By John Richardson NEVER underestimate China’s ability to execute vast and highly complex manufacturing projects very efficiently. There is of course a very good chance that my downside scenario will be wrong. It may be technically unfeasible for China to operate its new paraxylene (PX) capacity at 82% in 2019-2025, as opposed to what could […]
Asian Chemical Connections
China purified terephthalic net exports to reach 2.7m tonnes by 2025
By John Richardson LET’S START with the good news first. ICIS Data and Analytics had expected China’s demand for paraxylene (PX) to grow by in 2018 at 5.6% over 2017, but instead I estimate growth at 9.2%. This was awesome news for the world’s major PX producers as the reason for the strong growth was […]
PX Goes Green
By Malini Hariharan Work on commercialising a green route to paraxylene (PX) purified terphthalic acid (PTA) and other aromatics is speeding up. US companies are at the forefront of recent developments. Virent is looking to produce a sugar-based aromatics stream containing benzene, toluene and xylenes using traditional chemical catalytic processing, writes fellow blogger Doris de […]
China Polyester Chain Weakens
By Malini Hariharan The polyester chain is feeling the strain of poor Chinese demand. Weak export demand and Chinese government policy are also impacting this sector, as is the case in polyolefins. A further factor behind the problems in the polyester chain is the fall in cotton prices, as fellow blogger Paul Hodges points out. Monoethylene […]
India polymer exports to Pakistan set to rise
By Malini Hariharan After years of waiting truck movement of petrochemicals from India to Pakistan has started paving the way for Indian companies to boost their exports. Indian Oil Corp (IOC), which regularly exports polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) by rail to Pakistan, successfully sent its first consignment to Lahore last week from its petrochemical […]
More PTA for India
By Malini Hariharan India trails far behind China in the polyester business but there is growing interest in new investments that also extends upstream to purified terephthalic acid (PTA). The latest entrant to the projects listing is Thai major Indorama Ventures which has signed an MoU with Indorama Synthetics (India) for an integrated PTA, polyester […]
IOC Defers PX/PTA, Proceeds With Acetic Acid, Butene-1
By Malini Hariharan The blog continues with a review of Indian projects. State-owned refinery major Indian Oil Corp (IOC) has deferred its paraxylene (PX) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) projects at Vadodara in Gujarat state, to post 2015. “The project is on hold because of commercial issues; we are looking at the total PX/PTA picture […]
PX – PTA market struggle intensifies
By Malini Hariharan Asian paraxylene (PX) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA) markets have started 2012 on a contentious note that is likely to be repeated for the rest of the year. The January Asian Contract Price (ACP) for PX is in disarray with major producers and buyers unable to agree on a number. Only ExxonMobil […]
Polyester still booming
By Malini Hariharan The blog has been listening to some interesting presentations on the polyester chain at the Indian Petrochem – 2011 conference in Mumbai. The global economic slowdown does not appear to have dampened prospects for polyester demand. “Demand for polyester grew by 5.6m tonnes last year which was atypical; we all thought that […]
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 […]