By Polymers

ScrapMonster Contributor

SEATTLE (polymers.in):  Natural gas demand continues to grow faster worldwide than oil or coal.
- The 2017 edition of the annual BP energy outlook for 2035 was unveiled in London.
- Shale gas production accounts for two thirds of the increase in gas supplies. 

Global oil demand to grow into 2040s: BP outlook
- Global oil demand will keep growing into the 2040s due to high consumption of plastic goods even as the electric vehicle fleet expands rapidly.
- Royal Dutch Shell brace for demand to plateau by the early 2030s while countries gradually shift to less-polluting energy.
- According to BP, oil demand growth over the period is set to slow from around 1 million bbl to 400,000 bbl/day by 2035. 

The unemployment rate in Canada's oil patch soars to a 22-year high
- Canada’s third largest province by GDP took a major hit in 2016.
- Alberta’s unemployment numbers soared to its highest in 22 years.
- In 2016 the province lost a total of 52,800 jobs - 35.6% of those losses were people aged 34 and younger.

PetroChina expects oil price 'recovery' in 2017 amid market balance
- PetroChina expected the supply and demand for global oil market would gradually become balanced in 2017.
- The company said its net profit attributable to equity holders for the year of 2016 was estimated to decrease by 70% to 80%. 

BP Sees a Future of Slowing Oil Demand Growth, Abundant Supplies
- Oil demand growth will slow and supplies will remain abundant in the coming decades.
- Demand for oil will expand by an average 0.7% a year over the next two decades.
- The world has about 2.6 trillion bbl of technically recoverable oil reserves, with about 1.7 trillion located in the Middle East, North America, and Soviet Union. 

Kuwait Expects Oil Output Cuts to Balance Market in Early 2017
- OPEC and other oil producers are likely to comply fully with a deal to reduce supply.
- Oil will trade at USD 55 to 60/bbl this year and Kuwait is assuming a USD 45 price in its budget for fiscal year 2017 - 18. 

Europe Chomps Most Iran Oil in Years With Supertankers Due in Days
- Europe is poised to receive the most Iranian crude in about five years this month.
- Arrivals on supertankers will reach 622,581 bbl/day.
- February deliveries will drop to about 393,000 bbl/day.

MEG price gains in Asia, Europe
- Asian MEG prices leapt USD 16/ton CFR China and CFR South East Asia in the second week of January.
- European MEG prices climbed EUR 40/ton.
- US MEG was up US cent 1 per pound. 

PX price rises across all regions
- Asian PX prices inched up USD 3.67/ton CFR Taiwan/China and FOB Korea.
- US spot PX rose USD 15/ton FOB USG on the week.
- European PX spot gained USD 7/ton on the week. 

Asian PET market hits 18-month high, fueled by PTA/MEG bull-run
- FOB Northeast Asia bottle grade PET price rose USD 13 week on week to be assessed at USD 990/MT.
- CFR China PTA price jumped USD 20 week on week to be assessed at USD 665/MT.
- CFR China MEG price rose USD 40 week on week to USD 955/MT Wednesday.

Polymers Demand
US Trade Policies Risk Making America’s Problems Worse
- The data presented by the White House on alleged voter fraud must be open to peer-review. It must be checked thoroughly.
- Trump’s trade policy is about bringing manufacturing jobs back home through imposing heavy new import tariffs on oversea competitors.
- Mr. Trump has mainly laid the blame for lost US manufacturing jobs on the doorstep of China.

Chinese exports of PET granulate grew by 3.2% in December
- China’s PET rose 3.2% in December 2016.
- Exports of PET from China in December 2016 decreased by 13.5% compared to 167.974 thousand. 

Polymers Supply
PP unit taken off-stream by PT Polytama
- PT Polytama Propindo has shut a PP unit last January 23, 2017 until the middle of February this year. 

Import tax on PET imports from China to be impacted as Japan mulls taking China off GSP import list
- Japan is considering removing China from its list of Generalized System of Preferences due to China’s economic strength.
- Japan’s import tax on PET imports from China currently set at zero could be affected by any change.

Dow Chemical expects to produce LDPE in Argentina in Q1
- Dow Chemical is in the final stages of restarting its LDPE line in Argentina.
- Dow Chemical confirmed restarting the 90,000 MT/year LDPE line on January 3.

Courtesy: www.polymers.io