Engineering plastics (POM, PBT)

TORONTO (ICIS)–Workers at freight rail carriers Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) have voted in favor of a strike. A first work stoppage could occur as early as 22 May, if no new collective agreements are reached by then, officials at labor union Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) said in a televised announcement on 1 May. The rail carriers warned that a work stoppage would disrupt supply chains throughout North America and constrain trade between Canada and the US and Mexico. The two railroads account for the bulk of freight rail traffic in Canada. Canada-based chemical and fertilizer producers rely on rail to ship more than 70% of their products, with some exclusively using rail. In the run-up of strikes, producers have to make preparations. Longer strikes can force plant shutdowns and after a strike ends it can take weeks for normal operations to resume. For the first 17 weeks of 2024, ended 27 April, Canadian chemical railcar loadings were 233,074, up 3.1% from the same period in 2023, according to  the latest freight rail data released on 1 May. Chemical industry sources had warned about the possibility of a rail strike in Canada early last month. The country's labor law requires a minimum of 72-hours notice prior to a strike or lockout. TCRC represents about 9,000 CN and CPKC engineers and conductors. The previous collective agreements expired on 31 December 2023. Thumbnail photo source: CN

02-May-2024

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Global technology provider Topsoe has signed a contract with fertilizer producer CF Industries for support on a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for a proposed low-carbon ammonia plant in Louisiana. Topsoe said it will license its SynCOR ammonia technology to CF which when combined with carbon capture and storage will enable the production of low-carbon ammonia. Currently CF is evaluating development of the plant project in collaboration with ammonia marketer Mitsui & Co. If the project advances, it is intended to create low-carbon ammonia for use as a decarbonized energy source. “We believe low-carbon ammonia helps unlock the door towards a net zero future. Our technology offers a cost-effective route to producing low carbon ammonia while also enabling carbon capture, at industrial proven scale,” said Henrik Rasmussen, Topsoe, managing director, the Americas. “CF and Topsoe have a long-standing relationship spanning many decades and we are proud to extend our collaboration with this award.”

01-May-2024

SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Brazilian chemicals producers are lobbying hard for an increase in import tariffs for key polymers and petrochemicals from 12.6% to 20%, and higher in cases, hoping the hike could slow down the influx of cheap imports, which have put them against the wall. For some products, Brazil’s chemicals trade group Abiquim, which represents producers, has made official requests for the import tariffs to go up to a hefty 35%, from 9% in some cases. On Tuesday, Abiquim said several of its member companies “are already talking about hibernating plants” due to unprofitable economics. It did so after it published another set of somber statistics for the first quarter, when imports continued entering Brazil em masse. Brazil’s government Chamber of Foreign Commerce (Camex) is concluding on Tuesday a public consultation about this, with its decision expected in coming weeks. Abiquim has been busy with the public consultation: it has made as many as 66 proposals for import tariffs to be hiked for several petrochemicals and fertilizers, including widely used polymers such polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polystyrene (PS), or expandable PS (EPS), to mention just a few. Other chemicals trade groups, as well as companies, have also filed requests for import tariffs to be increased. In total, 110 import tariffs. HARD TO FIGHT OFFBrazil has always depended on imports to cover its internal chemicals demand, but the extraordinary low prices coming from competitors abroad has made Brazil’s chemicals plant to run with operating rates of 65% or lower. More and more, the country’s chemicals facilities are becoming white elephants which are far from their potential, as customers find in imported product more competitive pricing. Considering this dire situation and taking into account that the current government in Brasilia led by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva may be more receptive to their demands, Abiquim has put a good fight in publica and private for measure which could shore up chemical producers’ competitiveness. This could come after the government already hiked import tariffs on several products in 2023 and re-introduced a tax break, called REIQ, for some chemicals which had been withdrawn by the previous Administration. While Brazil’s chemicals production competitiveness is mostly affected by higher input costs, with natural gas costs on average five times higher than in the US, the industry is hopeful a helping hand from the government in the form of higher import tariffs could slow down the flow of imports into Brazil. As a ‘price taker region’ given its dependence on imports, Latin American domestic producers have taken a hit in the past two years. In Brazil, polymers major Braskem is Abiquim’s commanding voice. Abiquim, obviously, has always been very outspoken – even apocalyptic – about the fate of its members as they try to compete with overseas countries, namely China who has been sending abroad product at below cost of production. The priorities in China’s dictatorial system are not related to the balance of markets, but to keep employment levels stable so its citizens find fewer excuses to protest against the regime which keeps them oppressed. Capitalist market dynamics are for the rest of the world to balance; in China’s dictatorial, controlled-economy regime the priority is to make people feel the regime’s legitimacy can come from never-ending economic growth. The results of such a policy for the rest of the world – not just in chemicals but in all industrial goods – is becoming clear: unprofitable industries which cannot really compete with heavily subsidized Chinese players. The results of such a policy in China are yet to be seen, but subsiding at all costs any industry which creates employment may have debt-related lasting consequences: as they mantra goes, “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” Abiquim’s executive president urged Lula’s cabinet to look north, to the US, where the government has imposed hefty tariffs on almost all China-produced industrial goods or raw materials for manufacturing production. “[The hikes in import tariffs] have improved the US’ scenario: despite the aggressive advance in exports by Asian countries, the drop in US [chemicals] production in 2023 was of 1%, while in Brazil the index for production fell nearly by 10%,” said Andre Passos. “The country adopted an increase in import taxes of over 30% to defend its market from unfair competition. The taxation for some inputs, such as phenol, resins and adipic [acid], for example, exceeds three digits. “Here, we are suggesting an increase in rates to 20% in most claims … We need to have this breathing space for the industry to recover,” he concluded. As such, the figures for the first quarter showed no sign of imports into Brazil slowing down. The country posted a trade deficit $9.9 billion during the January-March period; the 12-month accumulated (April 2023 to March 2024) deficit stood at $44.7 billion. A record high of 61.2 million tonnes of chemicals products entered Brazil in Q1; in turn, the country’s industry exported 14.6 million tonnes. Abiquim proposals for higher import tariffs Product Current import tariff Proposed tariff Expandable polystyrene, unfilled, in primary form 12.6% 20% Other polystyrenes in primary forms 12.6% 20% Carboxymethylcellulose with content > =75%, in primary forms 12.6% 20% Other polyurethanes in liquids and pastes 12.6% 20% Phthalic anhydride 10.8% 20%  Sodium hydrogen carbonate (bicarbonate) 9% 35% Copolymers of ethylene and alpha-olefin, with a density of less than 0.94 12.6% 20% Other orthophthalic acid esters 11% 20% Other styrene polymers, in primary forms 12.6% 20% Other silicon dioxides 0% 18% Other polyesters in liquids and pastes  12.6% 20% Commercial ammonium carbonates and other ammonium carbonates 9% 18% Other unsaturated polyethers, in primary forms 12.6% 20% Polyethylene terephthalate, with a viscosity index of 78 ml/g or more 12.6% 20% Phosphoric acid with an iron content of less than 750 ppm 9% 18% Dinonyl or didecyl orthophthalates 11% 20% Poly(vinyl chloride), not mixed with other substances, obtained by suspension process 12.6% 20% Poly(vinyl chloride), not mixed with other substances, obtained by emulsion process 12.6% 20% Methyl polymethacrylate, in primary form  12.6% 20% White mineral oils (vaseline or paraffin oils) 4% 35% Other polyetherpolyols, in primary forms 12.6% 20% Other unfilled epoxy resins in primary forms 12.6% 20% Silicon dioxide obtained by chemical precipitation 9% 18% Acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber in plates, sheets, etc 11% 35% Other organic anionic surface agents, whether or not put up for retail sale, not classified under previous codes 12.6% 23% Phenol (hydroxybenzene) and its salts 7% 20% Fumaric acid, its salts and esters 10 ,8% 20% Plasticizers and plastics 10 ,8% 20% Maleic anhydride 10 ,8% 20% Adipic acid salts and esters 10 ,8% 20% Propylene copolymers, in primary forms 12.6% 20% Adipic acid 9% 20% Unfilled polypropylene, in primary form 12.6% 20% Filled polypropylene, in primary form 12.6% 20% Methacrylic acid methyl esters 10 ,8% 20% Other ethylene polymers, in primary forms 12.6% 20% Acrylic acid 2-ethylhexyl esters 0% 20% 2-Ethylexanoic acid (2-ethylexoic acid) 10. 8% 20% Other copolymers of ethylene and vinyl acetate, in primary forms 12.6% 20% Other unfilled polyethylenes, density >= 0.94, in primary forms 12.6% 20% Polyethylene with a density of less than 0.94, unfilled 12.6% 20% Other saturated acyclic monoalcohol acetates, c atom <= 8 10. 8% 20% Polyethylene with a density of less than 0.94, with filler 12.6% 20% Triacetin 10. 8% 20% Sodium methylate in methanol 12.6% 20% Stearic alcohol (industrial fatty alcohol) 12.6% 20% N-butyl acetate                              11% 20% Stearic acid (industrial monocarboxylic fatty acid) 5% 35% Alkylbenzene mixtures 11% 20% Organic, non-ionic surface agents 12.6% 23% Ammonium nitrate, whether or not in aqueous solution 0.0% 15% Monoethanolamine and its salts 12.6% 20% Isobutyl alcohol (2-methyl-1-propanol) 10.8% 20% Butan-1-ol (n-butyl alcohol) 10.8% 20% Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), food grade as established by the Food Chemical Codex, in primary forms 10.8% 22% Styrene                                9% 18% Hexamethylenediamine and its salts 10.8% 20% Latex from other synthetic or artificial rubbers 10.8% 35% Propylene glycol (propane-1, 2-diol) 10.8% 20% Preparations 12.6% 20% Linear alkylbenzene sulfonic acids and their salts 12.6% 23% 4,4'-Isopropylidenediphenol (bisphenol A, diphenylolpropane) and its salts 10.8% 20% Dipropylene glycol 12.6% 20% Butanone (methyl ethyl ketone) 10.8% 20% Ethyl acetate                                 10.8% 20% Methyl-, ethyl- and propylcellulose, hydroxylated 0.0% 20% Front page picture: Chemical production facilities outside Sao Paulo  Source: Union of Chemical and Petrochemical industries in the state of Sao Paulo (Sinproquim) Focus article by Jonathan Lopez Additional information by Thais Matsuda and Bruno Menini

30-Apr-2024

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–ICIS analysts Sijia Li, Yvonne Shi, Zhibo Xiao, Lucy Shuai, Joanne Wang and Cindy Qiu discuss the trends in China's polyolefins and polyester markets. CHINAPLAS is a major annual plastics and rubbers exhibit in Asia which ran on 23-26 April in Shanghai.

30-Apr-2024

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 26 April. LyondellBasell sees continued PE momentum in North America, Europe – CEO Polyethylene (PE) demand in North America and Europe should continue to improve in Q2 and through H2 with consistently healthy demand in packaging, the CEO of LyondellBasell said on Friday. Eastman eyes 2027 startup for second US methanolysis plant, French project timing uncertain Eastman expects to reach a final investment decision (FID) on its second US methanolysis (chemical recycling) plant in Q3, CEO Mark Costa and CFO Willie McLain told analysts during the company’s Q1 earnings call on Friday. Dow sees ‘meaningful’ H2 recovery on PE margins, steady demand improvement – CFO Dow continues to expect a strong second half, mainly driven by higher integrated polyethylene (PE) margins, with Q2 sales also expected to trend higher versus the first half in all three of its segments, its chief financial officer said on Thursday. INSIGHT: Latin America’s nascent EV market increasingly a Chinese affair Latin America’s take-up of electric vehicles (EVs) has started to gain momentum, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) this week, with Chinese producers drawing customers with sharply lower prices than western, established brands. Canada moves ahead with plastics registry as UN plastics pollution session starts in Ottawa Following the conclusion of a consultation period, Canada’s federal government has published a formal notice in the Canada Gazette for its planned Federal Plastics Registry. Styrolution Sarnia closure further tightens North America styrene market INEOS Styrolution’s decision this past weekend to temporarily close its Sarnia, Ontario, styrene unit will further tighten a market already dealing with several outages. Prices are under upward pressure with contract prices the highest since Q3 2023.

29-Apr-2024

SAO PAULO (ICIS)–The founder of Unigel, aged 87, is actively fighting the Brazilian chemicals and fertilizers producer’s most decisive battle, one for its survival, as it tries to restructure its debts, one step away from bankruptcy. Henri Armand Szlezynger, who founded Unigel in 1966, has fought several financial battles before, and overcame them. But the current struggle is the most decisive yet because it could see him and his family losing their controlling stake at the producer if investment funds were to take over. Last week, Brazilian financial daily Valor reported the country’s fund IG4 was seeking to acquire a controlling stake in Unigel, citing several unnamed sources. IG4 and Unigel had not responded to a request for comment at the time of writing. Unigel producers styrenics and is one of Brazil’s few fertilizers producers, a sector it entered just a few years ago and which could prove to have been the reason for the company’s threatened demise. BELGIUM-BORN, BRAZIL-MADEIf ICIS had a profile section portraying chemicals industry people, Szlezynger would have featured in it several times. Szlezynger was born to a Belgian Jewish family in 1936 which moved to Brazil when he was just three years old as Europe was entering the abyss of war. The family had a good position and sent Szlezynger to the best schools in Brazil. After that, he went to the US to study chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Aged only 30, he founded Unigel. From there, on he went to become one of Brazil’s richest citizens, with Forbes estimating his net worth at Brazilian reais (R) 17.2 billion ($3.3 billion) in 2022. From its foundation 58 years ago, Szlezynger still controls Unigel, and his presence cannot go unnoticed: he still goes to the company's headquarters in Sao Paulo every weekday, according to previous profiles of him published in the press. A remarkable fate for an 87-year-old. Unigel’s frantic 2023 was marked by high natural gas costs which made its fertilizer plants – and the company as a whole – a loss-making enterprise, a situation it tried to fix by knocking on the door of Brazil’s state-owned energy major Petrobras. With a government-appointee CEO, to say Petrobras is to say Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a President who has repeatedly said that Brazil must reduce its dependence on fertilizer imports. In Brazil’s economy, entrepreneurs and politicians tend to have close relationships, and Szlezynger has recurrently ticked the right boxes to get the support his company may have needed as the years and crises went by. In the north, stronghold of Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT), he has not shied away from showing sympathy with PT politicians. In southern and generally conservative-governed states, Szlezynger has had good relationships with politicians from the right. However, the business-politics link did not work for Unigel’s current downturn. Conversations with Petrobras were going nowhere while the company continued to lose millions every month. In a way, Unigel’s annus horribilis of 2023 ended slightly earlier, in October, when everything changed: the company failed to pay a coupon on one of its bonds, effectively defaulting on its debt obligations. Brazilian financial regulations give breathing space for companies in debt stress to negotiate their obligations with creditors, and Unigel is currently undergoing that process. Earlier in April, it said negotiations were progressing, without disclosing more detail. Jonathan Szwarc, head of Latin America credit research at Debtwire, a data firm specialized on leveraged capital markets, told ICIS that Szlezynger would not easily give up his controlling interest, but added the current crisis would be difficult to circumvent. “Unigel has had financial woes before and overcame them, but this time is quite different: once you fail to pay a coupon, things can go down very quickly. You are not meeting your debt obligations: a default,” said Scwarz. “The company has now an initial agreement with some of its creditors, but it would need to convince 50% plus one of them for it to be effective: we don’t know if that is the case. That’s where they are: seeking adherents to that initial agreement to bring it before a judge, who must approve the Extrajudicial Reorganization Process.” Will Szlezynger, after 58 successful years, be forced by circumstances to call it a day? Not that fast. Szwarc said that, in Unigel’s case, sentimental issues could be as strong as economic issues. “If they are up against it, Szlezynger may decide to reluctantly sell the company, but I really think that is the last option he contemplates," he said. "If Unigel was to be sold to a fund, I imagine he would prefer a Brazilian fund, with whom he would speak the same language business-wise, than a foreign fund." As an example, the analyst mentioned negotiations to raise $150m just in January, in the midst of the debt restructuring negotiations, through a group led by US investment fund Pimco, which is also the largest bondholder, according to reports at Brazilian financially daily Valor at the time. That deal, which could have given Unigel breathing space amid its restructuring, fell through because it would have brought closer what Szlezynger has fiercely opposed: the funds taking away from the founding family a controlling interest. “The company’s assets are good. But Unigel was very unlucky in terms of the petrochemicals and fertilizers downcycles combined. You must keep in mind that just in 2022 Unigel’s bonds were trading well over 100% [generating returns],” said Szwarc. “The assets will continue operating in any case: either under a new ownership structure, in which the Szlezynger may still have a stake even if it’s not the controlling stake, or under a potential bankruptcy, when the assets could be sold separately.” The analyst concluded saying he did fail to understand how Petrobras – the Lula-led government, effectively – had not paid more attention to Unigel, whose production of styrenics as well as fertilizers Brazil badly needs if the country is to reduce its dependence on imports. BRAZILIAN SAGAAmid all Unigel things that occurred in 2023, one of the most fascinating was its very public charge against Petrobras in November, when the company announced it would be shutting down one fertilizer plant in Camacari, state of Bahia, due to Petrobras’ “unbearable” pricing policy for natural gas. It was part of Unigel’s strategy, however, as it became clear later in December when the two firms signed a tolling agreement for the fertilizers assets, in what seemed to be Petrobras finally giving in on natural gas pricing. A Brazilian economic-political saga could not just end there. In March, Unigel announced it was halting its fertilizers production, still mentioning high natural gas prices, while Brazil’s Federal Audit (TCU in its Portuguese acronym) raised concerns about the tolling deal, which would have meant losses for Petrobras. As a state-owned company, Petrobras is audited by TCU civil servants. And as a company, the purpose of it is to make a profit: a sweet deal for Unigel on gas would not be following that logic, the auditors said. Adding to it all, Petrobras said earlier in April it was re-entering the fertilizers sector by re-starting a large fertilizer plant in Araucaria, state of Parana, idled since 2020. The energy major said fertilizers were now part of its strategic plan to 2028, adding it would therefore focus on “assets that already belong” to it. Unigel’s fertilizers plants at the centre of the story, Camacari and Laranjeiras, state of Sergipe, were a lease from Petrobras signed in 2019, when the prior Brazilian Administration wanted Petrobras’ to focus on crude oil. It was then when Unigel decided to go big on fertilizers. What does seasoned Szlezynger think about that move now? He would not be too hard on himself if he thinks it was a bad move indeed, which is putting at risk his nearly six decades business legacy. Petrobras returning to the fertilizers sector is, on the other hand, an expected move by Lula’s cabinet, who in general wants to expand the role of the state in the economy, or at least in those sectors where the country's trade deficit is large, such as fertilizers. The two plants leased to Unigel may end up, therefore, being run by Petrobras again at some point. Unigel and its relentless founder will need to fend for themselves amid the largest financial crisis ever hitting the company. At the end of the day, Lula's key constituency and the PT party's cadres would have had a hard time to digest the state was going to give strong and direct support to a private company owned by one of the richest citizens in the land. The Unigel saga continues and, whatever the next act is, Szlezynger is still likely to have a role in it. Insight by Jonathan Lopez

29-Apr-2024

SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Here are some of the stories from ICIS Latin America for the week ended on 26 April. NEWS Mexico's potential ADDs on China plastics no panacea amid wider stiff competition – Alpek CEO Mexico’s potential antidumping duties (ADDs) on several China-produced plastics will not by itself bring the Mexican market back to balance as “stiff competition” is coming from many other fronts as well, the CEO at chemicals producer Alpek said on Wednesday. INSIGHT: Latin America’s nascent EV market increasingly a Chinese affair Latin America’s take-up of electric vehicles (EVs) has started to gain momentum, said the International Energy Agency (IEA) this week, with Chinese producers drawing customers with sharply lower prices than western, established brands. Mexico’s Alpek Q1 earnings fall but volumes up on shy demand recovery Alpek’s first-quarter earnings and sales fell year on year but improved quarterly on a slight demand recovery, particularly for polyesters, the Mexican chemicals producer said on Tuesday. PRICING LatAm PP domestic prices drop in Argentina on poor demand Domestic polypropylene (PP) prices dropped in Argentina this week. Despite producer prices being unchanged, local distributors have lowered prices due to poor demand. Market participants have reported a 40-60% drop in sales in the past few weeks. LatAm PE domestic prices down in Argentina on sluggish demand After more than a year, domestic polyethylene (PE) prices in Argentina were assessed lower due to sluggish demand. Argentina January PE imports down 32% month on month Argentina polyethylene (PE) imports decreased by 32% month on month in January, totaling 19,106 tonnes, according to the latest figures from the ICIS Supply & Demand database.

29-Apr-2024

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Global shipping container rates are starting to moderate, the Panama Canal expects to increase transits in May, and liquid chemical tanker spot rates are mixed, highlighting this week’s logistics roundup. CONTAINER RATES Global shipping container rates are plateauing as shipowners have implemented blank sailings to control capacity and as some carriers have announced general rate increases (GRIs). Freight forwarder Flexport said in an update on 25 April that GRIs announced for ex-Asia westbound routes are expected to stick amid high utilization from carriers. Flexport noted three factors that supported the increases – a slight increase in demand because of the May labor holiday in China; reduced capacity from the increase in blank sailings; and increased congestion at ports and equipment challenges from certain carriers. Participants in the US polyethylene terephthalate (PET) told ICIS they are seeing higher freight costs as shipping in the Red Sea and now the Strait of Hormuz continues to be disrupted. Rate increases have also been announced for cargo heading to the Middle East region. Global container shipping major Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) announced $200/TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) effective 17 May for all cargo leaving the US and Puerto Rico going to the Middle East. Global container rates from supply chain advisors Drewry were flat this week, as shown in the following chart. Rates from North China to the US Gulf also held steady, although at levels higher than were seen in December before the attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, as shown in this chart from ocean and freight rate analytics firm Xeneta. Container ships and costs for shipping containers are relevant to the chemical industry because while most chemicals are liquids and are shipped in tankers, container ships transport polymers, such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), which are shipped in pellets. They also transport liquid chemicals in isotanks. LIQUID CHEM TANKERS US chemical tanker freight rates assessed by ICIS were mixed this week with rates rising for parcels from the US Gulf (USG) to Brazil and India. However, rates from the USG to ARA decreased and all other trade lanes held steady. From the USG to Brazil, this trade lane has had limited availability for H1 May loading. However, mid and H2 May have showed a few more options with an outsider on berth currently to South America. This could place downward pressure on this route. Although COA nominations are still up in the air, a few regular owners hope to have more space and a broker says that time will tell when this space fills up. From the USG to Asia, regular players have said they are full on most of their positions through this time, which has placed some upward pressure on smaller parcels as it has become harder to find space for them. Currently, the USG to Asia market appears to be in a fragile balance between the interest in larger slugs, and the growing number of players looking for stainless steel vessels in the USG for May, according to a broker. BALTIMORE BRIDGE The Unified Command (UC) announced the opening of a new channel at the Port of Baltimore that has allowed ships trapped inside the port to leave. The Fort McHenry Limited Access Channel, which runs the length of the northeast side of the federal channel, provides additional access to commercially essential traffic. The limited access deep draft channel has a controlling depth of a minimum of 35 feet, a 300-foot horizontal clearance, and a vertical clearance of 214 feet. Starting Monday, April 29, operations to remove the Dali will require suspension of transits through the Fort McHenry Limited Access Channel. Once deemed safe, the channel will reopen for commercial traffic. PANAMA CANAL The Panama Canal Authority (PCA) will increase the number of slots available for Panamax vessels to transit the waterway beginning 16 May and will add another slot for Neopanamax vessels on 1 June based on the present and projected water levels in Gatun Lake. The PCA began limiting the number of transits in August 2023 because of low water levels in Gatun Lake brought on by a severe drought that made 2023 the second driest year on record for the Panama Canal watershed catchment area. Wait times for non-booked vessels ready for transit edged lower for northbound vessels and rose for southbound vessels this week, according to the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) vessel tracker and as shown in the following image. Wait times a week ago were 3.0 days for northbound traffic and 2.9 for southbound traffic. The Panama Canal Authority (PCA) said current forecasts indicate that steady rainfall will arrive later this month and continue during the rainy season, which would allow the PCA to gradually ease transit restrictions and traffic could return to normal by 2025. Please see the Logistics: Impact on chemicals and energy topic page With additional reporting by Melissa Wheeler and Kevin Callahan

26-Apr-2024

LONDON (ICIS)–Senior Editor for Recycling, Matt Tudball, discusses the latest developments in the European recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET) market, including: Flake, food-grade pellet sellers looking at higher May offers Buyers considering more PET volumes, looking at non-EU R-PET imports Mixed coloured flake price views vary for May

26-Apr-2024

MUMBAI (ICIS)–India’s Bhansali Engineering Polymers Ltd (BEPL) plans to nearly triple its acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) capacity at Abu Road in the northwestern Rajasthan state to 200,000 tonnes/year by March 2026. The plant’s current capacity is 70,000 tonnes/year. The company has determined that a bigger expansion than initially planned is possible after awarding work on the expansion to Japan’s Toyo Engineering, it said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on 20 April. In January 2024, BSEL had proposed a capacity expansion to 145,000 tonnes/year. “After [a] detailed analysis [by Toyo Engineering] it was concluded that overall ABS capacity of 200,000 tonnes/year can be achieved and will be a better option compared to the earlier proposal,” BEPL said. The expansion project will be funded through internal accruals, it said, adding that cost of the expansion project will be finalised by June.

24-Apr-2024