Asia top stories – weekly summary

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 21 February 2020.

INSIGHT: Recession feared at some Asian economies amid China epidemic
Japan appears to be on the brink of a recession; Singapore might just tip into one; while South Korea is in an emergency situation amid the novel coronavirus epidemic, which has been pummeling the Chinese economy already weakened by nearly two years of trade war with the US.

China methanol import market disregards Iran plant resumption
China’s methanol market has disregarded the restart of Iranian methanol plant – Zagros Petrochemical’s methanol Plant 1- and continues to remain bearish as a result of deadly coronavirus outbreak with far reaching impact on demand.

Asia naphtha crack spread falters as demand wanes
Naphtha’s crack spread in Asia has slumped to three-month lows, while its market structure turned fragile as lacklustre demand in downstream sectors is likely to persist.

Asia epoxy resins exports steady but sellers cautious
Export discussions for epoxy resins in Asia were range-bound this week, with trade liquidity well supported by perceived requirements from China.

China base oils bear brunt of coronavirus; Europe, US unscathed so far
Unsurprisingly, the base oils sector in China has borne the brunt of coronavirus restrictions, although a more cautious approach is being adopted by other countries.