HOUSTON (ICIS)–Corn harvesting has climbed to 81% completed with soybeans now at 89% finished, according to the latest US Department of Agriculture (USDA) weekly crop progress report. Taking full advantage of the continued stretch of warmer and drier conditions in several areas, the current progress of the corn harvest is ahead of both the 68% rate from 2023 and the five-year average of 64%. Texas is the top state with 99% of its acreage finished, followed by North Carolina at 97%. The USDA has stopped issuing any further updates for corn. Soybeans harvest is 89% completed, which is ahead of 82% mark from 2023 as well as the five-year average of 78%. Minnesota is still ahead of the other reporting states with 98% of their crop now completed with Louisiana at 97% finished. There are no further updates for soybeans. In other harvesting updates the USDA said there is now 52% of the cotton crop finished with sorghum acreage 75% completed.

HOUSTON (ICIS)– Spanish fertilizer firm Highfield Resources announced that the Navarra Government has not relinquished the Goyo mining concession, which is one of the three mining concessions for their Muga potash project in Spain. The company said it wanted to clarify the issue as there was previously a procedural flaw which has been identified in the internal administrative coordination process for the granting of the mining concession. There were no details provided regarding the mistake in the process, but Highfield Resources did say it has received confirmation that the ruling is being analyzing. Further, the company said the government stated it will resolve the situation as soon as possible to enable the implementation of the project, which it said has already been evaluated with sufficient rigor. Highfield Resources said at Goyo the production from that section is only expected to happen after year six of their mining plan.

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Australian Fertoz Limited said demand for direct application of rock phosphate and their fertilizer pellet product Fertify remained positive in Q3, with significant orders for Fertify starting in September. The company expects this uptick to continue through late 2024 with the phosphate producer saying this positive direction has come forth despite significant losses for farmers in the Alberta region of Canada due to pre-harvest hailstorms. In its quarterly activities report, Fertoz said there were delays in upgrades to granulation processing equipment by key customers, which slowed sales, but the expectations are for completion of these upgrades by year’s end. Fertoz managing director and CEO Daniel Gleeson said the bulk sample permit for 10,000 tonnes in Barnes is in the final stages with submission of a technical assessment review to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. This permit is expected to be ready for the start of the 2025 mining season, with the next bulk sample permit at Pump Station, also for 10,000 tonnes, part of their overall advancement towards receiving an industrial minerals permit for up to 250,000 tonnes. The industrial permit is also expected to be completed early next year with Gleeson saying Fertoz continues to assess their Wapiti project for suitability of making phosphoric acid for the lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery and liquid phosphate fertilizer markets. “Wapiti samples have been received by the testing party, with positive desktop results achieved, and will now process them in the laboratory for final reportable and definitive results. These final testing results are expected in December,” said Gleeson. “Concurrently we continue to engage with relevant parties of the LFP supply chain industry in North America who have expressed interest in our resources.” He said because of the significant direct government investments across North America and substantial future tax credits that overall interest remains elevated in their high quality, low impurity sedimentary rock phosphate deposits.

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Union dock workers and US East Coast port operators will resume negotiations on a new master agreement in November, according to a joint statement from both parties. The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), representing the dock workers, and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents the ports, reached a tentative agreement on 3 October that ended a three-day strike. The strike was paused until 15 January after parties agreed on the salary portion of the agreement, essentially meeting in the middle. But the union remains adamant against any full or partial automation at ports that could threaten union jobs. The respective negotiating committees will meet in New Jersey, where they will look to agree on terms for a new contract that can be presented to the full ILA Wage Scale Committee for approval, and later, to ILA membership for ratification, the statement said. “The ILA and USMX welcome the opportunity to return to the bargaining table and get a new agreement in place as soon as possible,” the parties said. The two sides will not discuss details of negotiations with the media prior to these meetings. IMPACTS TO CHEM MARKETS The short strike had some impact on the US chemicals industry, with polyethylene (PE) exports to Brazil being put on hold in the lead up to the work stoppage. The polyvinyl chloride (PVC) industry was concerned as all US Gulf PVC exports move out of one of the impacted East Coast ports. In the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) market, imports of PET resins were diverted to the US West Coast in anticipation of the work stoppage. The dock workers do not handle liquid chemical tankers, as most terminals that handle liquid chemical tankers are privately owned and do not necessarily use union labor. Also, tankers do not require as much labor as container or dry cargo vessels, which must be loaded and unloaded with cranes and require labor for forklifts and trucks. But container ships and costs for shipping containers are relevant to the chemical industry because while most chemicals are liquids and are shipped in tankers, container ships transport polymers, such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), are shipped in pellets. They also transport liquid chemicals in isotanks. Visit the ICIS Logistics – impact on chemicals and energy topic page Thumbnail image shows a container ship. Photo by Shutterstock

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Agrimin Limited said their Mackay potash project in Western Australia is continuing to advance towards a final investment decision and that the development is now in the stage three assessment with the environmental regulators. The project is planned to be able to manufacture standard and granular sulphate of potash (SOP) products with its definitive feasibility study (DFS), completed in July 2020, showing that once in operation it could be the world’s lowest cost source of seaborne SOP. In a quarterly update on activities, the company said the timeline from the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority is still expected to come in 2024, with supplementary government approval expected to follow in the first half of 2025. Agrimin said it is also progressing on the other secondary approvals and licenses necessary for the project with the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation. Regarding the final investment decision, the company said it is undertaking activities to reach that status including engineering efforts with advanced process testing and preparation for contractor involvement. It is also engaged in execution planning with a focus on critical path analysis and mitigation including earliest possible environmental surveys and baseline monitoring. Agrimin said it will also be working on funding for the project including potential strategic partnerships.

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 25 October. Earlier unplanned outages contributing to tight US MEG, DEG supply in Q4 US monoethylene glycol (MEG) and diethylene glycol (DEG) spot availability is expected to remain snug through Q4, while concerns are growing for triethylene glycol (TEG) supply as peak season begins. US Sherwin-Williams expects choppy H1, sees signs of consumer weakness Sherwin-Williams expects demand during the first half of 2025 will remain choppy while the company waits for what it expects will be an inevitable inflexion point for demand for its products, the US-based paints and coatings producer said on Tuesday. Mexico’s Orbia lowers 2024 guidance, PVC group reports flat Q3 income Orbia’s vinyls business reported on Wednesday that Q3 operating income was flat year on year amid lower costs for ethylene and electricity as well lower volumes and prices. Styrolution to permanently shutter Sarnia styrene plant next year INEOS Styrolution has decided not to restart its 445,000 tonnes/year styrene production plant in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, and will permanently shut it down by early Q4 2025, the company announced Thursday. Chlor-alkali demand benefited from hurricanes, new pulp plants – OlinDemand for chlorine derivatives and caustic soda benefited from US hurricanes and two new pulp and paper plants that opened in South America, which provided some bright spots in what has otherwise been a challenging market due to the slowdown in home building and durable goods, US-based Olin said on Friday.

LONDON (ICIS)–Click here to see the latest blog post on Chemicals & The Economy by Paul Hodges, which highlights how NVIDIA is effectively carrying US stock markets. Editor’s note: This blog post is an opinion piece. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of ICIS. Paul Hodges is the chairman of consultants New Normal Consulting.

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 25 October. Sentiment in Europe jet fuel market dented by crude instability and soaring stocks Bearing the brunt of low demand and a supply overhang, sentiment in the European jet kerosene spot market has been further dulled by upstream Brent crude fluctuations and soaring regional stock levels hitting their highest since August 2021. Eni to close Versalis crackers, PE plant as it pivots to low carbon, specialty production with €2 billion investment Italy’s Eni plans to close its Versalis crackers at Brindisi and Priolo, plus a polyethylene (PE) site at Ragusa as it refocuses on low carbon and specialty chemical production through a €2 billion investment over the next five years. Dow to review Europe polyurethanes amid ‘increasing challenges’ of regulation Dow is set to review the competitiveness of several assets in Europe, particularly around its polyurethanes operations, amid “increasing challenges” presented by the region’s regulatory environment, CEO Jim Fitterling said in a Q3 results statement. Europe ECH prices dip for first time since January as raw material costs ease Europe epichlorohydrin (ECH) freely negotiated contract prices have softened in October for the first time since January 2024 as propylene feedstocks costs ease in a muted and well supplied ECH market. INSIGHT: ‘Bridge’ countries bring new opportunities as global trade flows fragment – Bertschi Changing trade flows driven by increasing friction between China, the US and their allies mean there will be demand for new chemical logistics routes and infrastructure, according to the executive chairman of chemical logistics group Bertschi. Europe PE/PP October contracts down on monomer and stagnant demand European polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) contracts have been agreed down slightly beyond the monomer drop for October.

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Oil prices tumbled by more than $4/barrel on Monday morning as fears over potential supply disruptions in the Middle East eased, with sentiment weighed down by a sharp contraction in China’s September industrial profits. Israel airstrikes miss Iran’s oil facilities China Sept industrial profits contract 27% year on year China nine-month oil refining losses at CNY32 billion Product (at 04:00 GMT) Latest ($/barrel) Previous ($/barrel) Change ($/barrel) Brent December 72.61 76.05 -3.44 WTI December 68.45 71.78 -3.33 Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Iran over the weekend did not hit Tehran’s oil and nuclear facilities. “The more targeted response from Israel leaves the door open for de-escalation and clearly the price action in oil this morning suggests the market is of the same view,” Dutch bank ING said in a macro note on Monday. “Clearly, if we do see some de-escalation, it would allow fundamentals once again to dictate price direction,” it said. Iran, which is a member of oil cartel OPEC, has the world’s fourth largest proven oil reserves. “And with a surplus market over 2025, this would mean that oil prices are likely to remain under pressure,” ING added. CHINA DATA IN FOCUS China’s September industrial profits fell by 27.1% year on year, while average earnings in the first nine months dropped by 3.5% year on year, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Lower production, especially in the motor vehicles sector amid a sharp rise in new energy vehicles weighed on demand. Car production in September fell by 8.1% year on year, while new energy vehicles rose by 48.5% year on year. China, the world’s second-biggest economy, is also its largest crude importer. Its crude oil imports in September reached 45.5 million tonnes, down by 0.6% year on year, according to China Customs data. Crude processing capacity also fell by 5.4%, while capacity in the first nine months of 2024 fell by 1.6% year on year. Meanwhile, the oil refining sector posted losses of yuan (CNY) 32 billion ($4.5 billion) in the first nine months of 2024. The fall was attributed to insufficient market demand, a drop in industrial product prices and a significantly higher base since August, NBS statistician Yu Weining said in a statement on Monday. Investors will be watching a highly anticipated meeting between China’s leaders on 4-8 November in Beijing for potential further stimulus policies to aid growth. On 12 October, China’s finance minister Lan Fo’an had said that the central government might raise debt to arrest economic headwinds. Focus article by Jonathan Yee ($1 = CNY7.13) Thumbnail image: Iran’s capital city of Tehran on 26 October 2024. (By ABEDIN TAHERKENAREH/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)