By John Richardson in Houston, Texas DESPERATELY weak polyolefin demand in both the US and Europe is resulting in an increased focus on export markets. The US market appears to be in particularly severe distress with, as we discussed last week, large polyethylene (PE) volumes already on the water heading to China. More evidence of […]
Asian Chemical Connections
PTA And PX Keep Sliding
By Malini Hariharan Asian spot prices for polyester raw materials continued to fall last week as concern on lack of buying support from the China market where concerns about the health of the global economy dampened sentiment. Purified terephthalic acid (PTA) prices declined to a 11-month low dragged down by weak demand and falling values […]
LDPE No Longer A “Speciality Polymer”
The shoe might now be on the other foot (ouch…apologies) Source of picture: http://5magazine.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/reebok_zigtech_5-570×5371.jpg?w=606&h=570 By John Richardson NOT so long ago several major producers were evaluating new investments in low-density polyethylene (LDPE), as the almost-serious comment circulated among business development managers that it had become a speciality polymer. The reasons were: […]
US PE Exports To Flood China
By John Richardson SPENDING time with your customers is always a good idea, but doing so seems to have become even more important during a very difficult year for China’s polyolefins business. The reason is a split between the fortunes of the top end of the business – the more differentiated grades of polyethylene (PE) […]
More trouble for paraxylene ACP
By Malini Hariharan In yesterday’s post the blog made a reference to the difficulty in settling the October Asian contract price (ACP) for paraxylene (PX). Wide differences in price expectations have held up negotiations with buyers rejecting producers’ initial efforts to implement a steep $105-145/tonne hike in October contracts to $1,760-$1,800/tonne cfr Asia. Buyers, citing […]
The Rest Of 2011 A Write-Off
By John Richardson SORRY to be yet again a bearer of bad news, but the awful China market continues to reflect a reality on the ground that remains in contrast to the views of chemicals analysts and top industry executives. And as we discussed yesterday when we looked at just one aspect of the problems […]
Structural Threats To 2012 China Rebound
By John Richardson SERIOUS structural problems with China’s economy threaten another disappointing year for polymer demand following flat, or even negative, growth for many of the major synthetic resins during 2011. Last week the blog visited Singapore and held discussions with several industry players and chemicals analysts. They agreed that polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl […]
Middle East-China PE Exports Up 60%
By John Richardson NORTHEAST Asian polyethylene (PE) exports to China fell by 34% in January-August this year compared with the same period in 2010 as Middle East shipments surged by 60%, according to Global Trade Information Services – click here for a graph: ChinaPEImportsJan-Aug2011.ppt Exports from the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region, which […]
China Refining: Where Is It Heading?
By Malini Hariharan Yesterday’s post talked about refining capacity additions in China and India over the next few of years and how this will contribute to weak refining margins across the region. The blog obtained a preview of a presentation being made by Liao Na, information director of C1 Energy, at a China oil and […]
Asia refining: tough times ahead
By Malini Hariharan The going has been good for the refining industry this year but analysts are predicting a weaker 2012 and 2013. UBS for instance, expects complex refining margin in Asia to fall 20% in 2012 from the average $8/bbl forecast for 2011. And it expects 2013 to be even weaker with average margin […]
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