Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 2 February.

Argentina’s peso devaluation too deep, too early while economy enters ‘profound recession’ – economist
The new Argentinian government’s peso devaluation in December came too early and was too deep, not helping reduce the gap between the official peso rate the unofficial ‘blue dollar’ and probalby fueling inflation further, according to the director at Buenos Aires-headquartered Fundacion Capital.

ICIS global leading business barometer flat in January, US up 0.2%
The ICIS global leading business barometer (LBB) was flat month on month in January and off 0.7% year on year – following a monthly decline of 0.1% and year-on-year decline of 0.8% in December.

INSIGHT: Fed may signal lower rates, setting up chemicals restocking cycle
The Federal Reserve may signal on Wednesday that it will take future interest rate hikes off the table, setting up the conditions needed to trigger a restocking cycle in the chemical industry in the US by loosening monetary policy.

US NGL supplies to grow as oil output exceeds forecast – Enterprise
US oil production will likely exceed the forecast that Enterprise Products made in 2023, and that should lead to more natural gas liquids (NGLs) that petrochemical producers can use as feedstock, the midstream company said on Thursday.

LyondellBasell sees durable goods demand recovery in H2 2024, firm PE prices – CEO
Global durable goods demand should finally pick up in H2 2024 on falling interest rates and inflation, ending the longest such downturn in history, said the CEO of LyondellBasell.