Industry News
Chemical Industry News
Asia TiO₂ spot steady; buyers await producer moves
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Titanium dioxide (TiO2) spot indicative prices in Asia were stable so far on Friday. Most buy-sell indicative levels were heard at $2,450-2,600/tonne FOB (free on board) China,...
China major producers’ polyolefin inventories fall on stronger futures
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--The combined polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) inventories of Chinese state-owned petrochemical giants Sinopec and PetroChina fell, supported by firmer futures, market...
Plant status: China’s Shandong Yulong shuts PP Line 1
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Shandong Yulong PC Location: Longkou, China Product: Polypropylene (PP) Capacity (tonnes/year): 400,000 Event start: Around 2 June Event finish:...
Plant status: China’s Sinopec Henan restarts PP unit
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Sinopec Henan Refining & Chemical Location: Luoyang, China Product: Polypropylene (PP) Capacity (tonnes/year): 140,000 Event start: 25 May...
Plant status: China’s Zhongjing Petrochemical shuts PP line 2
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Zhongjing PC Location: Fuqing, China Product: Polypropylene (PP) Capacity (tonnes/year): 600,000 Event start: Early June Event finish: Unknown...
Plant status: China’s Zhuhai Handsome eyes etac plant maintenance
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Zhuhai Handsome New Materials Location: Zhuhai, China Product: Ethyl acetate (etac) Capacity (tonnes/year): 300,000 Event start: Early June...
Plant status: China’s Ningxia Baofeng Energy restarts one PP and one LLDPE unit
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Ningxia Baofeng Energy Location: Yinchuan, Ningxia, China Product: Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE); polypropylene (PP) Capacity...
Indonesia’s Chandra Asri CA-EDC start-up delayed to Q3 2027-sources
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Chandra Asri’s start-up of its chlor alkali–ethylene dichloride (CA-EDC) plant in Cilegon, Banten, will be delayed to Q3 2027, according to market sources. The company did not...
Plant status: Taiwan’s FCFC restarts Mailiao PTA unit
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (FCFC) Location: Mailiao, Taiwan Product: Purified terephthalic acid (PTA) Capacity (tonnes/year): 550,000...
Plant status: Taiwan’s FCFC restarts PX/OX No 3 unit
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (FCFC) Location: Mailiao, Taiwan Product: Paraxylene (PX), orthoxylene (OX) Capacity (tonnes/year): 1 million...
US March propylene production improved on better operating rates
HOUSTON (ICIS)--The daily rate of US propylene production from steam crackers rose according to data from Worley Consulting, formerly Advisian. Total propylene production increased, according to the...
US May ’26 acrylic acid and acrylate ester contract prices rise month on month, but feedstock prices begin softening
HOUSTON (ICIS)--US May 2026 acrylic acid and acrylate ester contract prices rose, as there was little-to-no effective pushback on separate price increases introduced for late April and early May,...
US March ethylene production increased on stronger operating rates
HOUSTON (ICIS)--The March daily rate of US ethylene production from steam crackers increased on higher industry operating rates, according to data from Worley Consulting. Total ethylene production...
North American PP production down, sales up in April
HOUSTON (ICIS)--April final sales and production data have been recently released by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and Vault Consulting. Compared to April's preliminary data, production was...
US BD March daily production from crackers rises on operating rates
HOUSTON (ICIS)--The March daily rate of US butadiene (BD) production from steam crackers rose on higher industry operating rates, according to data from Worley Consulting. Total BD production...
INSIGHT: ‘Tipping point’ looms for global energy and chemicals
COLORADO SPRINGS (ICIS)--Global energy and chemicals markets are hurtling towards a tipping point where crude oil inventories are drawn down to precarious levels, potentially leading to another spike...
NYMEX: US natural gas futures rise on warmer weather
Front-month US natural gas futures gained on 4 June on an above-normal temperature outlook in June The July 2026 Henry Hub contract on NYMEX settled at $3.336/MMBtu, up nearly 3.8% from the previous...
Latest White House move to politicise science funding provokes outrage among research leaders
US research community mobilising to push back on proposed rule that would give apparatchiks control of which research gets funded
Pigeons navigate with ‘gut feeling’ powered by paramagnetic liver cells, study suggests
Homing pigeons might owe their navigational knowhow to iron nanoparticles in their liver
Scattering technique probes actinide orbitals to present experimental evidence of covalency trend
Study confirms predicted increase in covalency from uranium to plutonium