Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Americas for the week ended 29 October 2016.

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EU and Canada sign CETA trade deal, chems applaud
After seven years of negotiations, the EU and Canada on Sunday finally signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which has strong support from chemical and other industrial groups. CETA will open up “new opportunities” for the European chemical industry while helping reduce prices of imported raw materials and precursor products, Utz Tillmann, director general of German chemical producers’ trade group VCI, said in a statement welcoming the signing of the deal at an EU-Canada summit on Sunday in Brussels. For Canada, CETA will be its most important trade deal since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the US and Mexico.

Some US Oct propylene contracts agreed at 1.5 cent/lb drop
US propylene contracts for October are beginning to settle at a decrease of 1.5 cents/lb, although the agreement is not yet market-wide. The increase puts October contracts for polymer-grade propylene (PGP) at 41.5 cents/lb ($915/tonne) and chemical-grade propylene (CGP) at 40.0 cents/lb. If the settlement is fully accepted in the market, it will mark the first decrease since February, when US propylene contracts settled at a decrease of 1.5 cents/lb.

US spot benzene lower on upstream crude futures
US spot benzene prices were lower on Friday, tracking declines in upstream crude oil futures. Benzene spot prices had been generally trending lower in the last several weeks as supply improved after a tight market kept upward pressure on benzene during most of Q3. Demand for benzene had remained strong until a fire at a downstream styrene plant on 13 October.

Continued outage pushes US spot styrene prices higher
US spot styrene prices continued to firm on the back of uncertainty regarding the restart date for Westlake Chemical’s 259,000 tonne/year styrene plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana. A fire shut down the plant on 13 October. The fire, however, was contained quickly, and market sources expected the plant to be down for about two weeks. A two-week outage would take about 10,000 tonnes of styrene out of the market.

US Huntsman to base pigments spinoff in UK
US-based polyurethanes and epoxy-resins producer Huntsman plans to base its pigments spinoff in Stockton-On-Tees, UK. The spinoff will include Huntsman’s textile-effects business in addition to its pigments business. In the first quarter, Huntsman should choose a name for the company and establish its level of capitalisation.

Brazil chemical sector sees best Q3 since 2013
Brazil’s chemical sector enjoyed its most productive third quarter since 2013 after figures released by trade group Abiquim showed year-on-year volume growth in production, domestic sales and demand. Production of industrial chemicals in the three months to September increased by 5.6% compared with the prior-year quarter. Domestic sales rose by 7.0% year on year, while internal demand, which is measured by apparent consumption, or output plus imports minus exports, increased by 10%.

US methanol contract rises on global tightness
US methanol contracts were assessed at a yearly high, as Methanex and Southern Chemical Corp (SCC) both posted increases. Methanex rose to 96 cents/gal for November, while SCC posted 94 cents/gal, bringing the ICIS assessment to 95 cents/gal for November. This is the highest contract price since December 2015, when prices were at 104 cents/gal.

US Dow eyes Nov restart for expanded Louisiana cracker
US-based Dow Chemical expects to restart its expanded Louisiana cracker in mid-November. The project should increase the capacity of the cracker by 250,000 tonnes/year and increase feedstock flexibility, said Jim Fitterling, president and chief operating officer. Last year, the company estimated that the project would cost about $200m.

US Amazon now sells DVDs, books and caustic soda
Small- and medium-size chemical distributors have discovered a new way to reach customers. Online retail giant Amazon.com launched a business-to-business (B2B) platform last year that allows registered businesses to shop for office, janitorial and even industrial goods online and get volume discounts. The site has added more than 30,000 sellers with more than $1bn in sales in its first 12 months.

Brazil focuses on PET exports, driven by soft domestic market
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) producers in Brazil are focusing on efforts to export resin because of weak domestic demand as the peak season begins, but are faced with several challenges. PET supply is gauged as ample, while resin demand is not meeting expectations even in countries in the southern cone of South America where the peak bottled-beverage season is starting.