APLA ´08: Economy weighs heavily on delegates

15 November 2008 20:06  [Source: ICIS news]

By William Lemos

RIO DE JANEIRO (ICIS news)--The extent of the damage of the global economic slowdown on petrochemicals was the chief concern among delegates arriving in Brazil on Saturday for the 28th Latin American Petrochemical Annual Meeting (APLA).

Delegates at the Sofitel Hotel in Rio de Janeiro, where the event will be held, said the slower economy will likely impact attendance at APLA this year, as several participants had to cancel the trip to Brazil due to the financial crisis.

“I have some contacts that registered in July but are no longer coming because of the economy,” one source said.

Sentiment that attendance will drop was reinforced by news that a US consulting group, which usually holds a one-day pre-APLA seminar, had to call off its event due to lack of interest.

Talk of delegates from Brazil that decided to cancel the trip to Rio de Janeiro was also heard due to the impact the credit crisis is having on the local economy.

Brazilian chemicals association Abiquim said this week that the weaker economy has begun to affect Brazil’s trade balance, causing the first drop in chemical imports for the country in the last seven months.

Brazil’s October chemical imports dropped by 7% from September, while in volume imports fell by nearly 15% in the same months, the association said.

Petrochemicals demand in Brazil has dropped so dramatically that some buyers will not take product “even if it were free of charge,” a Brazilian producer said.

“APLA will be like the wailing wall this year,” the source said.

The gloom and doom that surrounds the petrochemical industry began to escalate in early October, almost immediately after delegates gathered in Monte Carlo for the annual  European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) meeting.

One US producer said EPCA was the watershed week for the industry in 2008.

“The market has gone to hell since EPCA,” the source said, referring to the credit collapse and its impact on consumer spending.

A ship broker attending APLA concurred, saying it expects business for chemicals to be dismal in the fourth quarter.

“Demand was strong in the first half…it was okay in the third quarter, but in the fourth quarter…,” the source interrupted the sentence with a wave of the hand.

APLA officials were not immediately available on Saturday to comment on expected attendance.

The 28th edition of the conference opens on Sunday and ends on Tuesday.

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By: William Lemos
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