Americas top stories: weekly summary
ICIS Editorial
18-Mar-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 15 March.
US CPI inflation
‘sticky’ at 3.2%, may delay Fed rate cuts –
ICIS economist
US inflation, as measured by the consumer
prices index (CPI), rose 0.4% month on month in
February, leaving it up 3.2% year on year, the
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on
Tuesday.
LyondellBasell
sees signs of modest improvement in Q1 –
CEO
LyondellBasell is seeing some indications of
modest improvement in its businesses,
particularly in North America and Europe, with
packaging being the strongest end market, its
CEO said on Wednesday.
US Trinseo seeks
to sell stake in AmSty
Trinseo has started the process to sell its 50%
stake in Americas Styrenics (AmSty), the
US-based engineered materials producer said on
Wednesday.
US outage to
boost March Asia-Atlantic spot acetic acid, VAM
trades
Asia-Atlantic spot trades for acetic acid and
vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) are expected to
increase after supply gaps in the US and Europe
emerged following an unexpected plant outage in
the US.
Potential for oil
market deficit in 2024 as demand expectations
grow – IEA
Higher oil demand expectations and fresh
production cuts from the OPEC+ alliance could
push the 2024 crude market balance from a
surplus to a slight deficit if the voluntary
reductions remain in place for the rest of the
year, according to the International Energy
Agency.
INSIGHT: US
aromatics, refining output recedes as peak oil
approaches
Peak oil demand in the US could lead to a
further decline in refining capacity, which
will tighten supplies of benzene, toluene and
xylenes (BTX) for downstream chemical
producers.
Unipar expects
hardship in Argentina but Brazil PVC demand
should recover
Unipar’s operations in Argentina are set to
face pressure from the current recession but a
bright spot could appear in higher civil
engineering activity in Brazil, propping up
demand for polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the
Brazilian chemicals producer said on Friday.
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