By John Richardson Dear Reader We hope and pray that the nuclear crisis in Japan will be resolved and that the rebuilding process following the earthquake and tsunami can be begin. My colleagues at ICIS news are doing a comprehensive job in covering the disaster in terms of how it is affecting the petrochemicals industry […]
Asian Chemical Connections
What’s next for PetroChina and Ineos?
By Malini Hariharan After months of talks, PetroChina finally signed a framework agreement with Ineos for partnerships in refining, trading and petrochemicals at Grangemouth in Scotland and Lavera in France. The companies will be working towards the formation of these ventures by end-June 2011. PetroChina’s parent China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Ineos also signed […]
China, Russia To Boost Iranian Ethylene Trade?
Iran’s South Pars gas field Source of picture: www.petropars.com By John Richardson THE ability of Iran to further exploit its huge natural gas reserves – and in so doing maintain ethylene exports at constant levels throughout the year – now appears to hinge on Chinese investment (Western companies have withdrawn from the Iranian energy […]
When Does Consolidation Become A Strategic Problem?
All our yesterdays… the ICI Runcorn site in its heyday Source of picture: Chesterchronicle.co.uk By John Richardson Yesterday’s blog post on Petronas illustrates once again how the state-owned giants, albeit in this case one that is about to undergo a partial IPO, are increasingly dominating the global petrochemicals industry. The history of the […]
Is China Targeting Polyolefin Re-export Market?
By John Richardson MORE evidence that China will not remain as easy a sink for surplus polyolefin volumes – especially in the case of the higher-cost importers – is emerging. “There are plans to open a bonded warehouse in Guangdong province to sell RMB material converted into US dollar product,” a Singapore-based polyolefin trader told me […]
Braskem makes its first US move; acquires Sunoco PP assets
By Malini Hariharan Less then a week after the blog had highlighted Braskem’s plans for global growth through acquisitions the company has announced that it will buy the polypropylene (PP) assets of US-based Sunoco. The $350m deal, still subject to regulatory approvals, gives Braskem 950,000 tonnes/year of US capacity and makes it the third largest […]
Some more surprises for polyolefins
By Malini Hariharan The Wednesday post on this blog highlighted some of the unexpected turns that the Asian polyolefins market has been taking. There have been more developments over the last two days that are likely to influence markets in the short term. • ICIS news reports that Sabic will significantly cut its January and […]
Qatar-Shell Sing Deal Feedstock, Investment Options
Singapore’s Jurong Island Source of picture: www.pcs.com Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) sees Singapore as a good base for expanding in to the Far East, said CEO Nasser Al-Jaidah yesterday after the announcement of the new partnership with Shell. QPI and Shell signed a series of agreements on Wednesday to jointly own 50% of Petrochemical Corporation of […]
China and M-E Delays To Offer More Market Support
As this updated table from my colleagues at CBI in China illustrates, cracker-complex delays in China have the potential to further stagger the arrival of new volumes into the market. Chinanewcapacitytable.doc This follows the widespread problems in starting up new capacity in the Middle East. The 800,000 tonne/year Fujian Petrochemical/ExxonMobil/Saudi Aramco cracker is on-stream, […]
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