Asia top stories – weekly summary

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 10 August 2018.

China ACN imports from the US to decline more after trade war
China’s import of acrylonitrile (ACN) from the US will decline further after imposition of 25% tariff on US origin goods from 23 August.

China’s levy of new tariffs to have little impact on US MEG imports
China’s decision to levy an additional 25% tariff on $16bn worth of US-origin goods starting from 23 August will have a limited impact on monoethylene glycol (MEG) imports in the near term, market players said.

China MEG firming up on robust demand, depleting inventory
China’s domestic monoethylene glycol (MEG) prices are on an uptrend supported by demand from better-than-expected downstream polyester fiber market, decreasing port inventories and continuous depreciation of Chinese yuan.

China’s HDPE, LLDPE US imports disruption seen after 23 Aug tariffs
Chinese imports of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) from the US will be severely disrupted after tariffs are imposed by both countries from 23 August.

Asian LAB market to stay under pressure in lull season
The Asian spot linear alkylbenzene (LAB) market is weak as a result of traditional lull season with buyers mainly holding back on their purchases, a trend likely to continue for weeks ahead.

Asia SBR set to rise in near term on cost pressure, demand
Spot styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) prices look set to continue its uptrend in the near term because of feedstock cost pressures and restocking activities.

SE Asia IPA is bottoming out in stable to strong demand
Southeast (SE) Asia’s isopropanol (IPA) prices appeared to have bottomed out after last week’s downtrend as demand looks to be stable to strong but supply is limited, according to market sources.

China’s PP domestic prices reach new peak
China’s polypropylene (PP) domestic prices may continue to go up on the back of tight supply, thus narrowing the gap with import prices further.

China phenol firming up on tight supply, robust demand
East China phenol spot prices continue to rise since the last four weeks on the back of tightening supply as several turnarounds are taking place.

China’s PO likely to find support from sudden output disruptions
Domestic spot prices of propylene oxide (PO) in China may inch up on unexpected plant outages.