Asia top stories – weekly summary

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 14 February 2020.

NE Asia ethylene prices fall again; near-term downstream outlook weak
Northeast (NE) Asian ethylene prices extended losses due to lower Chinese demand amid widespread downstream production cuts.

China petrochemical run rates low; downstream plants yet to restart
China’s petrochemical plants are running at reduced rates and may cut production further since most downstream plants have yet to restart after a prolonged outage amid a deadly viral epidemic engulfing the country.

Asia ABS slips on tepid demand; producers cut output
Asia’s acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) market retreated on tepid demand and soft feedstock costs, with more producers mulling cutting output amid an inventory build-up.

China Q1 GDP growth may fall to 4% with downside risk – economist
China GDP growth could slow to 4% or lower in Q1 2020 as the result of the coronavirus outbreak, an economist said on Tuesday.

China economy to take heavy beating in Q1 from virus outbreak
China is expected to take a heavy beating in the first quarter from the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, which severely hampered travel and business activities in the world’s second-biggest economy.