ICIS Blogs : company strategy

Raining on the Optimists' Parade

Asian Chemical Connections — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:09:41 GMT

Source: The Guardian newspaper Apologies for letting this bog slip again. I am on leave, but still pondering where on earth we are heading. This makes a welcome relief from staring up at the grey skies and thinking "summer? What summer?" Yes...(read more)

China borrowing from the future?

Asian Chemical Connections — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:16:53 GMT

It's easy to get caught up in the excitement over the rebound in the Chinese economy and miss underlying weaknesses which point to some major problems ahead. To some extent, in a desperate effort to compensate for collapsing export trade, China might...(read more)

Be very careful what you wish for...

Asian Chemical Connections — Fri, 29 May 2009 06:17:34 GMT

Source of picture: The Nymex To continue the same theme of earlier this week, I agree with my fellow blogger Paul Hodges when he warns that OPEC's price target for $75-80/bbl could nip the nascent economic recovery in the bud. As he quite rightly...(read more)

The next oil shock and petrochemicals

Asian Chemical Connections — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:23:10 GMT

Apologies for letting this blog slip again, but have been busy trying to make a crust presenting ICIS training courses. And so as a bonus for our army of avid readers, here are my extended thoughts on the above: In the midst of the economic crisis it...(read more)

Maybe it's not as bleak as I've made out...

Asian Chemical Connections — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:07:23 GMT

Consensus opinion tends to swing firmly in one direction and then the other. For example, in the good old days of 2007 you would have been pretty hard-pressed to find many in the chemicals industry who saw anything but a mildly cyclical downturn. But...(read more)

It's about scaling down rather than up

Asian Chemical Connections — Thu, 14 May 2009 07:06:31 GMT

One of the new skills being learnt in this current crisis is how to run plants efficiently at low operating rates. "It's funny that for years now, we've worried about how to scale up profitably. Now industry is faced with just the opposite...(read more)

Micro-management gone too far?

Asian Chemical Connections — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:26:49 GMT

"Nobody can see until the end of the month - never mind into the third quarter," commented an olefins trader recently. "The reason is that very senior managers are too busy micro-managing everything, from getting involved in trying to track...(read more)

It really is a Mad World

Asian Chemical Connections — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:47:35 GMT

As the potential swine flu pandemi threatens more lives - and even more damage to the global economy - it's time to watch American Idol re-runs. It would be great if we could all collectively retire to some paradise island where Manchester Utd and...(read more)

US petchem exports to lessen the pain?

Asian Chemical Connections — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:19:10 GMT

There are reports, confirmed by one consultant, of a flood of US polyolefin exports from the US to Asia, China in particular. Staggering polyolefin import figures for China in January-February show big percentage increases both year-on-year and month...(read more)

If manufacturers started buying up their suppliers....

Asian Chemical Connections — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:44:06 GMT

This excellent article from The Economist about vertical integration got me thinking that if, say, auto makers start buying up parts suppliers in developed markets (in developing markets the plastics processing industry is too fragmented) we could end...(read more)

Alice In Wonderland economics

Asian Chemical Connections — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:05:49 GMT

China appears to be pumping money into ailing companies for social stability reasons, resulting in a build-up in inventory of unsold finished goods. Anecdotal evidence from ICIS pricing , and analysis by JP Morgan Asset Management and the China Economic...(read more)

Trade protectionism on the rise

Asian Chemical Connections — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:46:35 GMT

India has launched a petition for PP anti-dumping action against Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Oman . This is the first case of this type in India. Producers, as we predicted on this blog earlier on, will be increasingly attempting to protect their home...(read more)

Short-term gain could equal long-term pain

Asian Chemical Connections — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:56:32 GMT

In the depths of the Asian financial crisis an American industry executive said, "I don't know why Korea has a petrochemical industry. It should be just shut down." There were also widespread complaints over "soft" government-directed...(read more)

I don't want to gloat but I told you so....

Asian Chemical Connections — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:00:18 GMT

It looks like olefins and aromatics prices are on the retreat in Asia as I predicted earlier this month. I only feel slightly smug because it seems obvious that naphtha was a big driver - and that markets were being talked up by producers desperate to...(read more)

Go to the bottom of the class and stay there

Asian Chemical Connections — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 09:46:33 GMT

A recent briefing by The Economist Intelligence Unit warned that because of the mess the West has made of the world economy, managers in Asia might face unrealistic targets. Does this sound familiar? All answers will be treated in the strictest of confidence...(read more)