Latin America stories: weekly summary

SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Here are some of the stories from ICIS Latin America for the week ended on 24 May.

NEWS
Brazil’s Triunfo petchems restart odd one out as wider industry still disrupted – consultant
Most of Rio Grande do Sul’s industrial plants remain shut or operating at very low rates as the Brazilian state reels from the floods, with the restart at the Triunfo petrochemicals hub an exception rather than the norm, a chemicals consultant at MaxiQuim said to ICIS.

Mexico’s Orbia/Vestolit’s Altamira plant ceases operations due to water scarcity
Orbia/Vestolit ceased operations at its Altamira, Tampico facilities in Mexico on 21 May due to water scarcity. The company operates there a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) facility with a production capacity of 690,000 tonnes/year. The company estimates it could resume activity on 19 June.

SABIC declares force majeure at Tampico Mexico ABS plant
SABIC Innovative Plastics Mexico (SABIC) declared force majeure at its Tampico, Mexico acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plant on 23 May. The products affected include CYCOLAC ABS.  This facility has a capacity of 30,000 tonnes.

Mexico’s Q1 GDP grows 0.3%, economic activity remains healthy in March
Mexico’s GDP rose by 0.3% in Q1, an acceleration from Q4’s 0.1% quarterly growth, the country’s statistic office Inegi said on Thursday.

Brazil’s antitrust authority paves way for Petrobras to shed refinery sales
Brazilian state-owned energy major Petrobras has been allowed by the country’s antitrust authority CADE to backtrack on planned refinery sales.

Argentina’s manufacturing down nearly 20% in March
Argentina’s petrochemicals-intensive manufacturing output fell in March by 19.6% year on year, the country’s statistics office, Indec, said this week.

Brazil’s Unigel creditors mull fertilizers divestment
The debt restructuring agreement at Unigel, under which the Brazilian chemicals producer’s creditors are to take a 50% equity stake, could result in a divestment of the company’s beleaguered fertilizers division.

Brazil’s Unigel to give creditors 50% equity stake in debt restructuring
Unigel has obtained the support of enough creditors for a debt restructuring plan although it comes at a price as they will be getting a 50% equity stake in the Brazilian chemical and fertilizer producer.

Brazil’s Braskem restart at Triunfo to kick off petchem hub normalization
Braskem has restarted operations at its Triunfo facility in the flood-hit state of Rio Grande do Sul, which will allow other players in the petrochemicals hub to start up their plants as many depend on input from the Brazilian polymers major to operate.

INEOS Styrolution declares force majeure at Altamira Mexico facility
INEOS Styrolution declared force majeure at its facility in Altamira, Mexico, on 20 May. The products affected include Teluran ABS, Novodur High Heat ABS and Luran ASA. This facility has a capacity of 113,000 tonnes.

Chile’s Q1 GDP up 2.3% on strong consumption, manufacturing up 1.1%
The Chilean economy started 2024 on a strong footing with GDP growth in the first quarter at 2.3%, year on year, the country’s central bank said on Monday.

Volkswagen, Stellantis idle car plants in Brazil, Argentina after floods
Volkswagen (VW) idled its three plants in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo on Monday, as suppliers in the floods-hit state of Rio Grande do Sul are unable to produce any automotive parts, a spokesperson for the German automotive major told ICIS.

PRICING
LatAm PP international prices stable to up on higher Asian freights
International polypropylene (PP) prices were assessed as steady to higher across Latin American countries due to the surge in freight rates from Asia to the region.

LatAm PE domestic, international prices steady on sufficient supply, stable demand
Domestic and international polyethylene (PE) prices were assessed unchanged this week across Latin American countries on the back of sufficient supply and stable demand.