Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 30 March:

AFPM ‘18: US base oil prices strong going into Q2 amid shifting structure
US base oil prices rose steadily in January and February, continuing the prevailing trend from the fourth quarter of 2017, driven by short supply fostered by the severe weather conditions that prevailed.

AFPM ’18: US ethylene prices falling on strong production, limited demand
US ethylene spot prices dropped to a nine-year low in March, and contract prices have been trending lower, as production is bolstered by new crackers and demand is hampered by downstream outages, heading into this year’s International Petrochemical Conference (IPC).

AFPM ’18: EQUATE’s US MEG plant begins construction phase – CEO
Kuwait’s EQUATE Petrochemical has started building its planned monoethylene glycol (MEG) facility in the US, which will reach peak in the second half of this year, with plant start-up on track in 2019, the company’s president and CEO Ramesh Ramachandran said late Saturday.

AFPM ’18: NOVA Chemicals explores PE options for US Geismar site – exec
Canada-based NOVA Chemicals is exploring options for building at least one polyethylene (PE) plant at its Geismar, Louisiana site, a senior executive said on Sunday.

AFPM ’18: US chemicals booming, but trade wars cloud the horizon – AFPM CEO
Free trade has been key for the US chemical industry to boom, but the threat of trade wars with other countries has become the major worry among companies in the country, the CEO of the American Fuels & Petrochemicals Manufactures (AFPM) said on Monday.

AFPM ’18: Formosa moving ahead with Louisiana petrochemical project
FG LA LLC, a subsidiary of Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corporation (FPCC), is currently in the process of permitting for phase 1 of its planned petrochemical complex in St. James Parish, Louisiana, company representatives told ICIS on the sidelines of this year’s International Petrochemical Conference (IPC).

AFPM ’18: Petrochemical execs underscore importance of free trade
A number of industry executives attending this year’s International Petrochemical Conference underscored the importance of free trade, and are wary of the protectionist stance taken by the US and China against each other in recent weeks.

INEOS Styrolution to build a world-scale styrene monomer plant in the US Gulf Coast
INEOS Styrolution will commission an engineering study to build a world-scale styrene monomer (SM) plant in the US Gulf Coast, the company said on Wednesday.

Brazil’s Petrobras awards contract to build gas unit at Comperj
Brazil’s Petrobras has awarded consortium Sociedade de Proposito Especifico (SPE) a Brazilian reais (R) 1.95bn ($591m) contract to complete the construction of a natural gas processing unit at the Complexo Petroquimico do Rio de Janeiro (Comperj), the state-controlled energy giant said on Thursday.

LyondellBasell lifts force majeure on US acetic acid
HOUSTON (ICIS)–LyondellBasell lifted its force majeure on US acetic acid on Friday, according to a letter to customers.

US April BD contracts rise on snug supply
US April butadiene (BD) contracts fully settled on Friday, up 7.3% on the ICIS direct average basis.