Asia top stories – weekly summary

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 17 November 2023.

Singapore Oct petrochemical exports rise 3.4% in Oct, first expansion since Aug 2022
By Nurluqman Suratman 17-Nov-23 11:32 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Singapore’s petrochemical exports rose by 3.4% year on year to Singapore dollar (S$) 1.24bn in October, marking the first expansion since August last year, official data showed on Friday.

Japan’s October chemical exports fall 7.9% on weakening global demand
By Nurluqman Suratman 16-Nov-23 12:04 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Japan’s chemical shipments abroad in October fell by 7.9% year on year to yen (Y) 957bn ($6.3bn), weighing on overall exports, whose growth slowed amid tepid external demand.

Asian synthetic rubber import trades muted amid buy-sell differences
By Ai Teng Lim 15-Nov-23 10:10 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Discussions for Asian imports of synthetic rubbers, from styrene-butadiene-rubber (SBR) to polybutadiene rubber (PBR), are losing steam as most buyers continued to stay away.

PODCAST: China gasoline, gasoil prices fall after rising in early Nov
By Floria Dai 14-Nov-23 15:53 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–China’s domestic wholesale prices for gasoline and gasoil rose and then declined in early November.

Hyundai starts building $1.5bn electric vehicle plant in South Korea
By Nurluqman Suratman 14-Nov-23 14:51 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Hyundai Motor Co has started construction of a new electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant in Ulsan, South Korea, whose total project cost is Korean won (W) 2tr ($1.5bn).

NE Asia C3 snaps three-week price rally amid lower crude, weak demand
By Julia Tan 10-Nov-23 21:40 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–The average weekly price for spot propylene (C3) imports in northeast Asia fell, snapping a three-week-long price rally. Weaker demand weighed on discussions, resulting in slightly lower viable trading levels for imports overall, with the market’s outlook continuing to be pessimistic amid recent crude declines.