Americas top stories – weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Americas for the week ended 18 October 2013.

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US ethylene margins fall 9.4% on declining spot prices
US ethylene margins fell 9.4% week on week for the week ended 11 October, the ICIS margin report showed on Monday.

US high court agrees to hear challenge to EPA greenhouse rules
The US Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it will consider a challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rule that limits emissions by power plants, refineries, chemicals facilities and other industrial sites.

N America Q1 TiO2 price hikes given slim to even odds of success
North American titanium dioxide (TiO2) customers said on Tuesday that the three first-quarter price-hike initiatives that have surfaced so far have somewhere between 0 and a 50/50 chance of success.

US Senate leaders announce deal to end debt crisis, shutdown
Senate leaders said on Wednesday that they have reached agreement on legislation that will raise the US debt ceiling limit until early February and fund federal government spending through mid-January and end the shutdown.

US October acrylates roll over on feedstock, seasonal softness
US freely negotiated acrylic acid and acrylate esters prices rolled over for October on flat feedstock and seasonally soft conditions, sources confirmed on Wednesday.

Obama says US will bounce back from shutdown, debt crisis
The US government and the nation’s economy will bounce back from negative effects of the federal shutdown and debt limit crisis, President Barack Obama said on Thursday, as he assured other nations that “the full faith and credit of the United States is not threatened”.

US October PP contracts fall 2.5 cents/lb on lower propylene
US polypropylene (PP) contracts for October generally settled lower by 2.5 cents/lb ($55/tonne, €41/tonne), despite ongoing efforts by some producers to expand margins, sources said on Thursday.

US refiners to file suit against federal biofuel standard
US refiners plan to file suit soon against federal environmental officials for their anticipated failure to issue biofuel consumption requirements for 2014, according to documents circulated on Friday.