Asia top stories – weekly summary

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 2 September 2022.

SE Asia palm biodiesel market stays afloat in strong demand
Southeast Asian palm methyl ester (PME) biodiesel was supported by buying activities from EU, betting against the consensus of a weakening demand as winter approached.

India economy posts 13.5% fiscal Q1 growth; outlook dims
India posted a 13.5% annualized GDP growth in April-June 2022, the first quarter of its current fiscal year, marking the strongest pace of increase recorded in a year on a combination of low base effects and strong growth in private consumption.

NE Asia August factory activities weaken amid slowing global economy
Factory activities across northeast Asia weakened in August on poor overseas demand amid slowing global economic growth.

PODCAST: China MX supply may increase, demand weighed by on COVID-19 curbs
ICIS analysts Jady Ma and Veronica Zhang discuss the recent developments and outlook of China’s mixed xylenes (MX) market.

China industries contract in August amid power cuts, COVID-19 curbs
China’s manufacturing activity continued to contract as the country grapples with power outages caused by record heatwave and drought in August, with fresh COVID-19 curbs hampering overall industrial output and consumption.

India’s RIL investing $9.4bn to expand oil-to-chemicals business
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is planning to invest Indian rupees (Rs) 750bn ($9.4bn) to expand its oil to chemicals business over the next five years, the Indian major’s chairman Mukesh Ambani said late on Monday.

China’s Sinopec H1 net profit up 10.5%; chemical earnings slump 94%
Chinese petrochemical giant Sinopec reported a 10.5% year-on-year increase in first-half 2022 net profit on the back of strong crude, even as its chemical earnings shrunk 94% as demand collapsed amid COVID-19 curbs.