Asia top stories – weekly summary

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 1 March.

Asia phenol market buoyed by tight supply, China ADD prospects
Asia’s phenol prices are likely to be stable to firm in March on the back of tightened supply from scheduled maintenance, and the prospects of key market – China – imposing antidumping duties (ADD) on imports.

Asia MEG supply to decrease on production cuts, thinning margins
Asia monoethylene glycol (MEG) supply may see a decline in March as producers margins come under pressure from weaker prices and rising raw material costs.

Asia SBR to remain soft amid high inventories, poor demand
Asia’s styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) prices may remain soft in the near term because of abundant inventories and sluggish demand.

India to remain key PVC importer as no new domestic capacity planned for 2019
India is likely to remain a key importer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) this year in the absence any new domestic capacity expansion plan.

Asia benzene retreats on crude pullback, market concerned about outlook
Asian benzene’s recent uptrend has fizzled out this week as crude futures declined while twin challenges of ample supply and forthcoming shutdowns of downstream styrene monomer (SM) plants are raising concerns about the near-term outlook.

Asia fatty acids prices to stay under pressure from soft feedstock
Asia fatty acids will continue to remain under pressure from soft feedstock palm oil prices, which have been on a decline for most of February despite lower production.

Asian PTA to find support from healthy market fundamentals
Asia’s purified terephthalic acid (PTA) prices are likely to be supported in the near term, as the market heads into the traditional peak demand season.

Asia’s acrylic acid and acrylates to stay firm on turnarounds, strong crude
Asia acrylic acid and acrylates will likely remain firm in the near term on the back of on-going and upcoming turnarounds in southeast Asia and China.

Asian MEK may extend gains in near term on limited spot supply
Asia methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) prices may extend gains in the near term on an upcoming spate of plant turnarounds in China.

Asia acetic acid to rise on tight supply; gains may be capped
Asia’s acetic acid prices may rise on expectations of tightening supply, but the uptrend may be capped by relatively high output in China, a key exporter of the material in the region.

Asia BD to rise on dwindling supply; sluggish SR market to cap gains
Asia butadiene (BD) spot prices may rise in the near term on dwindling deep-sea cargoes and tightened regional supply, but gains may be tempered by sluggish downstream synthetic rubber (SR) market.

Asia PET near-term outlook slightly clouded by weak demand
Asia’s polyethylene terephthalate (PET) outlook, which is positive on the back of expected demand pick up and firm upstream prices, has dampened slightly by current slow offtake and cautious market players concerned about the US-China trade talks.

Asia SM to remain volatile ahead of NE Asia maintenance season
Asia’s styrene monomer (SM) prices may continue to fluctuate widely on the back of weak market sentiment from Chinese importers despite the start of the maintenance season in northeast Asia.

Thailand polymer domestic demand holds up; prices may rise
Domestic demand for polymers in Thailand found support from re-stocking activities this week, as buyers procured some cargoes to safeguard against potential price gains in March.

NE Asia ethylene prices reverse course on weak downstream
Northeast Asia ethylene prices fell for the first time in eight weeks, weighed down by a slowdown in Chinese buying, poor derivative margins and fresh deep-sea supplies.

Indonesia polymers sentiment supported by restocking
Indonesia’s domestic polymer market sentiment is expected to stay firm on the back of restocking by converters, though some say that demand for finished goods remains lackluster.

China’s domestic MPG-PGI prices to fall on muted demand
China’s domestic prices of industrial grade monopropylene glycol (MPG-PGI) look set to falter as demand continues to stay weak, reversing a brief uptick seen in the previous week.

China’s NBR to rise on cost pressure; gains capped by slow demand
Asia’s acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) is likely to be in for a price hike in March because of cost pressure and tightened supply, but as the Chinese economy brakes, slackened demand could put a lid to gains.

China PE imports scale up to an all-time peak in January
China’s overall imports of polyethylene (PE) rose by over 12% from December last year to an all-time high of 1.4m tonnes in January, but imports from Iran slumped because of the US economic sanctions, according to China Customs data.

Asia sorbitol could stay thin until Q2 on weak demand-supply
Asia’s sorbitol discussions remained thin and this situation is likely to extend into the end of second quarter as a result of weak demand.

India methanol market bearish amid plant restarts, Iran start-up
India’s methanol prices will remain under pressure from increased supply in March following restarts of major facilities that export to the country, and the start-up of Iran’s new plant.

Asia C12-14 alcohols fall on soft PKO; downward pressure remains
Prices of C12-14 alcohols in Asia tumbled on further softening of feedstock palm kernel oil (PKO) values, and are expected to continue to face downward pressure from soft feedstock prices as Malaysia’s February palm oil production is forecast to be higher than expected.

Asia fatty alcohols market to remain unfazed by low coconut oil prices
The recent declines in coconut oil prices are unlikely to disrupt the fatty alcohols market in Asia for the time being, market sources said on Tuesday.

Escalating India-Pakistan tensions render polymer trade uncertain
The mounting tensions between India and Pakistan is leading to uncertainty about the export of polyolefins and other commodities from India to Pakistan in the near-term.

China ethanolamines likely to find modest support on upstream gains
Ethanolamines markets in domestic China are expected to find modest support after rising for the first time in eight weeks as feedstock gains lend support to prices.