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Ammonia28-Oct-2024
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.
Potassium Chloride (MOP)28-Oct-2024
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.
Phosphoric Acid28-Oct-2024
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.
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Speciality Chemicals28-Oct-2024
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
Potassium Sulphate (SOP)28-Oct-2024
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.
Ethylene28-Oct-2024
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.
Petrochemicals28-Oct-2024
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.
Speciality Chemicals28-Oct-2024
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.
Crude Oil28-Oct-2024
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)
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