Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 23 April.

US MTBE demand expected to increase as summer driving season nears
As US methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) production finds more solid ground in the wake of the winter storm in February that shut Texas production, market focus is turning to upcoming summer driving season in key export markets.

LyondellBasell lifts FM on US EO, EG
LyondellBasell will end the force majeure and sales allocation for its US ethylene oxide (EO) and ethylene glycols (EG), according to a customer letter dated 20 April, seen by ICIS.

Alpek, partners may resume construction on Texas PET plant in ’22
Alpek and its partners in a joint venture may resume construction at their polyethylene terephthalate (PET) project in Texas in 2022, the CEO of the Mexican polyester producer said on Wednesday.

New US, Canada emission goals may raise chem demand from EVs, buildings
Ambitious emission targets announced by the US and Canada could increase demand for plastics and chemicals used in renewable energy, efficient buildings and electric vehicles.

Plan centred on new tech, carbon pricing essential to hit Biden CO2 target – ACC
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) stressed on Thursday the importance of policy to enable the reduction of carbon emissions after President Joe Biden’s pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52% by 2030.

No global PE inventory build until Q4 amid tight supply – Dow CEO
The tight outlook for global polyethylene (PE) means inventories will not be built back in earnest until possibly Q4 2021, the CEO of US-based Dow said on Thursday.

Dow Q1 profit rockets on plastics, packaging demand
Dow’s first-quarter profit nearly quadrupled year on year as strong demand and pricing for packaging and specialty plastics helped to offset weaker coatings sector earnings, the US-headquartered producer said on Thursday.

Zymergen aims to accelerate biopolymers development and scale-up – co-founder
US-based bio-based technology start-up Zymergen plans to speed up new product development in biopolymers and other materials for the electronics, consumer care and other sectors with superior characteristics, its chief science officer and co-founder said on Thursday.

US March sales of new single-family homes jump 20.7% month on month
US March sales of new single-family houses rose by 20.7% from February, the US Census Bureau said in a report on Friday.

Louisiana Green Fuels plans for $700m renewable diesel refinery using wood waste for feedstock
Louisiana Green Fuels, a wholly owned subsidiary of Strategic Biofuels, announced on Friday plans to build a $700m renewable diesel plant that could produce up to 32m gal/year of renewable fuel using wood waste as the feedstock.