downstream

Asian resin imports gain larger influence in Mexican market as ocean freight costs ease; LyondellBasell sees soft demand, new supply capping polyolefins average North American run rate at 85% in Q3 2023

Aug 5, 2023

News Briefs

Fertilizer prices seen as unlikely to reach again in the near term the record-high hit in 2022

Jul 23, 2023

Fertilizer prices, influenced by the cost of natural gas that is a key feedstock to produce synthetic plant nutrients, may not reach their Russia-Ukraine War-related historical price peaks of 2022 in the near future. That is unless unforeseen events impact...

North American polypropylene market sees in 2023 receding demand after price volatility

Jul 12, 2023

The North American polypropylene market is as of mid-2023 marked by contracting demand as some consumers have reacted to volatile prices not just so far this year but since 2021, a time of high margins when some producers boasted about earnings above peers as...

2023 LNG market disappoints bullish expectations, big supply increase anticipated by 2027

Jun 19, 2023

LNG prices that peaked in 2022 with the monthly average for the Asian marker at over $54 per MM Btu in August, and had then declined to $30.72 per MM Btu in December 2022, have now dropped to under $10 per MM Btu on average in May 2023 in a plunge that defied...

U.S. plastic resin production plants less crowded in 2023 but pay increases likely

May 23, 2023

Employment in U.S. plastic resin production declined from 60,400 positions in Sep. 2022 to 58,200 in February 2023, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics republished by the American Chemistry Council.

Pemex reports increases in crude processing after refinery work; Methyl methacrylate market seen doubling in size by 2030

May 23, 2023

News Briefs

Shell´s start up at Pennsylvania polyethylene complex slower than expected, to take rest of 2023

May 10, 2023

Shell officials said during the company earnings discussion on May 8, 2023 that the start up of the ethylene and polyethylene complex with 1.6 million tonnes of annual capacity of polyethylene where construction was completed last year has proceeded in a way...

Polymers weakness leads Mexico-based Orbia to revenue decline in first quarter 2023; CPChem´s propylene splitting plant, hexene unit set to start in second half; Labor supply for U.S. manufacturing seen as tight in April

May 10, 2023

News Briefs

Worker availability for new petrochemical projects tight with some construction materials in short supply

Apr 24, 2023

The availability of workers to help build new petrochemical plants or participate in maintenance work is seen early in the second quarter of 2023 as tight, with some key construction materials also in short supply.

U.S. resin prices seen moving lower in 2023

Apr 23, 2023

U.S. plastic resin prices appear set to move closer in what is left of 2023 to lower prices elsewhere in the world, particularly after the North American market started to feel the full impact of plants started in recent months, a market analyst for polymers...

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