Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 22 October.

AFPM ’21: Supply chain strains, logistics woes to persist into 2022
The coronavirus pandemic disrupted every aspect of life, including the supply chains that have been built up over time to consistently deliver goods and raw materials to various parts of the world.

INSIGHT: Rising feedstocks, falling prices to squeeze US polyolefin margins
The rise in oil and natural gas prices in the US has caused feedstock costs to increase for the nation’s petrochemical industry. That could squeeze margins, since prices for key olefins and polyolefins are expected to fall in the face of rising inventories and capacity.

AFPM ’21: Chevron Phillips Chemical US cracker project with QP still on table – president
Chevron Phillips Chemical’s joint venture (JV) cracker project with Qatar Petroleum on the US Gulf Coast is still on the table with a potential final investment decision next year, executives said on Monday.

AFPM ’21: Consumer push, sorting, regulation needed to boost chemical recycling
A push from consumers and resin buyers, along with more sophisticated sorting of waste and a supportive regulatory framework will be needed to scale up chemical recycling of plastics, industry executives said on Monday.

AFPM ’21: Logistics constraints hitting niche products
Logistical constraints are causing delays in obtaining some niche chemicals that are used in very specialised products, the CEO of Huntsman said on Tuesday.

Backlog of polyols orders will persist into H1 2022 – Stepan
A backlog of polyols orders will remain in place into H1 2022, US-based Stepan said during the company’s Q3 earnings call.

Former ACC chief economist Kevin Swift joins ICIS
Kevin Swift, former chief economist and managing director at the American Chemistry Council (ACC), will join ICIS on 1 November as senior economist, global chemicals.

China loses cost advantage for new plants – Celanese
China has lost much of its previous cost advantage that attracted companies to build new chemical plants in the country, the CEO of US-based acetyls producer Celanese said on Friday.