News library
Subscribe to our full range of breaking news and analysis
Viewing 1-10 results of 56777
Speciality Chemicals17-May-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Average global rates for
shipping containers continue to surge, liquid
chemical tanker rates ex-US Gulf were mostly
softer, and work continues to reopen the Port
of Baltimore, highlighting this week’s
logistics roundup.
CONTAINER RATES
Rates for shipping containers surged by double
digits again this week on unexpected demand and
tight capacity stemming from Red Sea
diversions.
Average global rates surged by 11% over the
week, according to supply chain advisors Drewry
and as shown in the following chart.
Meanwhile, rates from Shanghai to the US West
Coast are up by almost 33% from early-February
and rates from Shanghai to the East Coast are
more than 30% higher over that period, as shown
in the following chart.
Drewry expects ex-China freight rates to rise
due to increased demand, tight capacity, and
the need to reposition empty containers.
Emily Stausbøll, senior shipping analyst at
ocean and freight rate analytics firm Xeneta,
said the speed of the increases is causing
nervousness in the market.
“Demand reached record levels in Q1 2024, up by
9.2% compared to Q1 2023, and comes at a time
when the Red Sea situation is putting increased
pressure on shipping capacity,” she said. “But
significantly, this is all taking place while
the chaos of port congestion and lack of
available capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic
is still fresh in the memory of shippers.”
“Lessons will have been learned from the
pandemic. If shippers fear there is going to be
a squeeze on capacity during the peak season in
Q3 then they are going to start importing more
goods now,” Stausbøll said. “If these increased
volumes need to be moved on the spot market,
then it is going to put upwards pressure on
rates.”
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), are shipped in
pellets.
They also transport liquid chemicals in
isotanks.
LIQUID TANKER RATES
US chemical tanker freight rates assessed by
ICIS were mostly lower as rates fell from the
US Gulf (USG) to Asia and from the USG to
India.
However, rates ticked slightly higher for
smaller parcels from the USG to Caribbean and
surged from the USG to Brazil.
From the USG to Rotterdam, it has remained
quiet again this week, with available space for
part cargo still open.
COA volumes have been heavy for owners;
however, spot inquiries have been quiet. Due to
the available space and softness, this could
place further downward pressure on this trade
lane.
From the USG to the Caribbean, the market has
remained higher with very little prompt space
available.
Owners have pushed to keep freight rates mostly
steady; however, there is currently a lack of
activity from out of the USG.
From the USG to Asia, this market has remained
overall soft after a long holiday week in
Japan.
BALTIMORE, HOUSTON BRIDGE
COLLISIONS
Traffic in and out of the Houston Ship Channel
was not affected after a barge struck a bridge
connecting Galveston and Pelican islands on
Wednesday morning.
JJ Plunkett of the Houston Pilots said the
Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) was closed, which
could slow movement of barges moving finished
product from plants along the channel.
Ships enter the channel by passing between
Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula and
then move through Galveston Bay before reaching
the main section of the channel where
refineries, chemical plants and storage
facilities are located.
The barge collided with a bridge that connects
Galveston Island to Pelican Island, located
well to the west of where commercial vessels
enter and exit Galveston Bay.
Meanwhile at the Port of Baltimore, the
container ship that essentially closed the port
on 26 March after it struck the Francis
Scott Key Bridge, causing its collapse, is set
to be moved now that the mangled remnants of
the span were removed from the ship’s bow with
controlled blasts on 13 May.
Officials continued to evaluate the situation
on Friday in preparation for refloating the
vessel and clearing the federal channel.
Officials have evaluated sonar and lidar
imagery but are awaiting results from a dive
survey before proceeding with plans to refloat
and move the vessel.
The closing of the port did not have a
significant impact on the chemicals industry as
chemicals make up only about 4% of total
tonnage that moves through the port, according
to data from the American Chemistry Council
(ACC).
The ACC said less than 1% of all chemicals
involved in waterborne commerce, both domestic
and trade volumes, pass through Baltimore.
PANAMA CANAL
Wait times for non-booked southbound vessels
ready for transit surged this week while wait
times for northbound vessels edged higher,
according to the Panama Canal Authority
(PCA) vessel
tracker and as shown in the following
image.
Wait times a week ago were 2.6 days for
northbound vessels and 2.4 days for southbound
vessels.
Additional reporting by Kevin Callahan
Butadiene17-May-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Powerful thunderstorms in
Houston and the Gulf Coast disrupted operations
at chemical plants while leaving more than
700,000 without power as of Friday.
The storms hit Houston on Thursday evening. TPC
Group reported that severe weather caused a
power outage, which led to flaring at its
butadiene (BD) operations in Houston.
Power was restored, and operations returned to
the site, TPC
said in a filing with the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Lotte Chemical
has delayed the restart of its cracker and
downstream ethylene glycol (EG) unit in Lake
Charles, Louisiana, to next week because of bad
weather, according to market sources. Lotte did
not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
The storm created winds of 40-78 miles/hour
(64-126 km/hour), according to the National
Weather Service.
Such strong winds created widespread power
outages throughout the region.
In the late morning, more than 700,000
customers were without power in the Houston
area, according to CenterPoint Energy, a power
company that is the main transmission company.
Overall, more than 777,000 outages were
reported in Texas, according to PowerOutage.us.
Another 90,000 outages were reported in
Louisiana, another state that is home to
several petrochemical plants and refineries.
The winds reached hurricane force in downtown
Houston, where many petrochemical companies
have corporate offices.
“This was an incredibly dangerous and
destructive storm, impacting one of the largest
cities and busiest travel hubs in America,”
said AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan
Porter. “Downtown Houston has not seen wind
damage like this since Hurricane Ike in 2008
and Hurricane Alicia in 1983.
The winds were even stronger at greater heights
because they experienced less friction from
low-lying buildings and trees, according to
AccuWeather. Wind gusts of 33 miles/hour near
ground level would equate to 80 miles/hour at
six stories and 90 miles/hour at 10 stories.
The wind strength at those elevated stories
would be the equivalent of a Category 1
hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale.
Preliminary damage estimates from AccuWeather
point to $5 billion to $7 billion in total
damage and economic loss from the storm in
southeast Texas, it said.
So far, major railroad companies have not
issued any alerts about disruptions to their
lines.
Port Houston said its terminals are operating
as usual.
Additional reporting by Adam Yanelli and
Melissa Wheeler
(adds paragraphs 3, 5-6, 9-13)
Photo shows aftermath of the storms that
hit Houston. Image by ICIS.
Ammonia17-May-2024
TORONTO (ICIS)–A potential freight rail strike
in Canada has been delayed because the matter
has been referred to the Canada Industrial
Relations Board (CIRB) and collective
bargaining resumes today, Friday 17 May.
Strike averted, for the time being
Industrial board investigates potential
strike impacts
Rail strike would hit chemical and
fertilizer logistics
After about 9,300 unionized conductors, train
operators and engineers and other workers at
freight rail carriers Canadian Pacific Kansas
City (CPKC) and Canadian National (CN) earlier
this month voted
for a strike, federal labor minister Seamus
O’Regan referred the matter to the CIRB, a
quasi-judicial tribunal charged with keeping
industrial peace in Canada.
The minister wants the board to investigate if
disruptions to the supply of products such as
heavy fuel, propane, food, and chlorine and
other water treatment chemicals could pose
safety and health issues, in particular in
remote communities.
The board could decide that rail shipments of
certain goods need to be continued during a
strike.
The board has called on affected groups and
organizations to make submissions on the matter
by no later than 21 May. Trade group Chemistry
Industry Association of Canada (CIAC) said it
will make a submission about impacts on its
industry.
It remains unclear how long it will take for
the CIRB to reach a decision. After a decision,
the union would have to give 72 hours of notice
before starting a strike.
22 MAY STRIKE DEADLINE OFF THE
TABLE
Labor union Teamsters Canada Rail Conference
(TCRC), which previously said that a work
stoppage could start as early as 22 May, has
acknowledged that
during the CIRB process there will be no
strike.
Confusingly, the union on Friday still posted a
notice on its website about a possible 22 May
work stoppage as an “upcoming event”. A union
official did not respond to an ICIS request for
comment.
Rail carrier CPKC said in a statement that
neither a legal strike nor a lockout can occur
until the CIRB makes its decision.
It added that the referral to the board has
created uncertainty about the timing of a
potential work stoppage and interruptions of
rail service.
CPKC, for its part, has proposed to the TCRC a
“maintenance of services agreement” under which
both parties agree on services that should be
maintained in the event of a strike or lockout,
it said.
“We believe this would eliminate the need for
the CIRB referral process and bring much needed
clarity regarding the timing of any potential
strike or lockout,” it said.
If no such agreement is reached, it is unlikely
the parties will be in a position to initiate a
legal strike or lockout within the next 60
days, CPKC said.
A source at a major sulfur exporter told ICIS
the referral to the CIRB was a “stall tactic”
by the government that delays the risk of a
strike, likely until the end of May.
IMPACTS ON CHEMICALS AND
FERTILIZERS
Freight rail work stoppages can quickly affect
logistics in the chemical, fertilizer and other
industries, and a simultaneous stoppage at
Canada’s biggest rail carriers would worsen
impacts by far.
In Canada, chemical producers rely on rail to
ship more than 70% of their products, with some
exclusively using rail.
In the fertilizer industry, about 75% of all
fertilizer produced and used in Canada is moved
by rail and the industry depends on rail to
move product across the country and into
international markets.
In the run-up to potential strikes, producers
need to prepare, longer strikes can force them
to shut down plants, and after a strike ends it
can take weeks for normal operations to resume.
Beyond chemicals and fertilizers, rail strikes
affect the overall Canadian manufacturing
sector.
Trade group Canadian Manufacturers and
Exporters (CME) has warned that companies could
not afford to have their businesses and workers
threatened by “a critical supply chain labor
disruption”.
“More than any other industry, we rely on
railways to access critical inputs and bring
goods to customers,” CME said in a statement.
According to the April purchasing managers’
index (PMI) survey by S&P
Global, Canadian manufacturing has been weak
for the past 12 months.
FREIGHT RAIL DATA
For the first 19 weeks of 2024, ended 11 May,
Canadian chemical railcar loadings rose 3.9%
year on year to 262,089, the American
Association of Railroads (AAR) reported this week.
Total freight rail traffic – comprising railcar
loadings and intermodal units – was at
3,064,779 for the first 19 weeks, up 0.9% from
the same period in 2023.
Focus article by Stefan
Baumgarten
Additional reporting by Julia Meehan
Please also visit
Logistics: Impact on chemicals and
energy
Thumbnail photo source: Canadian
National
Global News + ICIS Chemical Business (ICB)
See the full picture, with unlimited access to ICIS chemicals news across all markets and regions, plus ICB, the industry-leading magazine for the chemicals industry.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas17-May-2024
SINGAPORE (ICIS)–The White House on 14 May
announced it would increase tariffs on $18
billion worth of imports from China to protect
American workers and businesses.
How will this latest development impact China’s
LPG supplies from the US. In 2023, the US was
the second largest LPG exporter to China,
following the Middle East.
In 2018, China raised the import tariff on US
LPG from 1% to 25% in retaliation to tariffs
hikes implemented by the former US president
Donald Trump.
In this podcast, ICIS Analyst Lillian Ren
shares insights on the potential impact on
Chinese imports of LPG, including propane and
butane.
Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate17-May-2024
LONDON (ICIS)–Senior editor for recycling,
Matt Tudball, discusses the latest developments
in the European recycled polyethylene
terephthalate (R-PET) market, including:
UK colourless flake prices rise for May
Eastern Europe blue bale, colourless flake
prices down
Wider market entering a more stable period
for now
Petrochemicals17-May-2024
MUMBAI (ICIS)–State-owned GAIL (India) Ltd
plans to lay an ethylene/propylene (C2/C3)
liquid pipeline from its gas processing complex
at Vijaipur in the central Madhya Pradesh state
to its Pata petrochemical complex at Auraiya in
the northern Uttar Pradesh state.
“The project will augment feedstock
availability with additional polymer production
at Pata Petrochemical Complex, reduce energy
consumption and carbon footprint,” the company
said in the notes accompanying its fiscal Q4
results.
GAIL’s financial year ends in March.
The proposed project is expected to cost Indian
rupees (Rs) 17.9bn ($215m) and will be
commissioned within 32 months, it said.
Once operational, the pipeline will have the
capacity to transport 950,000 tonnes/year of
liquid feedstock to the Pata complex, it added.
GAIL reported on 16 May a near-fourfold jump in
net profit for the fourth quarter ending 31
March 2024 to Rs21.8bn, from Rs6.0bn in the
same period last year.
For the full fiscal year 2023-24, GAIL’s net
profit increased by 67% year on year to
Rs88.4bn.
“The robust performance during the year was
primarily driven by better physical performance
across all major segments, despite lower prices
in petrochemicals and liquid hydrocarbons,”
GAIL managing director and chairman Sandeep
Gupta said.
GAIL currently operates a 200,000 tonne/year
high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant; two
linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE)/HDPE
swing plants with capacities of 230,000
tonnes/year and 400,000 tonnes/year; and a
10,000 tonne/year butene-1 line at its Pata
complex.
The company is also setting up a 60,000 tonne/year
polypropylene (PP) unit at the complex
which is expected to come on stream in the
current calendar year 2024.
($1 = Rs83.45)
Crude Oil17-May-2024
SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Singapore’s petrochemical
shipments rose by 26.5% year on year in April
to Singapore dollar (S$) 1.34 billion,
reversing the 3.6% decline in the previous
month, official data showed on Friday.
Overall exports of chemicals and chemical
products in April fell by 34.5% year on year to
S$3.59 billion, extending the 37% contraction
in March, Enterprise Singapore said in a
statement.
The country’s overall non-oil domestic exports
(NODX) fell by 9.3% year on year to S$13.9
billion, extending the 20.8% decline in the
preceding month.
Non-electronic NODX – which includes chemicals
and pharmaceuticals – fell by 12.3% year on
year to $10.9 billion in April following the
23.2% contraction in March.
NODX shipments to the US and EU fell sharply in
April, while exports to China rose last month.
Singapore is a major manufacturer and exporter
of petrochemicals in southeast Asia. Its
petrochemicals hub Jurong Island houses more
than 100 global chemical firms, including
energy majors ExxonMobil and Shell.
The drop in the country’s NODX in April mirrors
weaker manufacturing activity seen during the
month.
The country’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI)
slipped to 50.5 in April from 50.7 in March,
marking the eighth consecutive month that the
reading has remained above the 50 mark,
according to data from the Singapore Institute
of Purchasing and Materials Management (SIPMM).
A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion in
the manufacturing economy, while a lower number
denotes contraction.
In a separate survey of private manufacturers,
Singapore’s April PMI eased to 52.6 from 55.7
in March, financial information and services
provider S&P Global said on 6 May.
For the whole of 2024, Singapore’s economy is
expected to expand by 1.0-3.0%, compared with
actual GDP growth of 1.1% growth in 2023, the
ministry said.
Focus article by Nurluqman
Suratman
Polypropylene17-May-2024
SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Click here to see the
latest blog post on Asian Chemical Connections
by John Richardson: Blood bags, syringes,
disposable hospital sheets, gowns and medicine
packaging. Modern-day medicine, which has
greatly extended the quantity and quality of
our lives, would be impossible without the
plastics industry.
Computers, smartphones, washing machines,
refrigerators and automobiles cannot be
manufactured without plastics and chemicals.
Think of women in the developing world who
still have to wash clothes by hand (this is,
sadly, how some patriarchal societies work).
Imagine the time and energy they would save if
their families can afford their first washing
machine, enabling girls and women to spend more
time at school and freeing them up to attend
college.
The absence of decent roads in developing
countries doesn’t matter a jot because, since
the invention of the smartphone, buying and
selling goods and services, issuing
microfinance and keeping accounts up to date
can be done on the go.
The scale of future demand for nine of the
world’s biggest synthetic polymers is
illustrated by the chart in today’s post.
We forecast that global demand for the resins
will this year total 299 million tonnes, up
from just 79 million tonnes in 1992 which I
believe was the start of the Petrochemicals
Supercycle. By 2024, we predict that demand
will reach 515 million tonnes – a 72% increase.
The question on the exam paper is how we meet
this demand in as sustainable a fashion as
possible. This is going to require a new
industrial revolution.
Jim Fitterling, CEO of Dow Chemical, provided
the best summary I have seen of the challenges
that lie ahead for the chemicals industry. This
was in a speech he gave in New York on 8 May.
He highlighted the strain on electricity supply
resulting from the growth in artificial
intelligence, making it harder for the
chemicals industry to secure the renewable
electricity it needs to decarbonise.
While it was “almost fashionable” to blame
producers for plastics waste, around 3bn people
around the world lacked access to basic waste
management. About 95% of leakage occurs in
emerging markets with underdeveloped waste
management systems, he said.
Demand for recycled plastics outstrips supply
and was growing, but the ecosystem to collect,
sort and efficiently recycle plastics waste was
not keeping up, he added.
Government support for these efforts would be
critical – policies that preserved the many
benefits of plastics while also helping
eliminating waste, the CEO said.
Through its history, the chemical industry had
a formidable record of achievement in
overcoming challenges and can do it again in
making the energy transition a reality and
ending plastics pollution, said the Dow CEO.
Key to this was harnessing talent – not just
chemical talent, but a new generation of
workers who understood robotics, AI, machine
learning and analytics, he said.
Hear, hear! Let’s get on the with this new
industrial revolution.
Editor’s note: This blog post is an opinion
piece. The views expressed are those of the
author, and do not necessarily represent those
of ICIS.
Ethylene16-May-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Dow’s operations in Terneuzen,
the Netherlands, and Tarragona, Spain, have
attractive costs for a region that is
struggling to remain competitive against other
parts of the world with cheaper energy, the CEO
said on Thursday.
Dow has crackers at both sites, and they can
use imported liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as
feedstock to produce ethylene. The imports give
the crackers a cost advantage.
“Terneuzen and Tarragona are in great cost
positions, and both of those countries, the
Netherlands and Spain, have good energy
policies,” said Dow CEO Jim Fitterling. He
made his comments during an investor day
presentation.
“Going forward, I feel good about how they are
going to wind up, and we have good plans
there,” he said. “We have good line of site to
keep cost competitiveness.”
The company mentioned cracking more LPG at
Terneuzen to lower its costs.
Exports of LPG should increase from the US in
the next couple of years as midstream companies
complete terminal expansions. The US Gulf Coast
is running out of export capacity to handle
growing amounts of propane being produced in
the country.
EUROPE LACKS COST POSITION TO
EXPORTOther
companies are selling European businesses or
shutting down plants because of excess
global capacity and high costs.
Fitterling sees no signs that Europe is
considering any policies that could address
high energy costs.
“Europe is focused more on the stick, on carbon
emissions reductions,” he said. “They are not
focused at all on energy policy to drive down
energy costs. Energy costs are going to
continue to rise.”
Dow’s cost position does allow it to serve the
domestic market, but it is not in Europe to
export, Fitterling said. “Europe doesn’t have
the cost position any more to export.”
Dow will continue find ways to improve its cost
position at its European operations, he said.
But the company’s growth investments will be in
low-cost regions and in high value projects.
Contact us
Partnering with ICIS unlocks a vision of a future you can trust and achieve. We leverage our unrivalled network of industry experts to deliver a comprehensive market view based on independent and reliable data, insight and analytics.
Contact us to learn how we can support you as you transact today and plan for tomorrow.