Asian Chemical Connections

Maybe it's not as bleak as I've made out...

Consensus opinion tends to swing firmly in one direction and then the other. For example, in the good old days of 2007 you would have been pretty hard-pressed to find many in the chemicals industry who saw anything but...

Posted by John on May 18, 2009 8:07 AM

Micro-management gone too far?

micro-management, human resources, APIC, commodity chemicals, CEOs, credit control, financial meltdown

Posted by John on May 8, 2009 6:26 AM

US-Asia Propylene arbitrage closes

arbitrage, US-Asia exports, financial meltdown, piracy, Somalia, ICIS news

Posted by John on May 4, 2009 9:07 AM

Lack of visibility makes planning a nightmare

Is it just me or is sentiment in chemicals markets even more erratic than usual? Only two weeks ago people were talking about an imminent supply glut in polypropylene, but now the talk is of tightness and stable prices. Perhaps...

Posted by John on March 17, 2009 8:23 AM

Go to the bottom of the class and stay there

financial rescue package, financial meltdown, idiotic financiers, corporate greed

Posted by John on February 20, 2009 9:46 AM

How to make money in a downturn Part 1

John Cusack, Kate Beckinsale, antidumping petitions, trade protection, living in cloud cuckoo land

Posted by John on February 9, 2009 1:16 PM

Chem engineers back with avengeance

chemical engineers, financial meltdown, Nigel Davis, inventory management, H2 2009 recovery

Posted by John on January 28, 2009 8:17 AM

The dead cat has bounced. Now what?

financial meltdown, LyondellBasell, pricing collapse, inventory management

Posted by John on January 21, 2009 10:07 AM

It's fun to be miserable....

LyondellBasell, Woody Allen, Dow Chemical, PIC, K-Dow, Kuwait, financial meltdown, carbon footprint,

Posted by John on January 2, 2009 10:33 AM

"Now, I have this great idea"....

Bernard Madoff, Ponzi Scheme, financial meltdown, parting of the red sea,

Posted by John on December 22, 2008 10:21 AM

How hopeless is your company?

The blame game, financial meltdown, Eric Cantona, Leeds Utd, the end of life as we know it, Lucy Kellaway

Posted by John on December 18, 2008 12:36 AM

Waiting for the dead cat to bounce

Free-falling felines, dead-count bound, chemical-market rebounds, financial meltdown

Posted by John on December 17, 2008 1:02 PM

In search of corporate paradise

Financial meltdown, Virgin Blue, the perfect boss, slow email replies, Brett Godfrey, the Australian Financial Review, airline industry

Posted by John on December 12, 2008 4:51 AM

He's behind you...the evil banker

bankers, financial meltdown, pantomime, hedging, feeble demand

Posted by John on December 4, 2008 1:04 PM

Inspired leaders needed - apply here

Great leaders, financial meltdown, global recession, managing inventories, free alcohol

Posted by John on November 21, 2008 10:56 AM

I will wait for this Lego truck to hit S$100

LyondellBasell, Volker Trautz, Lego, recycling, deflation, financial meltdown

Posted by John on November 19, 2008 3:27 AM

Buy small and local to survive

logistics, credit crisis, financial meltdown, inventory management, plastic packaging

Posted by John on November 14, 2008 4:46 AM

Uncle Karl is back in fashion

Karl Marx, The Miner's Strike, Margaret Thatcher, Thatcherism, capitalism, financial meltdown

Posted by John on October 22, 2008 5:44 AM

Even Middle East budgets are being cut

Middle East budget cuts, margin slide, financial meltdown, China demand, rising capital costs

Posted by John on October 21, 2008 8:02 AM

Is your company truly globalised?

Globalisation is an attitude of mind as what might now be a slightly descredited economic doctrine. Many companies are international but few - from talking to friends and contacts - are truly global in the sense that they recruit senior...

Posted by John on October 10, 2008 8:41 AM