News library
Subscribe to our full range of breaking news and analysis
Commodity group
Region
Date
Viewing 1-10 results of 57785
Ethylene17-Dec-2024
TORONTO (ICIS)–Canadian CEOs and business
trade groups are warning about the state of
Canada’s fiscal policies.
Finance minister resigns
Deficit larger than expected
Canada struggles to respond to US tariff
threat
Chrystia Freeland on Monday resigned as finance
minister and deputy prime minister, saying that
she was “at odds” with Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau over the best way forward for Canada
amid the tariff threat by US President-elect
Donald Trump.
Trump said on 25 November that as one of his
first actions after taking office on 20 January
he would impose a 25% tariff on all imports
from Canada and Mexico, which would remain in
place until the two countries took action on
drugs and immigrants entering the US.
The tariffs would have a devastating impact on
Canada’s economy, which relies on the US as its
largest export market by far.
In the chemicals and plastics industry, nearly
two-thirds of Canadian shipments are exported
to the US, according to trade group
Chemistry Industry Association of Canada
(CIAC).
In her resignation letter, Freeland said that
Canada needed to take Trump’s threat “extremely
seriously” and needed to “keep its fiscal
powder dry” to have reserves for a coming
“tariff war” with the US.
That meant that the government could not afford
“costly political gimmicks”.
Trudeau’s Liberal-led government recently
implemented a two-month sales tax holiday for a
number of goods, including beer, cider and
restaurant meals, and it promised a Canadian
dollar (C$) 250 (US$175) tax rebate for 18.7
million “working Canadians”.
The measures, estimated to cost more than C$6
billion, have been criticized by economists.
The Business Council of Canada (BCC) said that
it was “deeply troubling” that Freeland
believed the government was opting for “costly
political gimmicks at a time when federal
finances are severely strained.”
The BCC represents CEOs of Canadian-based
companies. Members include, among others, the
heads of BASF Canada, Shell Canada, and of
ExxonMobil’s Canadian affiliate, Imperial Oil.
Canada needed stable and credible leadership
that recognizes the seriousness of the
significant economic headwinds over the coming
weeks, including the looming US tariffs, the
council said.
The BCC also noted that despite assurances in
the 2024 budget that the government would limit
the federal deficit to C$40.1 billion, its
latest fiscal update on Monday showed that that
number ballooned to C$61.9 billion.
“By not keeping its economic promises, the
federal government is sending the message that
it can’t be trusted to manage the public
finances”, said BCC president and CEO Goldy
Hyder.
Another trade group, Canadian Manufacturers and
Exporters (CME) said that Canada was facing a
“significant economic threat that demands a
decisive, coordinated federal response”.
“Canadian manufacturers need political
stability, and a government committed to
implementing policies that foster resilience,
attract investment, and drive growth”, said
Dennis Darby, president and CEO of CME.
POLITICAL CRISIS
Trudeau has come under increasing pressure to
step down, even from members of his Liberal
party.
However, he has said he would lead the Liberals
into the next election, which needs to be held
by October 2025 but will likely be called
earlier.
The minority Liberal government needs the
support of at least one opposition party in
parliament to hang on to power.
Two parties, the Conservatives and the Bloc
Quebecois, want to bring the government down as
soon as possible, they have said.
The left-leaning New Democrats have called on
Trudeau to resign but have not said whether
they would vote to bring the government down.
The Conservatives are far ahead of the Liberals
in opinion polls on elections.
The elections and political uncertainties
affect investment decisions
in the chemical industry, chemical trade group
CIAC has said.
The bottom line is that Canada finds itself in
political turmoil – at a time when is should be
united in the face of the US tariff threat.
Thumbnail of photo Trudeau (left) meeting
Trump in Washington in 2019 during Trump’s
first presidency; photo source: Government of
Canada
(US$1=C$1.43)
Crude Oil17-Dec-2024
LONDON (ICIS)–German business sentiment
dropped to its lowest point since May 2020 in
December, according to the latest data from the
Ifo Institute on Tuesday.
The Ifo Business Climate Index fell to 84.7
points, down from 85.6 points in
November, with the decline driven by
pessimistic expectations.
Although companies
viewed the current situation as better, the Ifo
stated that ‘the weakness of the German economy
has become chronic.’
The manufacturing sector bucked the trend of
improved current business conditions. Poor
sentiment was compounded by deteriorating
orders and the announcement of production
cutbacks.
Meanwhile, the index for the construction
sector rose, driven by an improved assessment
of current business conditions, mitigating the
impact of deteriorating expectations.
The outlook for wholesalers weighed down
sentiment for the trade sector, compounded by
dissatisfaction from retailers.
Weaker expectations weighed on sentiment in the
services sector despite an uptick in the
current situation.
Seasonal strength from the catering sector was
not enough to offset concerns the transport and
logistics sector have about business in the
coming months.
This supports the outlook that conditions will
remain challenging in 2025 for German
businesses.
According to an Ifo Institute survey, only
12.6% of German companies surveyed expect an
improvement in the coming year. In contrast
31.3% anticipate further deterioration and
56.1% predict no change to their economic
situation in 2025.
“Companies are currently seeing no signs of an
economic upturn. In view of the fact that the
economy has already performed poorly in 2024,
these figures are worrying,” said Ifo head of
surveys Klaus Wohlrabe.
Thumbnail photo: Berlin (Source:
Shutterstock)
Oxo-Alcohols17-Dec-2024
SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Asia’s oxo-alcohols market
continues to face challenges amid capacity
expansions in China.
Weak demand from downstream plasticizers
sector
Upstream support from propylene unlikely
Demand recovery to take some time
In this latest podcast, ICIS senior editor
Julia Tan speaks with ICIS analyst Lina Xu on
the latest developments and expectations for
what lies ahead in 2025.
Global News + ICIS Chemical Business (ICB)
See the full picture, with unlimited access to ICIS chemicals news across all markets and regions, plus ICB, the industry-leading magazine for the chemicals industry.
Petrochemicals17-Dec-2024
MUMBAI (ICIS)–India’s state-owned Hindustan
Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) plans to invest
rupees (Rs) 46.79 billion ($551 million) to
expand the lube oil base stocks (LOBS)
production at its Mumbai refinery by 289,000
tonnes/year or by about 61%.
“The company board has approved the ‘Lube
Modernization and Bottoms Upgradation Project’
at the Mumbai Refinery,” it said in a statement
to the Bombay Stock Exchange on 16 December.
This project will increase the company’s LOBS
production to 764,000 tonnes/year from current
475,000 tonnes/year with production of superior
grade Group II+ and Group III LOBS, it added.
HPCL expects to start producing the additional
premium base oils via a new integrated
hydrocracker and catalytic dewaxing unit
by
2027-2028.
($1= Rs84.91)
Polyethylene17-Dec-2024
SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Click
here to see the latest blog post on Asian
Chemical Connections by John Richardson.
To paraphrase William Shakespeare, I see last
week’s fuss about China’s new economic stimulus
as being full of sound and fury, signifying
hardly anything.
The hard reality is that China is undergoing a
period of a much lower GDP and therefore
chemicals demand growth. Nothing can change
this trajectory, for reasons I discuss in
detail in today’s post.
During 2025, the problem will remain far too
much global capacity chasing much
weaker-than-expected demand up and down all the
chemicals value chains because the consensus on
China was wrong.
So, to add to my five forecasts for 2025 which
I published last week, here is a sixth: There
will be no significant improvements during next
year in China’s CFR polyethylene (PE) and
polypropylene (PP) price spreads over CFR Japan
naphtha costs.
The 2024 final numbers are almost in. We can
see that the downturn in spreads that followed
the Evergrande Turning Point continues.
Let’s start with PE where 2022-2024 average
spread for the three grades was just
$300/tonne. This compares with a spread in
1993-2021 – during the Chemicals Supercycle –
that averaged $532/tonne.
The average 2022-2024 PP spread was $240/tonne
as against $562/tonne during the Supercycle.
Please don’t be distracted by unhelpful noise.
Instead, place all your focus on retooling your
tactics and strategies to deal with the
post-Supercycle chemicals world.
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.
Ethylene16-Dec-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Two world-scale joint venture
projects being developed by Chevron Phillips
Chemical and QatarEnergy remain on track to
start operations in 2026, Phillips 66 said on
Monday.
Phillips 66 and Chevron hold equal stakes in
Chevron Phillips Chemical (CP Chem).
The US project is Golden Triangle Polymers,
an integrated polyethylene (PE) complex in
Orange, Texas. Chevron Phillips holds a 51%
stake, and construction started in 2023.
The Qatari project in Ras Laffan is another
integrated PE project. It is a 70:30 joint
venture between QatarEnergy and CP Chem.
Construction on this project started in 2024.
PHILLIPS 66 CAPEX
BUDGETPhillips 66 provided the
updates on the two petrochemical projects when
it revealed its 2025 capital budget, as shown
in the following table. Figures are in millions
of dollars.
Sustaining
Growth
TOTAL
Midstream
429
546
975
Refining
414
408
822
Marketing & Specialties
63
91
154
Renewable Fuels
18
56
74
Corporate and other
74
1
75
TOTAL
998
1,102
2,100
Source: Phillips 66
Phillips 66’s proportionate share of capital
spending in its CP Chem and WRB Refining joint
ventures is $877 million, and its inclusion
would bring Phillips 66’s total 2025 capital
spending to $3 billion.
The joint ventures’ spending will be self
funded, Phillips 66 said.
WRB Refining is a 50:50 joint venture made up
of Phillips 66 and Cenovus Energy. The joint
venture owns the Wood River refinery in
Illinois and the Borger refinery in Texas.
WRB’s capital spending will direct its capital
spending on sustaining projects, Phillips 66
said.
PHILLIPS TO SELL STAKE IN OIL
PIPELINEA subsidiary of Phillips
66 has agreed to sell its 25% non-operated
stake in the Gulf Coast Express Pipeline to an
affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners. Pre-tax
proceeds from the sale should total $865
million.
The sale should close in January 2025.
Thumbnail shows PE. Image by ICIS.
Ethylene16-Dec-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from
ICIS News from the week ended 13 December.
Dow’s $2.4-3.0 billion infrastructure
deal larger than expected
Dow signed a deal to sell a minority stake in
its US Gulf Coast infrastructure assets to a
fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management
for up to $3.0 billion – larger than
expected, according to UBS.
PCC’s proposed USG chlor-alkali unit
to add caustic length in unique
development
US caustic soda supplies will continue to
grow in the coming years following an
announcement by PCC Group that it intends to
invest in a new 340,000 tons/year
chlor-alkali plant at DeLisle, Mississippi.
The new capacity will be built on Chemours
site at DeLisle Mississippi with the intent
to provide Chemours with reliable access to
chlorine. The company intends to sell its
caustic soda to strategic partners and into
the open market. Construction on the unit is
expected to begin in early-2026 and conclude
in 2028.
INSIGHT: New gas pipeline to provide
support for ethane prices for US
chems
A new gas pipeline set to be built by Energy
Transfer should provide support for natural
gas and ethane prices in the Permian
producing basin, lowering the likelihood that
US chemical producers see another period of
ultra-low costs for the main feedstock used
to make ethylene.
Olin to shut diaphragm chloralkali
capacity that serves Dow’s Freeport PO
unit
Olin plans to shut down its diaphragm-grade
chloralkali capacity in Freeport, Texas, that
provides feedstock to Dow’s propylene oxide
(PO) unit, the US-based chloralkali producer
said on Thursday.
ACC expects modest US chemicals
volume recovery in 2025 –
economist
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) expects
a 1.9% rebound in chemical volumes in 2025
after two consecutive years of declines as
the US economy undergoes a soft landing and
the housing market improves in the second
half of the year, its chief economist said.
Petrochemicals16-Dec-2024
LONDON (ICIS)–Click here to
see the latest blog post on Chemicals & The
Economy by Paul Hodges, which looks at the
likely colder weather ahead.
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 Chemicals16-Dec-2024
LONDON (ICIS)–The eurozone private sector
ended the year on a bearish note as output
contracted driven by a weakening manufacturing
sector, which offset a return to growth for
services.
The eurozone purchasing managers’ index (PMI)
stood at 49.5 for December, according to flash
data for the month, an improvement from 48.3 in
November but still below growth territory. A
PMI score of above 50.0 signifies growth.
Continuing manufacturing sector weakness drove
the contraction, and more than offset a rebound
in service sector productivity to 51.4, a
two-month high, following the contraction last
month.
After a difficult, low-demand year, the
manufacturing sector ended 2024 at a 12-month
low of 44.5, according to S&P Global.
“The manufacturing sector’s situation is still
pretty dire,” said Cyrus de la Rubia, chief
economist and Hamburg Commercial Bank, which
helps to assemble the eurozone PMI data.
“Output fell at a quicker pace in December than
at any other time this year, and incoming
orders were down too. The destocking cycle in
inventories shows no sign of stopping either,”
he added.
Manufacturers cut back purchasing activities in
the sharpest monthly decline of input buying in
2024, while pricing fell for the industry, but
at the slowest rate since values started to
decline four months ago.
More robust global PMI data for the previous
month indicates that conditions may be
stabilizing internationally, which could become
a balancing force for the eurozone if momentum
continues, de la Rubia said.
Markets have been buffeted by a recent
government collapse in the eurozone’s two
largest economies, Germany and France, but the
prospect of new governments forming earlier
than expected could provide some upside
potential for 2025, he added.
“If future governments manage to chart a clear
course, there could still be positive surprises
next year. Eurozone companies were actually
slightly more confident than in November that
business activity will be higher a year from
now than it is today,” he said.
Manufacturing sector momentum also slowed in
the UK, with sector PMI falling to 47.3 in
December compared to 48.0 in November, an
11-month low.
Overall flash composite PMI numbers for the
country ticked up to 50.5, driven by an uptick
in service sector output, but the figures still
point to an economy that has run aground in the
fourth quarter.
Conditions could become chillier still going
into 2025, according to Chris Williamson, chief
business economist at S&P Global Market
Intelligence.
“While the December PMI is indicative of the
economy more or less stalled in the fourth
quarter, the loss of confidence and increased
culling of jobs hints at worse to come as we
head into the new year,” he said.
Slowing growth increases pressure for the Bank
of England to roll out further rate cuts this
week but, with inflation rising steadily, the
central bank’s monetary policy committee has
ample reason for caution, he added.
Focus article by Tom
Brown.
Thumbnail photo: An automotive plant in
Bremen, Germany (Source: Shutterstock)
Contact us
Partnering with ICIS unlocks a vision of a future you can trust and achieve. We leverage our unrivalled network of industry experts to deliver a comprehensive market view based on independent and reliable data, insight and analytics.
Contact us to learn how we can support you as you transact today and plan for tomorrow.