Entries from Chemicals & The Economy tagged with 'feedstock pricing'
US crackers feast on ethane feeds
There has been a dramatic shift in cracker feedstocks in the USA over the past 2 years, as crude oil prices have risen. Many US producers have been able to switch to ethane feed, and as a result have become...
Oil prices in longest-ever period of contango
Oil markets are now in their longest-ever period of contango. This is when prices for future months are higher than current levels. According to Bloomberg, they have now been in contango for a record 656 days. Keeping a barrel of...
China's growth in crude oil demand slows
The Petromatrix report is currently a must-read for anyone seeking to understand what is really happening in crude oil markets. Its latest issue analyses China's demand. It suggests this is not as strong as the bullish investment banks on Wall...
Lower refining rates support EU petchem margins
Sometimes every cloud does have a silver lining. And that's currently the case with the fall in demand for oil products. The European petchem industry is based on feedstock from refineries such as naphtha and LPG. And as the chart...
Asian polymer prices and margins begin to fall
A month ago, Nigel Davis called attention in his ICIS Insight column to the alarming fall taking place in US ethylene values. He noted that "inventories seem to have filled", and presciently concluded that "buyers have been on the look-out...
European ethylene margins slip as oil prices rise
The excellent ICIS European margin report for ethylene shows an interesting picture this week. The chart above compares contract margins based on naphtha (red line) and LPG (yellow line) feedstock. Both have been slipping since September, when they peaked at...
US natural gas markets in confusion
Natural gas is a major feedstock for US chemical producers. So the problems caused by the rush to buy a fund that "invests" in the natural gas futures market, are a concern. Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix has been warning for...
Refiners' margins come under pressure
In another sign of the economy 'bouncing along the bottom', US drivers appear to have returned to the road in recent months. Latest figures from the US Highway Administration show a 0.1% rise in vehicle miles travelled during May, the...
Aromatics feedstocks: 'Back to the Future'
For the past 40 years, the aromatics industry has usually had to 'bid away' its feedstock from the octane and gasoline pool. The only exception took place in S Korea during the early 1990's, when local gasoline demand was low....
New US auto fuel standards provide chemical companies with major opportunities
The new US fuel economy standards announced today by President Obama are very big news for the chemical industry. By 2016, all new autos will have to meet a 39 miles/gallon standard, up 42% from the current 27.5 mpg. Trucks...
The blog in 2008
The blog is now 18 months old. It has a truly global readership, and as shown in the above map, is now read in 1244 cities and 89 countries. Its aim has always been to identify 'the influences that may...
The blog's first birthday
Its now a year since the blog started. Since then, 213 postings have appeared. It is now read in 72 countries and 620 cities (shown above). Most encouragingly, readership continues to steadily increase. Since January, it has risen a...
China cuts back ethylene to boost fuel
Some minor relief may be at hand for hard-pressed cracker operators, particularly those in Asia. Sinopec announced today that it will reduce ethylene output by 65 KT in June (the equivalent of 1 cracker's output), in order to allow it...
China’s olefin imports surge as government subsidises gasoline/diesel demand
China’s ethylene and propylene imports have surged in recent months, as the country has diverted naphtha to supply gasoline and diesel needs. ICIS news, reporting official China Customs figures, says 2007 ethylene imports were over 400% higher at 510KT,...
Uncertainty rules
Our annual European conference, organised with ICIS, always provides an excellent opportunity to gain a snapshot of industry views as we move into a new year. At this week’s event in Antwerp, Belgium, the prevailing mood was uncertainty, for the...
EPCA 2007
It seems likely that this week’s European Petrochemical Association annual meeting in Berlin will mark a turning point in the petchem cycle. Looking back over 2007, Boy Litjens, CEO of Sabic Europe, told ICIS@EPCA that performance this year had been...
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