Asia top stories – weekly summary

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 25 October 2019.

SE Asian PA demand languishes; discussions for imports soften
In southeast Asia, the phthalic anhydride (PA) market is facing stubbornly weak buying interest that has broadly overshadowed the impact of tightening supply and plant closures.

Asia ABS market quiet amid US-China trade tensions
Activity in Asia’s acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) market remained slow with players in a cautious mode as the US-China trade war continued to weigh on sentiment.

INSIGHT: Asia near-term outlook points to continued deceleration – IMF
The near-term economic outlook for Asia is pointing to a continued deceleration of growth, with downside risks clearly dominating at this juncture ahead of crucial trade talks between the US and China, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

India LAB market players bullish despite economic slowdown
India’s linear alkylbenzene (LAB) players are bullish about market prospects despite a slowing economy. Consumption for LAB – which goes into detergent products – is expected to remain strong in developing economies like India, where annual demand growth is projected at 5%, according to market players at the recently concluded ICIS surfactants industry conference.

INSIGHT: China’s PE and PP price spreads wider on escalated US-China trade China has seen wider spreads in polyethyene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) prices so far in 2019 due to supply imparity amid the escalated US-China trade war, according to market players.

China SM inventory grows on strong import arrivals; offtake slow
China’s styrene monomer (SM) inventory is expected to continue rising in the near term on the back of fresh import arrivals while offtake rates were slow.