 million mt, latest data from the Japan Iron & Steel Federation showed. The February total was also down 2.5% from January. JISF officials in charge of the order data were not available for comment Monday, but a Tokyo-based trader said orders booked had dropped...>>>
US Treasury extends wind-down period for aluminum producer Rusal Apr 24,2018
The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control has extended its "wind-down" period with sanctions-hit Russian aluminum producer Rusal until October 23, 2018, the Treasury said Monday. "Rusal has approached us to petition for delisting. Given the impact on our partners and allies, we are issuing a general license extending the main...>>>
Iran's Apr LPG exports jump to about 500,000 mt, second highest post-sanctions Apr 24,2018
LPG shipments scheduled to be lifted from Iran in April rose further to around 500,000 mt, almost matching January shipments of 520,000 mt which was the highest volume since Western sanctions against the Middle Eastern producer were removed in January 2016, shipping sources said. The April shipments were almost up 14% from March and will bring t...>>>
EMEA petrochemicals outlook, w/c Apr 23 Apr 24,2018
The European ethylene market looks stable as the recent length has cleared following a spate of exports to Asia. OLEFINS For propylene, early expectations for the May contract price are mixed, with some market participants expecting a rollover but others predicting an increase on the back of stronger feedstock prices. The European butadi...>>>
Americas petrochemicals outlook, w/c Apr 23 Apr 24,2018
US AROMATICS: US aromatics prices rose on the week amid talk of an unplanned production issue at Shell's Deer Park, Texas, facility. Details and confirmation surrounding the outage were not available at time of publication. Prompt spot toluene prices rose roughly 6 cents week on week, closing Friday at 278 cents/gal FOB USG. The gains, coupled with...>>>
Mexican election spells uncertainty for pace of energy reform implementation Apr 24,2018
Mexico's 2018 elections could have far-reaching implications for the country's energy reform, but any shift in policy would likely come from a slowdown in implementation rather than an outright reversal. That conclusion was the collective wisdom of panelists speaking at the Mexican Energy Series conference hosted by Energy Dialogues last week in...>>>
NYMEX May gas little changed at $2.736/MMBtu as stocks offset weather Apr 24,2018
NYMEX May natural gas futures were little changed in overnight US trading as the bullish influence of depleted inventories offset the prospect of a fall on weather-related demand. At 6:40 am EDT (1040 GMT) the contract was 0.3 cents lower at $2.736/MMBtu. Natural gas inventories fell in the week ended April 13, for which the US Energy Informa...>>>