Asia top stories – weekly summary

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 18 September 2019.

INSIGHT: Asia’s key petrochemical markets expect supply to pile up in Q4
The year 2020 has been roasted by the pandemic hitherto, with the petrochemical outlook for the fourth quarter being no exception as supply exceeding demand expected to be the case for major products.

Asia benzene buoyed by firm crude; arbitrage window to US still shut
Asia’s benzene market was bolstered by firm crude oil futures, following US offshore production shutdowns from Hurricane Sally.

China EPDM demand slows down ahead of week-long October holiday
China’s demand for ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) has started to slow down as buyers have mostly completed procurements ahead of the country’s week-long holiday in October.

Asia MTBE to be buoyed by arbitrage flows, supply cutback
Asia’s methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) prices were supported by stronger demand as buyers were attracted to low prices, while the near-term market is expected to stay buoyed by arbitrage flows and supply disruption.

Asian ECH firm, but sentiment may shift on impending restarts
Asian spot discussions for epichlorohydrin (ECH) continued to edge up this week, supported by ongoing tightness in prompt supplies.

Asia butac/etac prices near six-month highs on supply constraints
Asia’s butyl acetate (butac) prices touched a near six-month high, buoyed by supply constraints in China amid plant maintenance, with an expected uptick in demand set to liven up the market.