By Malini Hariharan Just days after a recovery in butadiene prices, downstream synthetic rubber producers are once again threatening to cut production as weak demand has pushed them in to a tight corner. Asian major Korea Kumho Petrochemical is looking at trimming the operating rate at its 210,000 tonnes/year polybutadiene rubber (BR) plant to 85%, and also […]
Asian Chemical Connections
North America’s Oil and Gas Potential
By Malini Hariharan The energy landscape in North America is rapidly changing. After shale gas the focus has shifted to rising oil production from various unconventional sources, which has prompted some commentators to predict that the region will regain its status as a major global producer. In a new report, analysts at Citibank confidently predict that […]
Oil demand set to slip, will prices follow?
By Malini Hariharan The International Energy Agency (IEA) has once again trimmed its oil demand forecast for 2011. And rising fears of a sustained global economic slowdown have also prompted the agency to cut the forecast for 2012. The IEA made it clear that expectations of ‘business-as-usual’ 4.5-5% global GDP growth were unsustainable. It cut […]
Yet another week of price corrections
By Malini Hariharan Asian petrochemical markets continue to face downward pressure on concerns about the health of the global economy. Market sentiment for most products remains poor with buyers in no rush to resume purchases. Polyolefin markets closed last week on a weak note. Prices of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) dropped $10-40/tonne last […]
India polymers slide once again
By Malini Hariharan The messenger’s prediction has turned out to be correct. Indian polymer producers have been forced to reduce domestic prices to match levels seen in the wider Asian market. The week started with a downward revision to polypropylene (PP) prices followed by cuts in prices of low density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low density […]
HSBC: Speculation Adds $30 To Oil
By Malini Hariharan GROWTH in China and other leading economies has slowed and oil prices have slipped but analysts are predicting strong prices for the rest of 2011 and 2012. Their reasoning is based on continued speculative activity in this commodity and geopolitical risks in the Middle East . HSBC’s recent report on this subject estimates […]
Pulled in all directions
By Malini Hariharan Asian polyolefin producers face a difficult time with markets being pulled in different directions. Feedstock costs have steadily moved up at a time when downstream demand and price direction remains uncertain. Political upheaval in Libya and Bahrain pushed WTI crude oil to over $94/bbl yesterday while Brent hit $107/bbl. Naphtha soared to […]
Crude firm but naphtha under pressure
By Malini Hariharan Asian naphtha prices, which were expected to remain firm this quarter, have come under pressure as large volumes of European material are heading towards this region. Naphtha was trading at around $885/tonne cfr Japan last evening supported only by the strength in crude oil prices with WTI at $91.69/bbl and Brent at […]
Are you feeling the pinch?
By Malini Hariharan With crude oil at around $88/bbl and naphtha hitting $890/tonne cfr Japan on Monday, the pressure is building up along the olefins chain. Ethylene is trading at around $1200/tonne cfr NEA while propylene is at $1280/tonne cfr NEA. Offers of ethylene at above $1250/tonne and propylene at $1320-1330/tonne have not found any […]
China Economic Hype And Crude Oil
Let’s catch the bus from now on…. Source of picture: hybridcars.com By John Richardson THE blog has long been worried about the difficulty, probably the impossibility, of accurately measuring real Chinese growth. And it gets harder as the country now has some 130,000 polyolefin traders and distributors, according to an estimate we heard last […]
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