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 August 2024.

OUTLOOK: NE Asia propylene to see limited volatility despite historic capacity additions
By Julia Tan 01-Aug-24 11:12 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–The northeast Asian propylene (C3) market is poised for a relatively stable second half of 2024, despite China’s capacity additions, as sustained demand from key sectors and flexible propane dehydrogenation (PDH) units counterbalance growing supply.

INSIGHT: The impact of China end-market demand on Asia’s aromatics market
By Jimmy Zhang 31-Jul-24 13:00 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–China’s government recently released the latest end-consumption sales statistics for the first six months of 2024. In this bulletin, we found four items which are highly related to Asia aromatics market – catering services, the beverage sector, clothes and textiles, and home appliances.

PODCAST: China’s steam crackers favoring ethane on cost advantage
By Lillian Ren 31-Jul-24 11:14 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Ethane is gaining favor as the feedstock for steam crackers in China, as its competitive prices make ethane-cracking the most profitable route for ethylene production compared to other options.

OUTLOOK: High costs, peak season and global trade barriers in China PP market for H2 2024
By Zhibo Xiao 30-Jul-24 13:00 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–As the peak season around September and November is coming for China PP, the cost and demand sides are expected to give the market strong support, while the challenges faced with the export of China electric vehicles could potentially hinder the demand for PP copolymer.

INSIGHT: China focuses on technological innovation, low-carbon industries in latest govt summit
By Amy Yu 29-Jul-24 17:21 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–We expect that there will be two significant developmental directions worth focusing on for China’s petrochemical industry in the medium to long -term view, following the main outcomes of the 20th Third Plenum.