Asia top stories – weekly summary

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 26 February 2021.

NE Asia C2 up 18%; March demand healthy on better downstream ops
Spot ethylene (C2) import prices in northeast Asia surged by at least 18% this week due to healthy demand on the back of reduced US supply, bullish Chinese downstream markets and strong upstream indicators in the aftermath of a severe winter storm in the US Gulf Coast.

Mideast chemicals supply tight amid US outages, strong China demand
Supply tightness prevails in the Middle East chemicals markets and it remains a challenge to scour the region for cargoes amid winter storm-related outages in the US and strong demand coming from China.

Asia petrochemicals at multi-year highs on strong crude, bullish China markets
Key petrochemical markets in Asia have hit multi-year highs, driven up by strong crude gains following winter storm-related US output disruptions, and robust post-holiday activity in China.

Asia naphtha climbs on crude oil rally amid US output restart concerns
Asia’s naphtha prices have remained on an uptrend, taking cues from strong crude oil futures amid concerns about US production restarts following winter storm-related disruptions.

Asian BD trends up on supply concerns, near-term outlook upbeat
The Asian butadiene (BD) import business took off on a bullish note after the Lunar New Year break as anxieties about near-term supply stability grew amid massive cold weather-related outages in the US Gulf Coast.