Americas top stories: weekly summary
ICIS Editorial
09-Apr-2018
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 6 April:
US April benzene
contract settles lower on weaker spot
pricing
US April benzene contracts settled 7
cents/gal ($21/tonne) lower, sources confirmed
on Monday.
INEOS awards EPC
contract for US PAO unit in
Texas
Canadian chemical engineer SNC-Lavalin and
joint venture partner JV Driver were
awarded an engineering, procurement and
construction (EPC) contract to design and build
a polyalphaolefin (PAO) unit at the INEOS
petrochemical complex in Chocolate Bayou,
Texas, it said on Tuesday.
US March ethylene
contracts settle down 1.75
cents/lb
US March ethylene contracts have
settled for a majority of participants at a
decline of 1.75 cents/lb from the prior month
amid lower month-on-month spot prices, sources
said on Tuesday.
US Air Products
breaks ground on methane reformer in
Geismar
Air Products broke ground on a methane reformer
and cold box that will supply carbon monoxide,
hydrogen and steam to Huntsman’s operations in
Geismar, Louisiana, the US-based industrial
gases producer said on Tuesday.
China to hike
tariffs on 106 US products, including
chemicals
China has decided to increase tariffs on 106
products originated from US by 25%, with the
chemicals sector one of the key targets of the
measures according to a statement from
China’s Ministry of Finance on Wednesday.
Global chems
stocks slide as US-China trade war tensions
intensify
Chemicals sector stock prices sank on Wednesday
following the announcement by Chinese
authorities of retaliatory tariff measures
against the US targeting sector exports.
Proposed Chinese
tariffs to hit US LLDPE, LDPE as plants ramp
up
The tariffs that China has proposed against US
products includes polyethylene (PE),
which could deny producers the key market they
planned to target just as they are starting up
several plants that will produce the resin.
US pipeline
shutdown piles on propane price
pressure
The shutdown of a natural gas liquids (NGL)
pipeline in the northeastern US is adding
downward pressure in the US propane market,
market sources said on Thursday.
Chem stocks fall
as Dow Jones falls 572.46
points
Stocks of US-listed chemical companies fell
sharply on Friday as the Dow Jones Industrial
Average fell by 2.34%.
US spot ethylene
falls to 16-year low amid tariff
concerns
US spot ethylene traded at a 16-year low on
Friday amid long supply and concerns
about proposed Chinese tariffs on
chemicals.
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