Americas top stories – weekly summary
ICIS Editorial
22-Apr-2013
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Americas for the week ended 19 April 2013.
(Please click on the link to read the full text.)
Agency calls for stricter rules
after US Chevron refinery
fire
Regulatory agencies need more
resources to monitor US refineries, and safety regulations
need to be more authoritative, the US Chemical Safety Board
(CSB) investigation board said on Monday in unveiling
its draft report on the August 2012 Chevron
refinery fire in Richmond, California.
US March housing construction up
7%, but one-family units
decline
US housing construction
rose by 7% in March from February, the Commerce Department
said on Tuesday, but the gain was wholly due to a surge in
apartment projects while the crucial single-family home
segment fell by nearly 5%.
US April epoxy resins contract
prices widen on split
settlement
US April epoxy resin
contract prices widened because of a split settlement,
sources said on Tuesday.
Fire at ExxonMobil refinery in
Texas injures at least
12
ExxonMobil’s Beaumont refinery
in Texas experienced a fire on Wednesday, injuring at least
12 contract employees.
US methanol spot prices soar 9
cents/gal on cutbacks in
Trinidad
US methanol spot barge
prices have soared 9 cents/gal this week on natural gas
curtailments in Trinidad that began on 12 April because of
unexpected problems at offshore platforms there, a source
said on Wednesday.
Fertilizer plant explosion
devastates Texas town
A fertilizer
plant explosion that rocked the town of West, Texas, on
Wednesday evening is understood to have left at least two
people dead and dozens injured, with more victims potentially
trapped in the wreckage of buildings demolished by the blast.
US president pledges federal help
in wake of fertilizer plant
blast
US President Barack Obama
offered sympathy and federal support on Thursday to
those killed and injured in the wake of a fertilizer plant
explosion Wednesday evening at a retail distribution facility
in the Texas community of West.
ATF awaiting end of rescue efforts
at site of fertilizer
explosion
Members of the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives (ATF) National Response Team have been
dispatched to the scene of a fertilizer explosion in the
Texas town of West but are currently waiting for search and
rescue operations to conclude before commencing their
investigation, an ATF spokesperson said late Thursday.
Texas officials confirm 12
fatalities in fertilizer
explosion
Texas Department of
Public Safety (DPS) on Friday said that 12 people have been
confirmed dead and approximately 200 injured following a
massive explosion at fertilizer facility on Wednesday in the
small community of West.
US April barge acetone initially
settles down by 7.5 cents/lb
The
US April barge acetone contract initially settled down by 7.5
cents/lb ($165/tonne €127/tonne) from March, sources
confirmed on Friday.
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