Americas top stories: weekly summary
ICIS Editorial
14-Jan-2019
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 11 January.
Shell starts
production at new US alpha olefins
unit
Shell has started production at its fourth
alpha olefins (AO) unit at its Geismar, US,
complex, bringing total production of the
material at the site to 1.3m tonnes/year, the
Anglo-Dutch energy and petrochemicals major
said on Monday.
OUTLOOK ’19:
Crude oil/MARPOL stir uneasy waves for Americas
base oils
Going into 2019, two items are stirring uneasy
waves for the Americas base oil market: crude
oil prices and the MARPOL (International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from
Ships) initiatives under the IMO (International
Marine Organization) on new sulphur content
guidelines for marine fuels.
OUTLOOK ’19: Two
new methanol units starting in the
Americas
Two new methanol plants are scheduled to start
up in 2019 in the Americas, one in the US and
the other in Trinidad and Tobago.
INSIGHT:
Synchronised global slowdown led by China hits
chemicals outlook
It’s not news that China’s economy is slowing.
Weakness in the manufacturing sector in
particular has been apparent for years, and now
exacerbated by the US-China trade war. However,
the magnitude of the decline comes as a
surprise and piles on top of the growing heap
of macro concerns.
US Prairie
Catalytic’s bioethanol-to-etac plant start-up
delayed to late Q1
The start-up of Prairie Catalytic’s new 50,000
tonne/year ethyl acetate (etac) plant in
Nebraska has been delayed until the end of the
first quarter, a company official confirmed.
US ethylene spot
prices lower on upstream
US ethylene spot prices narrowed with a
slightly lower midpoint than the prior week
amid a decline in upstream ethane costs, and as
sentiment was hampered by anticipated
production from new capacity.
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