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Ethylene10-Jul-2024
LONDON (ICIS)–Total damage and economic loss
in the US from Storm Beryl amounted to $28-32
billion, according to meteorology firm
AccuWeather.
Beryl hit
the Texas coast as a Category 1 hurricane
on Monday, with sustained winds around 80 mph
(130 km/h), intense rainfall and dangerous
storm surges.
AccuWeather said its estimate included damage
to homes, businesses, infrastructure,
facilities, roadways and vehicles as well as
power
outages which results in food spoilage and
interruption to medical care.
It reflects damage that has already occurred
and expected damage yet to happen as Beryl, now
a post-tropical cyclone, continues its path
through the Midwest toward northern New
England.
“The estimate also accounts for the costs of
evacuations, relocations, emergency management,
and the government expenses for clean-up
operations,” AccuWeather said in a statement
dated 9 July.
“It also includes the long-term effect on
business logistics, transportation, tourism as
well as the tail health effects and the medical
and other expenses of yet unreported deaths and
injuries.”
Last year’s Hurricane Idalia, which made
landfall into the Big Bend of Florida, caused
$18-20 billion in total damage and economic
loss; damage from Hurricane Ian in 2022 was
$180-210 billion; and Hurricane Harvey, which
hit a similar area of Texas in 2017, totalled
$230 billion, AccuWeather added.
Click here to view the ICIS topic page on
Storm Beryl news
Thumbnail photo: Stranded vehicles in Houston,
Texas, on 8 July. Source: CARLOS
RAMIREZ/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Crude Oil10-Jul-2024
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.
Hydrogen10-Jul-2024
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.
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.
Ethylene09-Jul-2024
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
Speciality Chemicals09-Jul-2024
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.
Gas09-Jul-2024
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.
Ethylene09-Jul-2024
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
Speciality Chemicals09-Jul-2024
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)
Polyvinyl Chloride09-Jul-2024
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.
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