Entries from Chemicals & The Economy tagged with 'polymers'
Bio-based chemicals take another step forward
Novozymes, the bio-innovation company, have kindly sent the blog news of their new fungus. They believe it can potentially lead the way to the development of bio-based petrochemical products. Novozymes chosen route is to develop products based on malic acid....
Russia's chemical production continues to grow
Russia has been the great exception in regional chemical markets. Normally, production growth starts at a high level, often 15% a year or more, and then slows as markets become more mature. But in Russia, output collapsed with the Berlin...
Home appliance and furnishings demand declines, as home ownership rates fall
Western banks now demand higher deposits when lending to first time buyers. The Bank of England expects this to increase the average age at which first-time buyers buy a home, and reduce home ownership. This will hit demand for home...
Global stock markets slide as demand disappoints
It is now 5 weeks since the IeC Downturn Alert was launched. The chart above therefore updates the blog's regular review of financial markets, showing how these have moved over the same period. Most are down around 4%-5%. Russia is...
Petchem volumes slide in all 3 major regions
Volume is a key driver for chemical company profits. High volume means operating rates increase, reducing unit costs. Companies also gain more pricing power. But when volume is low, the reverse happens. Thus the above chart from leading analyst Paul...
Anecdotal evidence
ICIS pricing reports are a treasure trove of information for buyers and sellers. They can also provide an interesting insight into the overall mood of the chemical industry. This might be one of those times. My blogging colleague, John Richardson,...
CEOs face dilemma over their outlook forecast
Chemical companies are about to report excellent results for Q1. Those upstream may well record even higher profits than in 2007/8. CEOs and CFOs therefore face a critical decision. Do they assume today's trends will continue, and forecast excellent profits...
Asia's olefin margins weaken vs Europe, USA
The ICIS weekly margin reports continue to provide essential reading for anyone in the petrochemical value chain. The above chart is particularly fascinating, as it highlights the significant differences between cracker margins on a regional basis over the past 2...
Petrobras moves forward on green polymers
The blog was very pleased to talk recently to Business News Americas about developments in Latin America. Please click here if you would like to read the full interview. It highlights the key role being played by Brazil's Petrobras, particularly...
August highlights
Many readers have been taking a well-deserved break over the past few weeks. As usual, therefore, the blog is highlighting key posts during August, to help you catch up as you return to the office. August has been surprisingly busy:...
Kerbside recycling of PET bottles "no better than landfill" in reducing carbon emissions
Recycling may not be reducing carbon emissions as much as had been hoped. This seems to be the finding of an interesting new report from consultants SRI on recycling of PET bottles. It looks at the benefits of recycling 1.5...
Interpreting trader talk
Current financial and chemical market volatility is a bonanza for good traders, as it gives them more opportunity to take positions, up or down. However, having traded on behalf of a chemical major in Houston, Texas, the blog knows from...
Global power shift to the East a "half-truth"
An interesting opinion piece in today's China Daily suggests the concept that "the next few years will see a dramatic acceleration in the shift of global economic powers eastward" is "at best, a half-truth". Yu Zhongwen notes that this theory...
White Paper downloads reach 7000
The blog is delighted by the interest being shown in its White Paper 'Budgeting for a New Normal' and the recent Mid-Year Update. Almost 7000 copies have now been downloaded. Discussions are also underway with ICIS about producing a new...
Honam's Malaysia buy opens SEA market share battle
Over-capacity is going to be a major issue for the petchem industry over the next few years. Asian producers, in particular, are likely to be worst impacted. The reason is that they have relied on exports to China taking up...
Petchem supply/demand enters the New Normal
The blog's major series this week has focused on the changes that seem to be taking place in markets for the petchem 'building block' products, particularly ethylene, propylene, benzene and paraxylene. These changes in relative price and availability are of...
A Year of Two Halves
Two months ago, on 8 May, the blog suggested that 'Sell in May and Go Away" was likely to prove good advice this year. Since then, most major stock markets have fallen dramatically, with the S&P 500 down by 9%....
US auto sales slip as employment growth weakens
Each US auto sale is worth $2973 to the chemical industry, according to American Chemistry Council research. And as the chart above shows, current sales remain well below the levels seen in the Boom years. In June 2007, for example,...
Russia's chemical output begins to improve
In May last year, the blog was hopeful that the major decline in Russian chemical production might start to reverse. And recent ACC regional production figures have indeed shown a welcome improvement in Central and Eastern European output, which was...
Global chemical recovery starts to slow
At the mid-year point, its interesting to look at the performance of the total chemical industry, including pharmaceuticals. The chart, from the American Chemistry Council, shows global demand has now recovered to 2008 levels. Pharma is more recession-proof than other...
Feed Subscription
If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to a feed of all future entries tagged 'polymers'. [What is this?]
