Oil slips from three-month high as US stockpiles seen rising

SEATTLE (polymers.in):  Orbital Insight has found that there were 2,100 commercial and strategic petroleum reserve tanks across China, with capacity to store 900 million bbl of oil as of the end of 2015.
- US company’s latest estimates show that China had around 600 million bbl of oil supply on its territory as of 2016 May.  

Venezuela Sees Oil Output Deal Cutting 1.2 Million Barrels a Day
- OPEC and non-OPEC states to limit oil production could slash global supply by 1.2 million bbl/day.
- OPEC members would collectively cut output by 700,000 bbl/day.
- OPEC output rose to a record 33.75 million bbl/day in Sept.  

Oil Slips From Three-Month High as US Stockpiles Seen Rising
- Futures slipped 0.3% after surging 9.3% the previous four sessions.
- Crude supplies probably increased by 1.5 million bbl last week.
- WTI for November delivery fell 12 cents to settle at USD 48.69/bbl.
- US crude supplies declined by 7.6 million bbl.
- November WTI traded at USD 49.07.
- Brent for December settlement declined 2 cents o USD 50.87/bbl.  

Oil Tops USD 50, but for How Long?
- Oil briefly touched USD 50/bbl on October 3 only to tumble back towards the upper USD 40.
- The price spike stemmed from an apparent OPEC agreement which aims to cut output to around 32.8 million bbl/day from 33.5 million bbl/day.

Feedstock (Ethane, Ethylene, Propane, Propylene, PX, PTA, MEG, EDC, VCM)
China’s New Normal Propylene And Polymers Markets
- You can use propylene as a very good proxy for the behavior of the overall Chinese economy.
- Last year, the propylene discount over ethylene was at USD 271/MT, easily the highest since 2000.
- Naphtha is of course cheap because of lower oil prices and so this has improved the economics of naphtha crackers that are long on propylene.  

No. 3 MEG brought-stream by Lotte Chemical
- Lotte Chemical has restarted its No. 3 MEG plant on 29th Sept.  

Turkish PX imports up 116% on year in August, down 6% on month
- Turkey’s imports of PX increased by 116% on year to 12,938 MT in August.
- The increase on the year was largely due to volumes inflow of 7,739 MT from Israel in August.  

Asia ethylene-naphtha price spread sinks to lowest level since June 29
- The Asia price spread between ethylene and naphtha fell USD 15.125/MT day on day to USD 679.875/MT on Monday.
- CFR NEA ethylene price was assessed at USD 1100/MT, flat from last Friday but marked a USD 65/MT week on week plunge.
- CFR Japan naphtha price rose USD 15.125/MT from last Friday to be assessed at USD 420.125/MT.  

US ethylene margins fall on lower spot, higher feedstock
- US spot margins for ethane-based ethylene fell by 6.4% in week ending on 30th Sept.
- Ethylene spot prices fell by 3.5% week on week as concerns over supply tightness continue to ease.
- Spot ethylene margins also fell as a 6.9% increase in feedstock ethane costs outweighed a 1.4% increase in cracker co-product credits.  

MEGlobal October increased prices of MEG for North America at USD 44 per ton
- MEGlobal increase prices of MEG for North America by 2 cents per pound compared to the level of September.
- The September quotation of Meg in the region were at the level of 29 - 35 cents/pound FOB.  

China PVC prices rise for Russian companies in Sept by $160-170/tonne
- Chinese producers of PVC to proportionally increase their export prices, rising for Russian companies by USD 160 - 170/MT.
- In the second half of August, Russian companies bought acetylene PVC in China at USD 680 - 730/MT. 

Polymers Supply
Polymir resumes Belarus PE production following two-week turnaround
- Polymir plant resumed its production of LDPE after maintenance. Its annual production capacity of 65,000 MT. 

Gazprom neftekhim Salavat shuts HDPE production for turnaround
- GNS shut production of HDPE for scheduled maintenance work. The plant’s HDPE capacity is 120,000 MT/year. 

 Courtesy: www.polymers.io