SINGAPORE (ICIS)–South Korea and Thailand are currently holding their first round of negotiations for a bilateral economic partnership agreement (EPA). The three-day talks being held in Bangkok will end on 11 July, South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) said on 9 July. Delegations from the two countries “are to engage in negotiations on goods, services, investment, digital, government procurement, and intellectual property”, it said. A bilateral EPA will serve as an institutional foundation for upgrading the Korea-Thailand economic cooperation, according to Roh Keon-ki, South Korea’s deputy minister for free trade agreement negotiations. Thailand is an emerging market and the second-biggest economy in southeast Asia after Indonesia, while South Korea is highly industrialized and ranks as the 14th largest economy in the world. “While the two countries have already established trade agreements through the Korea-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the level of their trade and economic cooperation has room for improvement,” MOTIE noted. The 10 ASEAN nations – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam –  are signatories to RCEP, which also includes China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. RCEP is currently the world’s largest FTA, covering about a third of world GDP, population and total trade.

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–China’s recent decision to include hydrogen in its draft national energy law signals a transformative shift in the country’s energy landscape. By positioning hydrogen alongside traditional energy sources, China is unlocking vast investment opportunities and paving the way for robust market growth in the burgeoning hydrogen sector. In this podcast, ICIS analysts Patricia Tao and Yu Yunfeng delve into how this strategic focus on hydrogen will reshape China’s energy sector and foster sustainable industrial growth.

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The ports of Houston and Freeport in Texas remain mostly closed on Tuesday while millions remain without power following Hurricane Beryl’s landfall at the start of the week. Port Houston said all of its terminals will remain closed on Tuesday. Port Freeport said the Freeport Harbor Channel is closed. Gates 4 and 14 are closed, while Gate 8 is opened. Freeport LNG Development had shut down its LNG operations at Freeport on July 7. It can export 15 million tonnes/year. Loadings for LNG tankers slowed considerably on 8 July due to rough seas and suspension of pilot services at Calcasieu Pass and Sabine Pass. Both are in Louisiana. The port of Corpus Christi is scheduled to reopen on Tuesday. It is the third largest oil-exporting port in the world, and it is home to Corpus Christi Liquefaction, a terminal that can export 15 million tonnes/year of liquefied natural gas (LNG). MILLIONS REMAIN WITHOUT POWERBeryl made landfall on Sunday in Matagorda, Texas, as a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained windspeeds of 80 miles/hour (130 km/hour). So far, much of its effect on chemical operations has been by interrupting power. On late Tuesday morning, Texas reported more than 2.82 million outages, according to the website poweroutage.us, which keeps track of power outages in the US. CenterPoint Energy, the main electrical transmission and distribution company in Houston, said more than 1.76 million customers remain affected by outages. Entergy, the main one for eastern Texas, said on Monday evening that 247,000 customers remained without power. Texas-New Mexico Power, which handles the areas around Freeport and Galveston said it 73,220 customers are affected by outages. BERYL CAUSED SOME CHEM SHUTDOWNSElectrical outages and precautions had caused some chemical companies and refiners to shut down units. Enterprise Products said bad weather caused a trip to a propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit in Mont Belvieu, Texas. Marathon Petroleum reported power loss and multiple unit shutdowns at its Galveston Bay refinery. Dow shut down its operations in Seadrift, Texas, as a precaution. In Baytown, ExxonMobil said it is continuing to assess the site for possible damage as it resumes normal operations. The company anticipated minimal impact to production. Formosa Plastics shut down its Olefins 1 unit at Port Comfort, Texas. Interoceanic Corporation (IOC) said its affiliate, PCI Nitrogen, has halted ammonium sulphate (AS) and sulphuric acid production at its facility in Pasadena, Texas. Phillips 66 reported an upset at its refinery in Sweeney, Texas. The refiner did not say if it shut down any unit. Personnel had returned it to normal operations. CITGO reduced operating rates at its refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas. BASF Total Petrochemical’s cracker in Port Arthur, Texas, produced off-spec material because of a suspected lightning strike. LIMITED RAIL DISRUPTIONSOn Monday, BNSF said its Pearland intermodal facility in Houston remained closed.  WEATHER FORECASTIn the late morning, Beryl had degraded into a post tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 30 miles/hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was in the northeastern part of the US state of Arkansas, and meteorologists expected it would continue traveling in that direction towards Canada. Thumbnail shows flooding caused by Beryl. Image by Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

BARCELONA (ICIS)–Climate change and warming oceans mean that the US Gulf Coast chemical sector will have to adapt to more frequent weather events such as Hurricane Beryl. Gulf Coast area where Hurricane Beryl made landfall houses 13m tonnes, 29% of US ethylene production capacity Beryl is earliest Category five hurricane on record; busy season forecast Warming oceans mean there may be double the number of severe hurricanes Energy, chemical industries must adapt to cope with more weather events Move towards net zero carbon gives opportunity to relocate plants, infrastructure In this Think Tank podcast, Will Beacham interviews ICIS Business Solutions Group senior executive Nigel Davis and Paul Hodges, chairman of New Normal Consulting. Editor’s note: This podcast is an opinion piece. The views expressed are those of the presenter and interviewees, and do not necessarily represent those of ICIS. Read the latest issue of ICIS Chemical Business. Read Paul Hodges and John Richardson’s ICIS blogs.

LONDON (ICIS)–How long does the world’s current grey hydrogen production fleet have left on average? And why do autothermal reformers with carbon capture and storage appear to be the replacement technology of choice for low-carbon hydrogen producers? In this episode of the ICIS Hydrogen Insights podcast, hydrogen editor Jake Stones discusses these matters and more with Johnson Matthey’s senior vice president of hydrogen and sustainable technologies, Dr Eugene McKenna. Dr McKenna also gives his take on the prospect of retrofitting steam methane reformers with CCS, and the risks facing hydrogen market participants today when developing their projects.

SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Colombia’s annual rate of inflation stood in June at 7.18%, up very slightly from 7.16% in May, and the first increase in 15 months, according to the country’s statistical office DANE. Monthly inflation stood in June at 0.32%, also a slight increase from May’s 0.30%. Prices for the subgroup for utilities water, electricity, and gas as well as accommodation rose over the average (up 0.58%) as did health services (up 0.49%), in a country where private healthcare is the norm. Restaurant and hotel prices also rose over the average, up 0.39% in June compared with May. Prices for transport rose well below the monthly average with an increase of 0.19% compared with May, as some sub-components of that index such as gas fuel prices posted falls in prices. Earlier in July, the central bank lowered rates for the fifth time since it started easing monetary policy in December, leaving the main rate at 11.25%, and said indicators were pointing to a stronger performance in coming month. The petrochemicals-intensive manufacturing sectors, however, were in contraction in the second quarter and companies continue pointing to still-high interest rates as a drag for their growth as consumers stay away from big-ticket durable goods. UPTICK, BUT FALLS TO CONTINUEDespite June’s small uptick, analysts and Colombia’s central bank still expect inflation to continue falling towards the 3% target by 2025. Gray columns: forecast according to analysts’ consensus Source: DANE via Trading Economics.  Colombia’s annual rate of inflation stayed stubbornly high for much of 2023, despite mediocre economic performance, and only started coming down in earnest this year; the country was well behind other Latin American economies in bringing down its rate of inflation. In June 2023, the annual rate of inflation stood at 12.13%. Due to the slower progress fighting off the inflation crisis caused by the post-pandemic logistical woes and the global energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s Banco de la Republica started easing monetary policy later than most peers in Latin America. Since December, it has lowered interest rates five times; the current 11.25% rate compared to the peak at 13.25% for much of 2023. Gray line: forecast Source: Banco de la Republica de Colombia via Trading Economics Industrialists and manufacturing companies point to high interest rates to the sector’s poor performance. Apart from a bright spell in the first quarter of this year, manufacturing has been in contraction for much of 2023 and the second quarter, as confirmed by the PMI index earlier in July. Corporate Colombia also blames the left-leaning government of Gustavo Petro for some of the troubles, which include higher taxation to expand public spending in areas such public healthcare. The cabinet has also tried to increase tax receipts from the polymers sector, implementing a Europe-type plastic tax which companies and trade groups representing them have vehemently opposed. Financial analysts also think the government is too optimistic in its growth assumptions – and therefore those for tax receipts. Last week, US credit rating agency and analysts at Capital Economics both doubted the plans presented by the cabinet on fiscal consolidation were reachable. In its last statement following its monetary policy committee meeting on 4 July, the central bank said second quarter’s indicators pointed to a potential stronger performance in coming months. “The 0.9% annual GDP growth experienced in the first quarter exceeded the technical staff’s more conservative 0.3% forecast. During this period, net external demand was the primary driver of annual GDP growth due to the annual fall in imports and growth in exports. Second quarter results appear to point towards a recovery path for the economy,” said the bank. “The country’s risk premium and the peso to US dollar exchange rate remained high over the past weeks mainly as a result of uncertainty regarding the inflation behavior in the US and [its central bank] the Federal Reserve’s management of the interest rate, placing pressure on international financial markets and contributing to the strengthening of the US dollar worldwide.” On Petro’s cabinet fiscal consolidation plans, the central bank said it was pleased to see a “welcome public spending adjustment and commitment” to comply with the fiscal rules. Focus article by Jonathan Lopez

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD has agreed to invest $1 billion to set up a manufacturing plant in Turkey which will produce up to 150,000 vehicles per year. BYD is expected to begin production at the new factory at the end of 2026, Turkey’s vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday. “We expect this investment to make significant contributions to our exports in the medium term and to further reduce our already falling current account deficit,” Yilmaz said. BYD declined to comment on the deal when contacted by ICIS. The company has not issued a official statement on the investment. The Chinese company is the world’s leading EV producer, with annual sales of around 3 million units. The automotive industry is a major global consumer of petrochemicals, which account for more than a third of the raw material costs of an average vehicle. EVs and associated battery markets provide growth opportunity for the chemical industry, with chemical producers separately developing battery materials, as well as specialty polymers and adhesives for the environment-friendly vehicles. Turkey’s announcement of BYD’s investment comes amid a backdrop of heightened scrutiny of Chinese EV manufacturers within the EU and the US. On 4 July, the EU increased tariffs on Chinese EVs in an effort to safeguard the bloc’s automotive industry. As a result, BYD now faces an additional 17.4% tariff on top of existing 10% import duty on its vehicles shipped to the EU. However, Turkey, being part of the EU’s Customs Union, is exempt from this extra tariff, providing an advantage for vehicles manufactured there and exported to the bloc. Separately, Turkish state news agency Anadolu said that SWM, another Chinese automaker, also announced it was applying to build a factory in Turkey on 8 July, but no details were provided. The Chinese automaker opened a new factory in eastern Thailand’s Rayong district on 4 July which can produce 150,000 vehicles per year – the automaker’s first factory in southeast Asia. Focus article by Nurluqman Suratman Initial reporting by Fanny Zhang Thumbnail photo: BYD’s first car carrier ”BYD Explorer 1” is loading cars for export at Yantai Port in Yantai, Shandong province, China, on 5 July 2024. (Source: Costfoto/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Market players in Asia are increasingly becoming more interested in the use of pyrolysis oil as fuel. This was one of the critical insights gained by the ICIS recycling analyst team when they were at the Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference (APIC) 2024 in Seoul, South Korea, in May and the 2024 China Plastics Circularity Economy CEO Roundtable in Beijing, China, in June. Join recycling analysts Joshua Tan and Chua Xin Nee in this podcast as they discuss their key takeaways from both events and take a deeper dive into the recycling landscape in China. For more information about Asia’s recycling market, please contact joshua.tan@icis.com and xinnee.chua@icis.com.

LONDON (ICIS)–Click here to see the latest blog post on Chemicals & The Economy by Paul Hodges, which looks at the rising impact from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and this year’s hurricane season. 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.