By Malini Hariharan The blog has been scanning ICIS news reports from the 31th Latin American Petrochemical Association (APLA) conference in Buenos Aires to gauge the mood at the event. Participants appear to be sanguine despite the global economic turmoil with talk focused on upcoming investments. Braskem is the forefront. Its joint-venture project with Idesa, […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Operating rate cuts the only option
By Malini Hariharan News of operating rate cuts is pouring in. Crackers in Japan, Taiwan and parts of southeast Asia have been running at reduced rates of 80-90% in October. But now there is also talk of rate cuts at crackers in South Korea. More importantly, a Sinopec source confirmed yesterday that the Chinese major […]
Saudi gas shortage and Iran gas price hikes
By Malini Hariharan The gas shortage in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, has been well documented with the situation expected to ease in the longer term once investments in new processing plants have been completed. But in a recent report on the emerging market for LNG, Facts Global Energy (FGE) points out that more […]
Last chance for Taiwan petchems
By Malini Hariharan The Taiwanese government is once again talking of removing a ban on cracker investments by Taiwanese companies on the mainland. The country’s minister of economic affairs said late last week that the government is willing to consider lifting the ban provided certain conditions are met. Taiwanese companies must have a controlling stake […]
Formosa up but not out of the woods yet
By Malini Hariharan Operations at the Formosa group of companies in Mailiao, Taiwan, are slowly resuming but the group faces an uphill task in regaining public and government confidence in its ability to run plants safely. There have been seven accidents in the last twelve months with two fires at the Mailiao complex in July. […]
Chandra Asri stake up for sale?
By Malini Hariharan Indonesia’s sole cracker operator Chandra Asri faces yet another ownership change with Singapore’s Temasek Holding reported to be looking at divesting its stake in the company. The news report in the Wall Street Journal said several companies from Thailand, South Korea and Japan have shown interest in Temasek’s stake, including Thailand’s PTT […]
India petchem projects update
By Malini Hariharan India’s major petrochemical projects are inching forward very slowly and the blog will not be surprised if there are more delays along the way. Reliance has yet to kick start its 1.4-1.6m tonnes/year cracker project adjacent to two refineries at Jamnagar, on the west coast of India. The cracker will be based […]
Formosa’s troubles deepen, markets rally on supply concerns
By Malini Hariharan The latest accident at Formosa Petrochemical Corp’s (FPCC) refinery at Mailiao, Taiwan, on Sunday is adding to the bullish sentiment in markets for key petrochemicals. A fire in the propylene recovery unit has forced the company to close its 540,000 bbls/day refinery and related facilities, including two residual fluid catalytic cracking units […]
Dow-Aramco Set To Start Al Jubail JV
By Malini Hariharan Dow Chemical appears to be ready to take a final decision on its huge cracker and derivatives joint venture with Saudi Aramco in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Media reports in the last two days indicate that the $18-20bn project, first announced in 2007, has moved forward with a final decision likely to […]
Petro Rabigh phase 2 and Aramco’s ambition
By Malini Hariharan Petro Rabigh, the Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical joint venture, has moved to the next round of its ambitious phase 2 expansion which includes a new aromatics facility and a number of value-added derivatives. Construction tenders for seven packages have been issued and bidding is due to close on 1 October. Tenders […]
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