Entries from Asian Chemical Connections tagged with 'europe'

The Challenges For 2013

By John Richardson WE wish our readers a great festive season and wish them all the best for the New Year. We will take a break and resume the blog on 28 December. We really do wish we could be...

New Policies Needed To Restore Growth

Politicians seem to be floundering as they seek to restore growth to the Western economy. Their prescriptions swing between austerity and economic stimulus as they argue over what has gone wrong. But in chapter 10 of our Boom, Gloom...

Restocking lifts polyolefins prices

By Malini Hariharan Polyolefins prices in the key China markets inched up last week thanks to an uptick in buying activity. Prices of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) blow moulding and film grades moved up $20/tonne while linear-low density PE prices were...

Economic concerns dampen EPCA meeting

By Malini Hariharan On a day when Asian stock markets tumbled on fresh worries about Europe's debt problems and a wider economic slowdown, it was not surprising to read about the downbeat mood at this year's European Petrochemical Association's (EPCA)...

PE Market Weakness Spreads To US

By Malini Hariharan After Europe, the US polyethylene (PE) market has started showing increasing signs of weakness. Spot offers have rapidly fallen putting downward pressure on June contracts that are currently under negotiation. Producers may have no choice but to...

The C4 challenge

By Malini Hariharan C4 buyers are a troubled lot. Availabilty of the product is tight and will remain so for the foreseeable future. So it was not surprising to hear that concerns about C4 supply dominated discussions at the recent...

PX: Still going strong

By Malini Hariharan Paraxylene (PX) markets are on a roll. Prices have risen by 20% since the beginning of the year and were assessed at around $1,620/tonne cfr Asia late last week by ICIS pricing. One contract nomination for March...

Crude firm but naphtha under pressure

By Malini Hariharan Asian naphtha prices, which were expected to remain firm this quarter, have come under pressure as large volumes of European material are heading towards this region. Naphtha was trading at around $885/tonne cfr Japan last evening supported...

All mixed up in the West

By Malini Hariharan The blog has been writing about the softening in olefin and polyolefin prices in the US. But the European market presents an interesting contrast offering arbitrage opportunities for those willing to take the risk. Operating rate reductions...

Action in the propylene market

By Malini Hariharan Just when Asian propylene prices started easing comes news of disruptions in production and price hikes in the West. Propylene availability in Europe was hit after a strike by Total's refinery workers early in the week resulted...