![](https://cjp-rbi-icis.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/10/03104743/ICIS.News_.Hero_.block_.1922x634px.jpg)
News library
Subscribe to our full range of breaking news and analysis
Viewing 1-10 results of 57313
Polyethylene10-Sep-2024
SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Indonesia has initiated an
investigation as to whether “safeguard
measures” would be needed in response to a
sharp increase in imports of linear low density
polyethylene (LLDPE), its trade ministry said.
The Trade Security Committee (KPPI) under the
Ministry of Trade started the probe on 9
September following a complaint from The
Indonesia Olefin, Aromatics and Plastics
Industry Association (INAPLAS), acting on
behalf of Chandra Asri Pacific and Lotte
Chemical Titan Nusantara Indonesia.
The committee noted initial findings suggested
there were possible losses to the domestic
industry over the years 2021-2023 arising from
the sharp increase in imports of LLDPE.
It also noted that the biggest sources of these
imports were Malaysia and Thailand, which
accounted for over 70% of LLDPE imports into
Indonesia.
Ammonia09-Sep-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–The US corn crop is now 5%
harvested, according to the latest US
Department of Agriculture (USDA) weekly crop
progress report.
In the first update on the corn acreage being
harvested, the weekly update showed 5% of the
crop is now completed which is above the 4%
rate from last year and the five-year average
of 3%.
There is currently 95% of the corn crop in the
dough stage, which trails the 96% level from
2023 but is slightly higher than the five-year
average of 94%.
Corn at the dented stage is now 74% of the
reported acreage, which is behind the 78%
achieved last year but is ahead of the
five-year average of 73%.
29% of the crop is listed as mature, which is
equal to the 29% mark from last year and above
the five-year average of 24%.
For corn conditions, there is still 4% rated
very poor, with 8% as poor and 24% now as fair.
There is 48% listed as good and 16% as
excellent.
Soybeans setting pods has climbed to 97%, which
is equal to the 97% mark from last year and is
just above the five-year average of 96%.
The amount of soybeans dropping leaves is now
at 25%, which trails the 2023 level of 27% but
is higher than the five-year average of 21%.
Soybean conditions were unchanged with there
still being 3% listed as very poor, with 7% as
poor and 25% as fair. 52% is good with 13% as
excellent.
In other harvesting updates, there is 8% of the
cotton acreage completed with sorghum harvest
at 21%.
Ammonia09-Sep-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–After a quiet few weeks for
hurricane activity and with crop harvesting and
movement of nutrients for autumn applications
advancing, the US Gulf Coast and its
agricultural and fertilizer interests are again
facing a tropical weather threat.
Tropical Storm Francine has developed in the
Gulf of Mexico with the system moving rapidly
at 60 miles/h with the edge closing in near
Brownsville, Texas, along the US-Mexico border
late on Monday.
It is now being forecasted to bring heavy rain
which could result in flooding and there is the
possibility of storm surge. There are
expectations that tropical storm force winds
may extend up to 160 miles from the center.
As Francine begins the trek northward, US
farmers and fertilizer industry participants
are watching the developments as the conditions
will certainly deliver impacts to growers, with
wind and rainfall possibly resulting in crop
damage and delayed post-harvest fertilizing.
Parts of south Texas are already beginning to
experience these conditions with the rest of
the Texas coast in the path as well, but the
forecast has it eventually turning towards
Louisiana.
Given the duration until it strikes, it is
likely the storm will intensify and gain enough
in the coming days to become a moderate
hurricane with impacts stretching far from the
initial site of landfall.
This will halt field work as well as stop
harvesting progress across many states and in
the aftermath will leave acreage soaked across
many areas.
For the fertilizer segment, there is awareness
of the threat as the potential path takes it
near the key location of New Orleans and across
the locations of production facilities within
the state, including those of CF Industries.
The producer did not respond to an enquiry on
its upcoming storm preparation, but no activity
so far has been heard from any manufacturers in
the region.
As an industry source said “nobody is talking
about this yet”, but that likely changes in the
next 48 hours especially if the tropical system
ends up displaying potential to be larger than
currently anticipated.
![](https://cjp-rbi-icis.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2021/10/31125609/News.485x196.png)
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.
Ammonia09-Sep-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Industrial gas firm Messer
announced it has entered into a long-term
renewal of a carbon dioxide (CO2) purchase and
sale agreement with US fertilizer producer LSB
Industries.
As part of the agreement, Messer said it will
subsequently commit more than $9 million into
the liquid CO2 plant at LSB’s Cherokee,
Alabama, facility with a focus of this
investment on the continued safe and reliable
operations at the site.
The plant manufactures fertilizers including
ammonia, urea and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN)
and it also makes industrial and mining
offerings including ammonium nitrate (AN)
solutions and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF).
Messer said this deal will help increase
security of its CO2 supply and provide
continuity to customers for decades to come.
“The efficiency upgrades for the plant
modernization effort will add more molecules to
our network and reduce CO2 emissions at
the site in-line with our sustainability
goals,” said Chris Ebeling, Messer executive
vice president, sales & marketing, North
America.
Potassium Chloride (MOP)09-Sep-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Canadian potash developer Sage
Potash Corporation announced it has entered
into an agreement with a subsidiary of
International Process Plants (IPP) for the
purchase of processing equipment for Canadian
dollars (C$) 12.6 million ($9.29 million).
The company, which is advancing the Sage Plain
Potash project located in Utah’s Paradox Basin,
said this equipment is capable of processing up
to 300,000 tonnes per year of potash.
The majority of the equipment, which has not
been assembled or used and is in storage in
Europe, was fabricated in 2012 at a then cost
of approximately €36 million.
Sage Potash said the rest of the equipment will
come from IPP’s inventory of second-hand
machinery.
Under the terms the company will satisfy the
purchase price by paying C$6.3 million in cash
and issuing 12,600,000 common shares to IPP at
a price of C$0.20 per share.
It will also issue IPP a secured convertible
debenture with a principal of C$3.78 million,
with the purchase and transactions subject to
acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.
Sage Potash said it is getting an exceptional
opportunity considering stainless steel and
titanium costs have more than doubled since
2012. In addition to the cost benefits the
company estimates it is going to save between
four to five years’ worth of fabrication time.
“By buying this existing equipment now, Sage is
mitigating project risk and cost, as well as
providing added clarity to the project’s
timeline, which is what project funders
require. We believe this ultimately enhances
shareholder value as we seek to reduce the
United States’ nearly 100% reliance on imports
for potash supply,” said Peter Hogendoorn, Sage
Potash CEO.
$1 = C$1.36
Ethylene09-Sep-2024
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from
ICIS News from the week ended 6 September.
Brazil’s
manufacturing sharply slows in August on higher
costs, lower demand
Brazil’s manufacturing PMI index for August
sharply slowed down from July on the back of
output falling for the first time in several
months due to subdued sales, and elevated cost
pressures, analysts at S&P Global said on
Monday.
INSIGHT: Brazil’s
natgas overhaul to benefit chems but crude
players push indispensable
The Brazilian government’s decree changing
natural gas regulations could potentially
overhaul the market and, along the way, benefit
the chemicals industry by providing it with
cheaper energy and eventually with ethane-based
feedstocks.
INSIGHT: LatAm
chemicals needs to be as plural as society to
reach full sales potential
For years, Latin American petrochemicals
companies have been trying to increase
diversity within to better represent the
consumers they want to sell their products to –
without much success.
Canada government
wobbles amid fallout from rail labor
dispute
Canada’s Liberal-led minority government under
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is paying a heavy
price for its decision last month to
end the labor dispute at freight railroads
Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific
Kansas City (CPKC) through binding arbitration.
SHIPPING: Union,
USWC ports at impasse as strike deadline looms;
container rates keep falling
A strike by union dock workers at East Coast
and US Gulf ports seems more likely after
International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA)
Wage Scale Delegates voted unanimously at the
end of their two-day meeting to support
leadership’s intentions to walk off the job if
a new labor deal is not agreed to when the
contract expires on 30 September.
Petrochemicals09-Sep-2024
LONDON (ICIS)–Click
here to see the latest blog post on
Chemicals & The Economy by Paul Hodges,
which focuses on the crisis in Europe’s auto
industry.
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.
Crude Oil09-Sep-2024
SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Heavy rains and floodings
continued in northern Vietnam on Monday, two
days since Super Typhoon Yagi made landfall in
the region and killed more than 20 people.
Bridge collapses in Phu Tho province
Industrial hubs in the north hit by power
outage
No reported disruptions to petrochemical
operations in central/south Vietnam
There was massive damage wrought to
infrastructure in the northern region, with the
Phong Chau bridge in Phu Tho province
collapsing early on Monday, sending multiple
vehicles plunging into the Red River and
severing the connection between Lam Thao and
Tam Nong districts.
Yagi – Asia’s most powerful storm this year –
made landfall along the coasts of Vietnam’s
Quang Ninh and Haiphong provinces in the
afternoon of 7 September, bringing winds of up
to 160 kilometers/hour.
Yagi weakened into a tropical depression on 8
September making landfall but left several
areas of the port city of Hai Phong under half
a meter of water in its wake.
There were no reports of disruptions or damage
to the country’s major petrochemical complexes
– Long Son in the southern province of Ba Ria –
Vung Tau; the Dung Quat petrochemical complex
in Quang Ngai province in the central region;
and the Nghi Son petrochemical complex in Thanh
Hoa province in north-central Vietnam.
The storm has killed 22 people and injured 199
others, while 32 people were missing,
Vietnamese state media cited National Committee
for Disaster Response and Search and Rescue as
saying late on 8 September.
Up to 38 ships in Quang Ninh have sunk while
some 4,350 houses were damaged because of Yagi,
with up to 52,371 hectares of crops flooded.
A massive power outage initially hit Quang Ninh
and Haiphong provinces upon Yagi’s landfall,
leaving at least three million people without
power.
These provinces are crucial industrial hubs and
home to multiple factories producing goods for
global markets, such as Vietnam’s VinFast’s
electric vehicles.
Vietnam evacuated more than 50,000 people from
coastal towns and deployed 450,000 military
personnel due to Yagi.
Prior to reaching Vietnam, Typhoon Yagi swept
through southern China and the Philippines,
claiming the lives of at least 24 people and
injuring dozens more.
The storm earlier made landfall in
China’s Hainan province on
6 September, knocking down trees,
flooding streets, and leaving over 800,000
homes without electricity.
Transportations of chemical cargoes in southern
China’s Hainan province were
halted since 5 September ahead of Yagi.
Focus article by Nurluqman
Suratman
Additional reporting by Fanny Zhang
Speciality Chemicals09-Sep-2024
LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories
from ICIS Europe for the week ended 6
September.
EU
chemicals production gradually firming, short
of recovery levels – Cefic
Chemicals production in the EU has continued to
firm through 2024, but weak demand is keeping
output growth below recovery levels, with
energy prices still substantially above US
levels in the region, trade body Cefic said.
Europe jet fuel prices
hit new lows on supply overhang, crude
softness
Average European jet kerosene spot prices for
cargoes fell 6% week-on-week while barge prices
dropped 5% from the week prior as supply
overhang and lack of demand continues to haunt
the market.
Europe markets slump on
US, China demand worries, commodity
shocks
Europe chemicals shares and public markets
slumped on Wednesday in the wake of sell-offs
in Asia and the US on the back of growth fears
and a crude oil sell-off.
Europe August acetic acid
contracts roll over
Acetic acid contract pricing for August was
assessed at a rollover in Europe amid balanced
supply and seasonally low demand.
Global spot index up on
gains in NE Asia, NW Europe
The global spot ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX)
was up for the first time in four weeks in the
week ending 30 August, on the back of increases
in northeast Asia and northwest Europe.
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.
READ MORE
![](https://cjp-rbi-icis.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2023/12/11160203/ContactUs_Services.jpg)