Asia top stories – weekly summary

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 6 July 2018.

Asia petrochemical shares mixed as US-China trade war begins
Shares of major petrochemical companies in Asia were mixed on Friday afternoon amid concerns that an outright trade war between the world’s two biggest economies has begun.

SE Asia MA prices face downward pressure on weak demand
Southeast Asia’s maleic anhydride (MA) offers were stable-to-soft at $1,420-1,430/tonne despite an increase in July contract prices of feedstock butane, with prices expected to face downward pressure in the near term.

Asia SBR may face upward pressure on feedstock BD price hike
Asia styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) prices may face upward pressure if the feedstock butadiene (BD) price was to continue to rise in the near term.

China ABS in downtrend; imports from Korea to grow post-tariff cut
China’s domestic acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) prices have been tracking losses in feedstock styrene monomer (SM) market, with further weakness likely amid expectations of higher imports from South Korea.

China HDPE blow moulding prices may continue to fall on more supply
High density polyethylene (HDPE) blow moulding prices in China’s domestic spot market began to fall from early July, and may continue the downtrend due to more supply concerns.

China melamine trending down on weakening seasonal demand
Chinese melamine will be under more pressure as demand remains soft while new supply is expected to lengthen the market in the next few months.

NE Asia LER prices slide to 6-month low as demand wanes
Northeast (NE) Asia liquid epoxy resins (LER) spot prices have softened to a 6 month low amid weak cargo uptake across downstream sectors, a trend likely to continue this month and the next.

China factory conditions may deteriorate further on weak exports
China’s manufacturing conditions will likely deteriorate further in the coming months amid weakening exports, while the government’s recent measure to boost domestic consumption may take some time before taking root, according to analysts.

SE Asia manufacturing growth slows down; June PMI falls to 51.0
Manufacturing growth in southeast Asia eased in June, weighed down by weaker expansion in output and new orders, according to Japanese media group Nikkei.

China economy, yuan under pressure amid trade tensions with US
China’s export-oriented economy will be hit hard by escalating trade dispute with the US, which has been battering the yuan ahead of the implementation of new US tariffs on $34bn worth of Chinese goods on 6 July.