Chemical News
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Singapore's Ellba, Shell lift force majeure on SM supplies Nov 07,2011
Singapore's Ellba Eastern, a joint venture between Shell and BASF, and Shell Singapore have ended their force majeure on styrene monomer supplies with effect from October 31, a spokeswoman for Shell said late Thursday. Shell's customers have confirmed that the company had ended its force majeure on SM supplies to them recently. "We can confir...>>>
Shell's Hazira LNG terminal to hit 5 mil mt/year capacity in Q2 2012 Nov 07,2011
Shell Gas and its partner Total will raise the capacity of their 3.6 million mt/year Hazira LNG terminal in Gujarat, western India, to 5 million mt/year, with the new capacity expected to come online early in the second quarter of 2012, Deepak Mukarji, country head, Shell India corporate affairs, said Friday. "Clearly, we are very upbeat about ...>>>
Norway's Statoil buys Snohvit gas field stake from Hess Nov 07,2011
Norwegian state-controlled Statoil has signed an agreement to buy US Hess' 3.26% stake in the Barents Sea Snohvit Unit and adjacent production licenses for a post-tax amount of NOK1 billion ($177 million), it said Friday. Statoil is acquiring Hess' 11.25% participation interest in PL097 and 8.33% in PL110, together constituting a 3.26% participa...>>>
NYMEX December gas futures contract settles 0.5 cents higher Nov 07,2011
The NYMEX December natural gas futures contract settled at $3.783/MMBtu on Friday, 0.5 cents above Thursday's $3.778/MMBtu close. The contract was moving mostly sideways throughout the day, "with another failure to get anywhere technically meaningful," said Pax Saunders, analyst with Gelber & Associates. "The market still has some work to d...>>>
China to allow companies to set fuel prices in new system: report Nov 07,2011
China's oil companies will be given the autonomy to set retail prices for fuels under a new pricing system to be implemented by the government, depending on international crude oil prices, China Securities Journal reported Friday, citing an unnamed source. The government will no longer issue notifications regarding price adjustments and oil comp...>>>
US' Chesapeake still seeking partners for shale oil joint venture Nov 07,2011
A day after announcing $3.4 billion worth of joint ventures in Ohio's Utica Shale, Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon said Friday in a conference call with analysts that the company is looking to sell partial stakes in three more shale oil plays as joint ventures. In the conference call to discuss Chesapeake's third-quarter earnings, which w...>>>
US Gulf Coast distillate differentials slip on export dip Nov 07,2011
US Gulf Coast distillate spot markets slipped Friday, with the export market seen calming down despite the widening of an arbitrage to Europe. Platts assessed ULSD down about a quarter-cent on a new Colonial Pipeline cycle to NYMEX December heating oil futures minus 25 points/gal. It traded 10 times for 325,000 barrels, with Valero and Shell doi...>>>
Taiwan's FCFC eyes restart of 600,000 mt/year SM units late Nov Nov 04,2011
Taiwan's Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corporation may only be able to start its No. 1 and No. 2 styrene monomer plants at Mailiao late November, a company source said late Wednesday, but he noted that this was not confirmed. The two plants, with a combined capacity of 600,000 mt/year, have been shut since May 12 due to a fire at an LPG pipeline at ...>>>
European polyethylene converters seek to trace ethylene's fall for Nov contract prices Nov 04,2011
European polyethylene converter sources this week said they were seeking contract price reductions in November, tracing a fall in the feedstock ethylene. The European ethylene CP fully settled last week at Eur1,095/mt ($1,510/mt) FD NWE, a fall of Eur20/mt on the back on softer naphtha costs and a slow ethylene-derivative offtake. Producers...>>>
Brazil's Nov ethylene CP flat amid plant turnarounds Nov 04,2011
Ethylene contract prices in Brazil for November were flat over October following stability in the European price, said a source. The monomer contract price in the Brazilian domestic market for October was heard at around $1,650/mt FOB. The Brazilian CP last moved from September to October, up approximately $80/mt to $1,650/mt FOB. Brazilian e...>>>
US EPA releases final plan for study of fracking impact Nov 04,2011
The US Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday released the final plan for its multi-year research into the environmental effect of hydraulic fracturing, which the agency expects to complete in 2014. The 190-page plan outlines steps EPA has taken since March 2010, when it began -- at Congress' direction -- to study the potential impact of fr...>>>
NYMEX December gas futures contract settles 2.9 cents higher Nov 04,2011
The NYMEX December natural gas futures contract settled Thursday at $3.778/MMBtu, 2.9 cents above Wednesday's $3.749/MMBtu close, on expectations that the arrival of winter is imminent. Despite bearish storage data, the market is finding some support from the lows, said PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn. Thursday's market is a "victory for the bull...>>>
Returning refineries set to relieve NWE diesel supply constraints Nov 04,2011
The return in December of a number of European refineries from scheduled turnarounds should provide some relief to an ultra low sulfur diesel market struggling to find enough product to meet demand, market sources said Thursday. "Right now it's a seller's paradise as there are four or five people that need product that will have to pay up," one ...>>>
High spot Los Angeles CARB diesel prices prompt import talk Nov 04,2011
A booming spot market for Los Angeles CARB diesel has spurred talk of distillate imports to the West Coast, just months after the region reached a near-record level of exports. The differential for the California grade of ultra low sulfur diesel was assessed Wednesday at NYMEX December heating oil futures plus 40 cents/gal, its highest level sin...>>>
US October ethylene settles at 54 cents/lb, down 0.50 cent/lb Nov 03,2011
HOUSTON-US ethylene for October settled at 54 cents/lb ($1,190/tonne, €869/tonne), down from September's settlement of 54.50 cents/lb, market sources said on Wednesday. Ethylene fell slightly because of a drop in spot prices, which more than offset an increase in ethane costs, sources said. The US ethylene contract usually settles at t...>>>
South/East China solvent-MX spread widens sharply on low stocks in south Nov 03,2011
The spread between solvent-grade mixed xylenes in South and East China has widened to Yuan 850/mt this week, from more typical levels of less than Yuan 300/mt, due to tight supply in the south, market sources said Tuesday. The spread has been widening since October 10 when the Chinese market resumed after a week-long holiday, sources said, notin...>>>
Germany's Evonik to buy pharmaceutical unit of US SurModics Nov 03,2011
German specialty chemicals group Evonik has agreed to acquire the pharmaceuticals business of US-based SurModics Inc for $30 million in cash, the companies said in separate statements Wednesday. Evonik said the acquisition, which is expected to close shortly, is part of its move to develop its healthcare business. SurModics Pharmaceuticals, b...>>>
Styrolution targets Eur15/mt decrease in NWE November polystyrene Nov 03,2011
Styrolution will target a Eur15/mt decrease in November polystyrene general purpose prices in an effort to increase margins, the company announced Wednesday. In addition, the company said it would target a high-impact PS premium over GPPS at Eur145/mt. October net PS contracts were settled at Eur1250/mt FD NWE, while the GPPS-HIPS spread was ...>>>
US November paraxylene CP settles down 6 cents/lb at 74 cents/lb Nov 03,2011
The US paraxylene contract settled down 6 cents/lb ($132/mt) to 74 cents/lb ($1,630.96/mt) for November, a PET maker said Wednesday. Producers had yet to confirm the contract. The decrease in the US came on the heels of lower contracts in Asia and Europe. Asia's PX CP settled at $1,500/mt CFR, down $120/mt from the partial settlement in Oct...>>>
Russia confirms 2017 target for gas pipeline supply to S.Korea: report Nov 03,2011
Pipeline supplies of Russian gas to South Korea are expected to start in 2017, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller reiterated Wednesday following talks between Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-Bak in St Petersburg. "Gas cooperation issues have been discussed during the talks, we may expect supplies of Russian p...>>>