Asia top stories – weekly summary

ICIS Editorial

07-Oct-2019

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 4 October 2019.

Asia fuel and petrochemical supply on the rise after China’s Golden Week
In Asia, supply will be on the rise for fuels and some petrochemicals after the Golden Week holidays (1-7 October) in key market China.

Asia PBR supply to tighten on margins erosion and weak demand
Supply of polybutadiene rubber (PBR) in Asia may tighten further due to upcoming plant shutdowns and production cutbacks as major Asian PBR makers grapple with poor margins and weak demand.

Asia benzene retreats on crude oil slump; ample supply expected
Asia’s benzene market remains on a downtrend partly as a result of slump in the crude oil futures, while market participants expect supply to remain ample for the rest of this year.

India’s metallocene LLDPE players remain cautious after plastic ban deferred
India’s metallocene linear low density polyethylene (mLLDPE) market players may remain cautious even as the government deferred a country-wide ban on single-use plastic, amid concerns on persistently weak fundamental demand.

Middle East Group II/III base oils weighed down by soft demand
Middle East Group II and Group III base oils prices were stable to soft this week but were under strong downward pressure with the bearish market likely to continue because demand has shown no sign of improvement yet.

NE Asia C2 stays weak during China holiday; glut may ease on cracker outage
Ethylene import prices in the well-supplied northeast Asian market remained weak, with limited buyers amid China’s week-long National Day holiday on 1-7 October.

SE Asia PME faces seasonal slowdown in export demand
Spot prices of palm methyl ester (PME) biodiesel in southeast (SE) Asia were stable in the week ended 3 October as prices of feedstock crude palm oil remained stable.

Asia IPA continues upwards struggle amid firm upstream acetone
Asia’s isopropanol (IPA) market is expected to continue its upward struggle amid firm upstream acetone values.

Asia naphtha crack spread at nine-month high; premiums up
Asia’s naphtha crack spreads have climbed to their highest in nine months, with a bout of healthy buying set to keep market fundamentals buoyant.

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