Asia top stories – weekly summary
ICIS Editorial
22-Jul-2019
SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 19 July 2019.
China phenol/acetone suffers losses on
feedstock prices, weak demand
China’s phenol/acetone producers are facing
losses amid feedstock price hikes in benzene
and propylene as well as reduced downstream
demand.
Indonesia palm oil consumption to rise by 3m
tonnes a year with B30
Indonesia’s plan to increase the mandatory
biodiesel blending rate to 30% in January 2020,
from 20% currently, would see domestic
consumption of crude palm oil (CPO) increase by
3m tonnes per year, said Mohamad Fadhil Hasan,
a board member of the Indonesian Palm Oil
Association (Gapki).
SE Asia BD supply to tighten; cargo flows to
northeast may dry up
Butadiene (BD) supply is expected to tighten
further in southeast Asia, and possibly lead to
a drying up of the region’s shipments to the
northeast in the coming months.
Asia chemical outlook dims on weak Q3 demand,
poor economy
Asia’s chemical market outlook is dim amid
rising supply, while demand is seasonally weak
in the third quarter.
Southeast Asian MA holds up despite hazy
demand
Southeast Asian import prices for maleic
anhydride (MA) continue to inch up, leveraging
on tighter spot availabilities for support,
even though demand remains structurally weak.
China PP copolymer market hurting from auto
industry slump
China’s polypropylene (PP) copolymer demand is
likely to stay under pressure amid bearish
prospects of its biggest downstream market –
the automobile industry.
Asia ADA market outlook to hinge on downstream
demand
Asia’s adipic acid (ADA) market outlook will
depend on downstream demand despite recent
price increases.
Asia benzene pulls back on crude slump;
arbitrage to US stays open
Asia’ benzene prices retreated this week after
a recent upswing, weighed down by a slump in
crude oil futures on rising US stockpile, while
the arbitrage window to the US remains open.
Asia PVC trade remains subdued amid weak
demand
Trade in Asia’s polyvinyl chloride (PVC) market
is expected to remain subdued in the near term
as the rainy season in Vietnam and Thailand
continues to weigh on demand.
US-China trade war hits MMA, PMMA
markets
Continued trade tensions between the US and
China are weighing on both the methyl
methacrylate (MMA) and polymethyl methacrylate
(PMMA) markets in the US.
Singapore at risk of technical recession on
weak chem exports
Singapore’s export-dominant economy is at risk
of a technical recession as growth slows in
tandem with weakening global trade.
China acetic acid to be driven by exports;
local demand supply balanced
Chinese acetic market short term outlook will
be mainly driven by exports to other regional
countries especially South Asia, rather than
domestic demand and supply – which is more or
less balanced since mid-June.
Asia PC markets gather ground as demand
improves
Asia polycarbonate (PC) markets paused for
breath to stabilise, stemming consecutive weeks
of declines as demand improved, even as limited
fluctuations are expected ahead.
Pakistan PE, PP trades stalled by rupee plunge,
economic woes
Polyolefin trades in Pakistan are being stalled
by a myriad of economic challenges, with demand
staying weak since the Pakistani rupee (PRs)
plunged to all-time lows against the US dollar
in June.
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