US stocks fall moderately amid China trade dispute

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US-listed chemical stocks fell moderately on Tuesday with the general stock market after President Donald Trump threatened more tariffs against China.

On Monday, Trump asked the US Trade Representative to find $200bn worth of Chinese imports on which the US could impose 10% tariffs.

Trump said he was responding to China’s proposal to impose tariffs on $50bn worth of US imports. The Chinese proposal was in retaliation against a US proposal to impose tariffs on $50bn worth of goods.

Both proposals target several petrochemicals.

Following the tit-for-tat tariff threats, stock markets in Europe and Asia traded lower.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 1.15%. The S&P 500 fell by 0.40%.

While the two indices were down moderately, neither have broken the highs reached at the end of January, illustrating the pressure that the trade dispute has imposed on the market.

Nonetheless, market participants and even some chemical executives have had a muted response to the proposed tariffs.

They say the tariffs will alter trade flows, but they will not alter overall demand for petrochemicals. The US and China exports will remain the same. They will just send shipments to different countries.

Trade groups in the US have been much more alarmed. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has said that the US industry has been thrown on to the front lines of a trade war with China.

In the stock markets, the biggest winner was US-based fertilizer producer CF Industries, which rose by 3.07%. The biggest loser was chlor-alkali and epoxy-resin producer Olin, which fell by 4.26%.

The table below lists the performance of the US listed chemical stocks followed by ICIS.

Name	$ Current Price	$ Change	% Change
CF Industries Holdings Inc	45.95	1.37	3.07
Platform Specialty Products Corp	11.91	0.34	2.94
Petroleo Brasileiro SA Petrobras ADR	9.53	0.26	2.8
DCP Midstream LP	39.37	1	2.61
Ultrapar Participacoes SA ADR	12.73	0.23	1.84
Methanex Corp	69.75	1.15	1.68
Bunge Ltd	71.08	1	1.43
Alerian MLP ETF	10.33	0.14	1.37
Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP	8.15	0.1	1.24
Stepan Co	76.71	0.83	1.09
The Mosaic Co	29.25	0.27	0.93
Phillips 66	114.94	0.64	0.56
Occidental Petroleum Corp	83.79	0.46	0.55
Venator Materials PLC	17.77	0.08	0.45
W R Grace & Co	73.51	0.31	0.42
Ecopetrol SA ADR	20.55	0.07	0.34
Ingevity Corp	82.94	0.14	0.17
Ashland Global Holdings Inc	78.35	0.12	0.15
Cosan Ltd	7.87	0.01	0.13
Valero Energy Corp	116.69	0.15	0.13
Valvoline Inc	20.57	0.01	0.05
A. Schulman Inc	44.4	0	0
Kraton Corp	48.31	0	0
PQ Group Holdings Inc	17.65	-0.01	-0.06
Andeavor	138.25	-0.13	-0.09
NewMarket Corp	396.72	-0.4	-0.1
Nutrien Ltd	53.48	-0.07	-0.13
PBF Energy Inc Class A	47.34	-0.07	-0.15
AdvanSix Inc	40.7	-0.07	-0.17
Exxon Mobil Corp	80.67	-0.16	-0.19
Westlake Chemical Partners LP	24.7	-0.05	-0.2
Marathon Petroleum Corp	74.49	-0.3	-0.4
Westlake Chemical Corp	109.53	-0.47	-0.43
Albemarle Corp	92.87	-0.46	-0.49
LyondellBasell Industries NV	114.71	-0.61	-0.53
PolyOne Corp	43.14	-0.26	-0.6
Sociedad Quimica Y Minera De Chile SA ADR	49.57	-0.38	-0.76
Braskem SA ADR repr Class A	26.48	-0.21	-0.79
Cabot Corp	63.33	-0.52	-0.81
Enterprise Products Partners LP	28.02	-0.25	-0.89
Sherwin-Williams Co	398.34	-3.77	-0.94
Eastman Chemical Co	107.83	-1.09	-1
RPM International Inc	50.69	-0.51	-1
PPG Industries Inc	103.94	-1.07	-1.01
Ecolab Inc	144.93	-1.64	-1.12
Praxair Inc	158.47	-1.79	-1.12
Kronos Worldwide Inc	24.5	-0.28	-1.13
FMC Corp	88.62	-1.25	-1.39
Trinseo SA	72.25	-1.1	-1.5
The Chemours Co	48.65	-0.81	-1.64
Axalta Coating Systems Ltd	30.48	-0.52	-1.68
H.B. Fuller Co	53.12	-0.97	-1.79
Celanese Corp	114.57	-2.39	-2.04
Huntsman Corp	32.55	-0.72	-2.16
DowDuPont Inc	66.23	-1.56	-2.3
Tronox Ltd	19.66	-0.47	-2.33
Olin Corp	29.01	-1.29	-4.26

Source: Morningstar