Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 14 September.

US pipeline project, ports close as Hurricane Florence nears Atlantic coastline
Ports and a pipeline company began shutdown procedures on Tuesday in response to Hurricane Florence, which is expected to reach the US Atlantic coastline between Wednesday and Thursday.

US September SBR contract prices rise on feedstock BD
US September styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) contract prices rose, tracking an increase in upstream US butadiene (BD) contract prices for September, while SBR spot prices remained steady amid some downward pressure.

Atlantic hurricanes prompting uncertainty for US chemical industry – ACC
The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season has brought what the American Chemistry Council (ACC) described on Wednesday as an uncomfortable amount of uncertainty in regards to predicting the severity of each developing storm, including Hurricane Florence.

Global PE trade patterns shift with US, China tariffs – LyondellBasell CEO
Global polyethylene (PE) trade patterns are shifting and supply chains are adjusting as a result of the US-China tariffs but overall demand is not being impacted, the CEO of LyondellBasell said on Thursday.

US tax reform poses a big threat to Canada’s chem and other sectors – study
The US tax reform is a huge threat to Canada, putting hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk, with petrochemicals and chemicals being particularly vulnerable, according to a study made available on Friday.

US Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act of 2018 does not roll back US-China tariffs
The US Miscellaneous Tariff Bill Act of 2018 (MTB) does not void any of the 25% tariffs on a combined $50bn of Chinese imports, but simply reduces existing “normal” tariff rates on all the imports listed to zero or reduces them significantly for three years.