Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 2 April.

Crude values, US chem shares jump on news of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine
US drug maker Moderna announced positive results on Monday from its phase 3 trials on a vaccine for the coronavirus, which boosted global oil prices and most shares of US-listed chemical companies.

Alberta’s energy minister warns on Michigan oil pipeline shutdown
The shutdown by Michigan of a critical oil pipeline would harm oil producers in Canada’s Alberta province, along with refiners and chemical companies in eastern Canada and the US, Alberta’s energy minister has warned.

FOCUS: Canada’s proposed ban on exports of plastics waste may hamper circular economy
A bill before Canada’s federal parliament to ban the export of plastics waste satisfies neither chemicals nor environmental groups and may even end up harming the circular economy, rather than promoting it, according to testimony before a Canadian parliamentary committee.

INSIGHT: US $2 trillion infrastructure plan would light a fire under chemicals demand
The proposed $2tr US infrastructure plan would massively boost spending to build and upgrade the country’s transportation, housing, automotive and communications systems, giving a further boost to chemicals and polymers as critical building blocks.

US March ethylene contracts notch largest increase in 15 years on storm-related production issues
US March ethylene contracts for the majority of market participants have settled at an increase of 9 cents/lb ($198/tonne) from February on lingering storm-related production issues.