Entries from Asian Chemical Connections tagged with 'Middle East Petrochemicals'
The Saudi Feedstock Debate Intensifies
By John Richardson THE debate about the future competitiveness of Saudi petrochemicals versus the US is heating up. In January, we reported that Jamal Malaikah (see picture), the president of Saudi polypropylene (PP) producer National Petrochemical Industrial Co (NATPET), had...
Filtering Out The Noise
By John Richardson ONE should be careful about reading too much into the above margins for February as, of course, there was very little trading activity because of Chinese New Year (CNY), whilst oil and therefore naphtha prices increased....
1.5m tonnes Of New Asian PE Supply In 2013
By John Richardson SOME 1.5m tonnes of new polyethylene (PE) supply will arrive in the Asian market during 2013 at a time of very uncertain and fragile demand, a source with a global producer has told the blog. A large amount...
NATPET Warns On Saudi Gas Increase
By John Richardson SAUDI ARABIA'S National Petrochemical Industrial Co (NATPET) has gone public over an issue that has worried Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) petrochemical producers for several years now: The erosion of the GCC's competitive advantage over the US. "There...
China Polyolefins Recovery Continues.....
.....For Now By John Richardson RELATIVE to most of 2012 - when China's polyolefins market was in dire straits - November, December and early January have been excellent for traders who took the right positions. At least one producer...
World Heading For L-Shaped Recovery
Mr Bernanke, please take note By John Richardson The recovery is always six months away and so while most people have written-off the first half of next year, the hope is that by H2 everything will be back to normal....
US Set To Adopt A Golden Rule
By John Richardson ONE of the golden rules of petrochemicals is "always run hard if you have the feedstock advantage". As a result, the US is said to have been a little frustrated by a series of operating problems that have constrained their average...
Middle East-China MEG Exports Surge
By John Richardson MONO-ETHYLENE glycol (MEG) exports to China rose to 4.12m tonnes in the first half of this year from 3.38m tonnes during the same period in 2011, according to data from Global Trade Information Services (GTIS). The main...
US Chemicals Still Behind 2007
By John Richardson US chemicals production remains way below its pre-crisis 2007 level but production in Asia-Pacific, after a brief blip in 2009, continues to soar, according to these charts from the American Chemistry Council. Whereas US producers have...
Polyolefin Demand Remains "Very Weak"
By John Richardson DEMAND remains "very weak" in China's polyolefins markets, said a sales and marketing executive with a major Western producer. "I am having real trouble justifying higher prices to my customers, which are partly the result of...
June China Lending Disappoints
By John Richardson POLYETHYLENE (PE) and polypropylene (PP) offer prices were reportedly on the rise across Asia earlier this week on increasing geopolitical tensions over Iran that led to a hike in crude prices. "Butene-grade linear-low density (LLDPE) offers...
Asian Operating Cuts Not Enough
By John Richardson ASIAN naphtha cracker operators have cut production in response to the exceptionally weak China market, according to ICIS. Yeochun Naphtha Cracker Centre (YNCC) has, for instance, lowered operating rates to 90 percent from 100 percent at its...
Stimulus Nonsense Raises Hopes
By John Richardson EARNINGS estimates for South Korean petrochemical companies will have to be cut by 50 percent for the full year 2012, said an industry observer. "It is quite clear that the first quarter was dreadful for the South...
PE Middle East Offers Keep Falling
By John Richardson POLYOLEFIN markets are not going to bottom out until August-September at the earliest, according to several producers and traders who the blog spoke to yesterday. And even if prices do eventually stop declining, confidence has all but...
Polyolefins And China Real Estate
By John Richardson SOME polyolefin companies continue to present an optimistic picture of markets to investors. They point to positive factors such as renewed economic stimulus in China and a recovery in auto production in Thailand following last year's...
MEG's Fading Star
By John Richardson CHINA'S mono-ethylene (MEG) market was supposed to be very strong this year. But instead, to date we have seen persistently weak market conditions that few people, least of all the traders, seem to have anticipated. The...
A Tough Q2 For The US
By John Richardson THE hard numbers, in the chart above, support anecdotal evidence we have been picking up for over a month of increased Asian polyethylene (PE) exports to Brazil and other Latin American countries. It also confirms...
Investors Predict Strong Petchems Rebound
By John Richardson POLYETHYLENE (PE) inventory levels are thought to be so low at the converter end of the business in China that a case is being made for a strong recovery in demand and pricing post-Lunar New Year. A...
Don't Underestimate The Middle East
Source of picture: Wikimedia Commons By John Richardson THE theme of last week's Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) conference in Dubai was "Moving Downstream, Creating Added Value and Sustainable Growth". There is a huge effort underway in...
Middle East Still Confident For Now
By John Richardson Confidence among Middle Eastern petrochemical producers remains high because they obviously now that as long as oil prices do not collapse they will continue to make excellent money, said a chemicals analyst. The blog believes that there...
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