Entries from Chemicals & The Economy tagged with 'INEOS'
Companies remain cautious on the outlook
The good news is that the stabilisation seen in Q2 has been maintained. But companies remain cautious on the outlook, to judge from Q3 reports. CEOs are sceptical about the impact of government stimulus efforts in the West, and fear...
Ineos confirms new covenants agreed
As expected, Ineos have today confirmed that their proposed new covenants have now been accepted by their lenders. For those unfamiliar with the mechanisms used in the world of high-yield debt, this does not involve any new money, or a...
Boom/Gloom Index rally continues
Last month, the blog introduced its new Boom/Gloom Index, designed to track sentiment in financial markets. The chart above now updates it to reflect the whole of June. The Index has continued to move up, and is close to the...
Ineos agrees higher interest charges with lenders
Economic recovery can't come soon enough for Ineos. After 7 months of negotiation, it has finally agreed new covenants for its €7.3bn of debt with its major lenders. These will now be put to all 230 lenders for approval by...
Ineos talks of PetroChina deal for Grangemouth
The 'Falkirk Herald', based close to Ineos's Grangemouth facility in Scotland, is not normally the place that the blog would look for news of the potential sale of a major part of the world's 4th largest chemical company. However, that...
Dow, Ineos, focus on debt issues
Dow and Ineos are two of the world's largest chemical companies. Both found themselves in tight financial situations at the start of the year. Dow's debt rating was cut to just above junk, whilst Ineos had to ask for covenant...
Resilience, team-work, key to survival
Last week, the blog spent 2 days at Wilton in the UK, one of the world's largest and most integrated chemical manufacturing sites. It also contains some of the world's major companies, including SABIC, Dow, INEOS, Huntsman and Lucite. The...
INEOS announce €1bn inventory loss in Q4
In early October, I forecast that we were about to revisit "the scariest moment of my 30 year chemical career", adding that: "The moment the blog has long feared, and warned about, may be about to arrive. It appears that...
INEOS, Georgia Gulf, Chemtura bond prices plunge
Bond markets are a good place to look if you want to understand the outlook for major companies in the chemical industry. A key market is in 'credit default swaps' (CDS), which offer insurance against the possibility that a company...
Dow's debt ratings cut - could hit junk status
Over the last few weeks, INEOS had to scramble to get a covenant waiver from its lenders, and Lyondell went into Chapter 11. Now Dow's debt is facing a potential cut to junk status from the main ratings agencies. Dow's...
The CEO's survival guide
The past few weeks have not been good for the chemical industry, with 4 major companies suffering significant problems: BASF warned that "customer demand in key markets has declined significantly" since October, and have temporarily shutdown 80 plants worldwide, whilst...
LyondellBasell considers bankruptcy
2008 has not ended well for the chemical industry. First there was the collapse in demand, as the various value chains destocked in response to slowing consumer demand and lower oil prices. Then INEOS, the world's 3rd largest chemical company,...
INEOS obtains covenant waivers
INEOS has now confirmed that it has obtained the required covenant waivers from its banks. They had little choice, as pushing INEOS into bankruptcy would have destroyed value on a massive scale for everyone concerned. But as the blog expected,...
INEOS' covenant waiver request causes concern
INEOS is the world's 3rd largest chemicals company. Its €7.29bn debt burden ($9.2bn) means that it is also Europe's largest issuer of high yield debt. This is an unfortunate combination, given today's chemical markets. Last month, INEOS was forced to...
LyondellBasell debt downgraded, INEOS seeks waivers
Current market conditions are causing problems for everyone in the chemical industry. But as the blog has long feared, they are particularly testing those companies with higher debt levels. On Friday, Moody's announced a downgrading of the Corporate Family Rating...
Ineos to sell some US assets?
The UK's Sunday Telegraph newspaper reports that 'Ineos, the chemicals group which is one of Britain's biggest private companies, is considering selling assets in an effort to reduce its debt burden'. It adds that 'the company, which has expanded rapidly...
INEOS’ Grangemouth plants on strike
Ineos’ 200,000bpd Grangemouth refinery in Scotland is on strike today and tomorrow, over a pension dispute. This will presumably cost the workers 2 days pay. The costs for INEOS and the UK are enormous in comparison. BP, for example, has...
BP and Reliance
BP and Reliance Industries are both powerhouses in their own fields. BP’s new CEO, Tony Hayward, has just given his first interview in the new job. Comparing, and contrasting, his comments with last week’s AGM statement by Reliance’s Chairman, Mukesh...
Chemical company valuations
The prices paid for Petkim and for Lustran reflect two very different perspectives on the current market:...
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