Chemical News
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Spot NWE benzene prices gain $10/mt as buyers return to market Aug 04,2010
Spot Northwest European benzene prices gained around $10/mt as the market traded upwards with buyers returning to the spot market Tuesday morning. The September market was heard traded twice at $935/mt and $945/mt for 1,000 mt CIF ARA barges, with Vitol and Mitsui confirmed as the buyers. There were also unconfirmed reports o...>>>
US styrene price climbs following jump in European price Aug 04,2010
US styrene sellers were notionally offering between 49 and 50 cents/lb, following a $50 jump in European styrene prices. The numbers remained notional because most producers were reported sold out of material for August. "If there was anything out there, it would have to be priced above 49 cents," one producer said. Buyers, th...>>>
Europe: EU confirms raids on polyurethane foam makers Aug 05,2010
Brussels - The European Union's executive on Tuesday confirmed that it has raided the premises of a number of makers of polyurethane foam, suspecting them of running an illegal cartel. EU rules prohibit price-fixing and other market manipulation. The European Commission has a long record of breaking up cartels, issuing fines worth billions o...>>>
America: Dow Reports Second Quarter Results Aug 05,2010
Dow reported earnings of $0.50 per share, or $0.54 per share excluding certain items.(2) This compares with a reported loss of $0.47 per share in the second quarter of 2009, or earnings of $0.05 per share excluding certain ite...>>>
German: BASF Coatings agrees to international cooperation with Audatex Aug 05,2010
Münster. BASF Coatings GmbH in Münster, Germany, and the Audatex GmbH in Stansstad, Switzerland, have agreed to comprehensive international cooperation. As part of the Solera Group, Audatex is a top solutions provider for the processing of collision damage and an established partner of insurance companies, bodyshops, carmakers and automotive expert...>>>
BayOne Urethane Systems Develops Renewable Resource HR Flexible Foam for Molding Applications Aug 05,2010
Recognizing market interest in products containing renewable resource content, BayOne Urethane Systems LLC, a joint venture between Bayer MaterialScience LLC and PolyOne, has followed up on its successful Bayfit® 500 flexible foam with the introduction of Bayfit® natural oil polyol (NOP) 633 High-Resiliency Moldable Flexible Foam made with ...>>>
China's electricity rationing curbs petchem operations, demand Aug 05,2010
Ongoing electricity rationing in East and mid-China's provinces, on the back of record high consumption levels, have resulted in operation cutbacks at downstream factories and reduced demand for petrochemicals, industry sources said this week. According to a statement released by the National Development and Reform Commission Tuesday, Ch...>>>
DME sets new record high for physical Oman crude delivery in July Aug 05,2010
The Dubai Mercantile Exchange said Wednesday it set a new record last month for the physical delivery of Oman crude cargoes in September at 15.1million barrels, surpassing the previous high of 14.1 million barrels in June. This would equate to 30 cargoes of 500,000 barrels each. Total open interest on futures contracts between S...>>>
Philippine refiner Petron wins court battle with government over tax Aug 05,2010
The Philippines government has lost its decade-long battle over tax dues with Petron Corp., the country's largest refiner, local media reported Wednesday. At stake was some Pesos 580 million ($12.75 million) in excise tax that the government claimed Petron owed. But the Supreme Court ruled that Petron had complied with proper procedures f...>>>
America: No US Senate oil spill vote before recess, Reid says Aug 05,2010
US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he would not hold votes before the chamber's August recess on dueling energy proposals to address offshore drilling. The Nevada Democrat had planned to hold test votes Wednesday on a bill of his own and a Republican alternative -- both legislative responses to the Macondo wellhead disaste...>>>
Australia's NWS LNG tenders to sell mid Sept cargo, bids due Tues Aug 05,2010
Australia's North West Shelf LNG Wednesday launched a tender to sell a mid-September loading cargo, several market sources said. Bids are due by the following Tuesday, they added. The project's last tender was launched mid-June, for a July 19 loading cargo. At that time, market sources said the winning bid was around the mid-$6s/MMBtu, im...>>>
US oil and gas M&A activity highest in Q2 2010 since Q3 2008: PwC Aug 05,2010
Merger and acquisition activity in the US oil and gas sector reached its highest level in more than a year and a half during the second quarter, according to a report issued Wednesday by PricewaterhouseCoopers. With improved credit markets and buyer-seller expectations finally aligning, coupled with increased CEO confidence and stabilize...>>>
China: Hebei group hikes August reference met coke prices by Yuan 50/mt Aug 05,2010
Hebei Coking Industry Association has raised its reference metallurgical coke prices by Yuan 50/mt ($7.40/mt) for August deliveries compared with July's levels for July, it said in a statement Tuesday. The statement did not give specific prices for August deliveries. But an HBCIA executive told Platts that the August reference price for ...>>>
China: Sinopec Yanshan Petchem to refine 8% more crude oil in Aug Aug 05,2010
Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical is expected to refine 950,000mt of crude oil in August, up 8% from the previous month, a source with the refinery said. The refinery's production would be affected little by glitch of an 800,000-mt/yr reformer, which would be under maintenance for a week, the source said. Yanshan Petrochemical, located in Beijing...>>>
China: PetroChina Kunlun Gas buys LPG distributors in Beijing: informed source Aug 05,2010
PetroChina's LPG wholesale company Kunlun Gas has recently purchased a few LPG distributors in Beijing, an informed source said without giving more details. The move may mark the company has formally stepped into LPG retail market in North China, market sources reckoned. It would be convenient for Kunlun Gas to manage LPG distributors in Beij...>>>
China: PetroChina raises gasoil inner settlement prices Aug 05,2010
PetroChina elevated Wednesday inner settlement prices of gasoil between regional marketing companies and provincial sales branches, by Yuan 100/mt for the sales branches in outside provinces and Yuan 50/mt for those inside, according to a company source. The increases would stimulate provincial sales branches to continue to boost gasoil wholes...>>>
China: Gasoil wholesale prices climb over rising international crude, tight supply Aug 05,2010
Domestic gasoil wholesale prices have been rising this week due to continuous rises in international crude prices, also thanks to tight supply and slightly stronger demand. As Brent crude gained from US$78.68/bbl on Jul 30 to US$83.84/bbl on Aug 3, the average gasoil wholesale price climbed from Yuan 6,693/mt to Yuan 6,769/mt, up 1.14%, C1's d...>>>
China: Shandong independents' gasoil inventories drop notably over better sales Aug 05,2010
Shandong-based independent refineries' gasoil stockpiles declined obviously in the second half of July as their sales improved, C1 found. The 12 refineries surveyed by C1 held about 206,000mt of gasoil inventories on Jul 30, notably down 29,000mt or 12.34% from the middle of July. These refineries' gasoil sales grew as traders replenished thei...>>>
China: S. China commercial fuel oil inventory stable at 1.65-mil mt Aug 05,2010
Commercial fuel oil inventories of major oil terminals in South China totaled 1.64-1.66-mil mt up till Aug 4, flat with week ago, while 59% higher than the same period last year, a survey found. The volume accounted for 63% of the total storage capacity of the terminals. About 30,000mt of fuel oil entered into the terminals in the past week, c...>>>
China: Yunnan Yunwei's DMF Facility to Start Commissioning in end-August Aug 05,2010
According to relevant people from Yunnan Yunwei Co., Ltd., the company’s 100kt/y DMF facility would carry out commissioning and test run at the end of August. The company is specialized in a variety of chemical products with annual capacities of 85,000 tons for Calcium Carbide, 28,000 tons for Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA), 85,000 tons for Vinyl A...>>>