Entries from Asian Chemical Connections tagged with 'cracker'
Butadiene Market Standoff
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...
It's All About Shale Gas
By Malini Hariharan As expected, excitement around shale gas is running strong at the CERAWeek conference in Houston. But an element of caution is also visible with the majors appearing to be in no rush to finalise their investments. Shell...
Formosa Confirms US Cracker Plans
By Malini Hariharan One more US cracker and propane dehydrogenation (PDH) project has been confirmed. After months of speculation Formosa Plastics has announced that plans to build a 800,000 tonnes/year ethane cracker, a 600,000 tonnes/year PDH plant and a 300,000...
Honam's next expansion
By Malini Hariharan Honam Petrochemical's plans for Indonesia appear to be progressing. Company sources told ICIS news yesterday that a feasibility study is underway for a $4-5bn petrochemical complex in Southeast Asia with Indonesia the most likely location. The study...
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...
Hits And Misses For Indian Projects
By Malini Hariharan The Indian project scene continues to see some hits and misses. Among the projects on track, sources at Gail (India) told the blog last week that expansion of its Pata cracker and a new polyethylene (PE) plant...
Middle East looks overseas for growth
By Malini Hariharan The US shale gas buzz is now drawing Middle East companies with Sabic's CEO revealing yesterday that the company is considering investing in a US cracker. Sabic would pursue the US cracker on its own or with...
US shale gas buzz in the Middle East
By Malini Hariharan The US shale gas advantage is a recurring theme at this year's GPCA forum with companies giving more details about their expansion plans. Chevron Philips Chemical confirmed that it will build a 1.5m tonnes/year cracker at its...
PTT Global's latest buy and Siam Cement's Indonesia plan
By Malini Hariharan There have been no headline-grabbing deals but bit by bit PTT Global Chemical is extending its business beyond Asia and entering new product areas. Yesterday, PTT Global announced plans for a joint venture with Perstorp Holding France...
Latin America focused on new investments
By Malini Hariharan The blog has been scanning ICIS news reports from the 31th Latin American Petrochemical Association (APLA) conference in Buenos Aires to gauge the mood at the event. Participants appear to be sanguine despite the global economic...
Operating rate cuts the only option
By Malini Hariharan News of operating rate cuts is pouring in. Crackers in Japan, Taiwan and parts of southeast Asia have been running at reduced rates of 80-90% in October. But now there is also talk of rate cuts at...
Saudi gas shortage and Iran gas price hikes
By Malini Hariharan The gas shortage in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, has been well documented with the situation expected to ease in the longer term once investments in new processing plants have been completed. But in a recent...
Last chance for Taiwan petchems
By Malini Hariharan The Taiwanese government is once again talking of removing a ban on cracker investments by Taiwanese companies on the mainland. The country's minister of economic affairs said late last week that the government is willing to consider...
Formosa up but not out of the woods yet
By Malini Hariharan Operations at the Formosa group of companies in Mailiao, Taiwan, are slowly resuming but the group faces an uphill task in regaining public and government confidence in its ability to run plants safely. There have been seven...
Chandra Asri stake up for sale?
By Malini Hariharan Indonesia's sole cracker operator Chandra Asri faces yet another ownership change with Singapore's Temasek Holding reported to be looking at divesting its stake in the company. The news report in the Wall Street Journal said several companies...
India petchem projects update
By Malini Hariharan India's major petrochemical projects are inching forward very slowly and the blog will not be surprised if there are more delays along the way. Reliance has yet to kick start its 1.4-1.6m tonnes/year cracker project adjacent to...
Formosa's troubles deepen, markets rally on supply concerns
By Malini Hariharan The latest accident at Formosa Petrochemical Corp's (FPCC) refinery at Mailiao, Taiwan, on Sunday is adding to the bullish sentiment in markets for key petrochemicals. A fire in the propylene recovery unit has forced the company to...
Dow-Aramco Set To Start Al Jubail JV
By Malini Hariharan Dow Chemical appears to be ready to take a final decision on its huge cracker and derivatives joint venture with Saudi Aramco in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Media reports in the last two days indicate that the...
Petro Rabigh phase 2 and Aramco's ambition
By Malini Hariharan Petro Rabigh, the Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical joint venture, has moved to the next round of its ambitious phase 2 expansion which includes a new aromatics facility and a number of value-added derivatives. Construction tenders for...
Shell Firms-up Interest in New US Capacity
By Malini Hariharan Shell Chemicals has become the latest entrant to a steadily growing list of companies looking at new cracker investments in the US. As we wrote about last week, Shell Chemicals told us in an interview at the...
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