Asia top stories – weekly summary

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 15 February 2021.

US’ CME to launch ICIS-linked China specific origins methanol futures contract in Feb
The CME Group aims to launch an ICIS-linked China methanol futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange on 22 February.

Listed under the commodity code CMS, the Methanol CFR (cost & freight) China Specific Origins (ICIS) Futures will have a contract size of 100 tonnes, with a minimum threshold of five contracts traded in each block transaction, subject to a 15-minute reporting window, it said in a statement.

INSIGHT: Asia petrochemicals can thrive but lockdowns to hit car sector anew
Demand for some petrochemicals in Asia should be able to stay robust amid a new wave of coronavirus-related lockdowns in parts of the region, but the renewed restrictions will again hit the downstream automotive sector as the pandemic rages on to its second year.

Virus-related restrictions in north China hit petrochemical transport
Coronavirus-related restrictions in parts of northern China – including Hebei province, where cases of infections recently spiked – are hitting transport of petrochemicals in the region.

Asia petrochemical shares mostly lower amid new virus-linked lockdowns
Asia’s petrochemical shares were mostly lower on Tuesday on new lockdowns in parts of the region amid the unabated surge in coronavirus cases, which topped 90m globally.

OUTLOOK ’21: Strong BG demand to persist into Q1; supply to recover slowly
Strong demand for butyl glycol (BG) in Asia is expected to persist into 2021 but to slow down gradually, with supply returning to normal.