Asia top stories - weekly summary

13 February 2012 01:00  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 10 February 2012

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Focus - Styrene prices in China declining under high inventories
Styrene monomer (SM) prices in China are likely to maintain a downtrend weighed under high inventories along the east Chinese shore tanks and lacklustre downstream demand, traders and buyers said on Tuesday.

Focus - Production issues to keep SE Asia PX in tight supply
A series of production hiccups and extended turnarounds at '''paraxylene (PX) facilities in southeast Asia is likely to keep supply tight well into the second quarter, market sources said on Tuesday.

Focus - Asia MPG may extend gains on rising feedstock costs
Asia’s prices of industrial-grade propylene glycol (PGI) bulk prices are expected to rise further in line with the surging prices of propylene and feedstock propylene oxide (PO), market sources said on Monday.

Focus - China sulphur to rebound on peak fertilizer consumption season
China’s sulphur prices may be in for a modest rebound because of a seasonal pick-up in sales of downstream fertilizer phosphates starting mid-February, market players said on Monday.

Focus - Asian ABS makers push for higher prices on buoyant butadiene
Acrylonitrile-'''butadiene-'''styrene ('''ABS) producers in Asia are targeting higher offers this week despite lacklustre demand as feedstock butadiene remains on an uptrend eroding their margins, industry sources said on Wednesday.

Focus - Asia rubber makers hike offers, cut output as BD costs surge
Synthetic rubber producers in Asia are being forced to hike prices, or cut operating rates at plants, as the surging values of feedstock '''butadiene (BD) severely erode their margins, industry sources said on Wednesday.

Taiwan’s Formosa delays Ningbo EVA plant start-up to Q4 2013
Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics will push back the start-up its '''ethylene '''vinyl acetate (EVA) project in Ningbo, China to the fourth quarter of 2013, given present difficulty in securing plant equipment, a company official said on Thursday.

Focus - Asian butac offers rise on firm feedstock prices
Asian butyl acetate (butac) prices have started rising after a steady seven-month decline that bottomed out two weeks ago as a result of higher feedstock costs and firmer selling ideas, market sources said on Thursday.

Focus - Asia’s naphtha to surge on supply constraints, firm demand
Asia’s naphtha prices are expected to trend higher, after surging to a nine-month peak this week on the back of a rally in crude futures and depressed supply amid strong demand because of lighter cracker turnarounds, traders said on Friday.

Focus - Thai SCG expands SE Asia petrochemical presence via Vietnam
Siam Cement Group (SCG), the biggest conglomerate in Thailand, just formalised its participation in building Vietnam’s first petrochemical complex as part of a long-term strategy to grow its presence in southeast Asia, analysts said on Friday.

Focus - China PP may extend gains on tighter supply in March to June
Domestic polypropylene (PP) prices in China look set to continue rising from March, thanks to tighter supply given a heavy turnaround schedule at major plants through June, industry sources said on Friday.

Focus - Nigerian TDI demand in 2012 to stay relatively flat from 2011
Toluene di-isocyanate ('''TDI) demand in Nigeria is expected to remain relatively unchanged in 2012, as compared with last year, largely because of the limited buying power of end-consumers despite steady gross domestic product (GDP) growth, sources said on Wednesday.

Borouge's Abu Dhabi polyolefins expansion fully onstream mid-2014
Borouge expects an expansion of its polyolefins complex in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, to be fully onstream in mid-2014, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.

Japan's Marubeni wins Angolan bioethanol project
Marubeni has been awarded a full turnkey contract by the Angolan government to construct a plant producing sugar and bioethanol from sugarcane for $650m (€494m), the Japanese trading firm said on Tuesday.

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