ICIS Blogs : m & a

World Bank sees deeper recession

Chemicals & The Economy — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:57:51 GMT

The chemical industry is always a leading indicator of the global economy. One of the blog's oldest friends used to be a central banker, and he made no secret of the fact that our discussions about demand levels were often an important factor in his...(read more)

After destocking, chemical volumes remain down 15-20%

Chemicals & The Economy — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:06:24 GMT

The great wave of destocking is finally coming to an end. And it is clear that underlying global demand is well below previous "normal" levels. The evidence for this can be seen in the above chart, based on American Chemistry Council data, which...(read more)

Ineos appoint Morgan Stanley for Grangemouth

Chemicals & The Economy — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:19:52 GMT

The blog's close eye on Scotland's media has again been rewarded this morning, as 'The Scotsman' reveals that Ineos have appointed Morgan Stanley, the investment bank, to advise on the sale of Grangemouth. It suggests that a company such...(read more)

Ineos talks of PetroChina deal for Grangemouth

Chemicals & The Economy — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:51:34 GMT

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...(read more)

V-shaped sellers meet L-shaped buyers

Chemicals & The Economy — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:48:35 GMT

Picture: www.businessoffashion.com A senior figure in the investment community told the blog recently that companies' views on the outlook for the economy seemed to vary according to their own financial position, "the stronger the balance sheet...(read more)

Difficult decisions loom on future US auto demand

Chemicals & The Economy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:54:25 GMT

By the end of May last year, 6.2m autos had been sold in the US market, each containing $2700 of chemicals (according to the ACC). The total sales value to the chemical industry was $16.8bn. So far this year, just 3.9m autos have been sold, with a value...(read more)

May's top posts

Chemicals & The Economy — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:38:56 GMT

The 3 most popular posts in May were: Dow, Ineos focus on debt issues Rotterdam oil storage running out of space Green shoots likely to be yellow weeds The blog will be celebrating its 2nd birthday at the end of the month. I would welcome your comments...(read more)

Adultery signals for traders

Chemicals & The Economy — Fri, 29 May 2009 18:51:03 GMT

My fellow-blogger, Barbara, cleverly spotted this week's 'Global Traders Summit' in Singapore. Had this blog been there, it would have mentioned the latest, apparently fool-proof, way to determine stock market turning points, based on bankers'...(read more)

Dow, Ineos, focus on debt issues

Chemicals & The Economy — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:43:29 GMT

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 waivers. Since then...(read more)

Thought for the day

Chemicals & The Economy — Fri, 22 May 2009 10:00:46 GMT

It is now generally accepted that reckless lending has helped cause the greatest collapse in the global economy since the Depression years of the 1930's. Yet many bankers still maintain it is vital they continue to pursue "innovation" of...(read more)

US Fed supports Wall Street earnings, ignores corporate sector risks

Chemicals & The Economy — Sun, 10 May 2009 13:49:27 GMT

In July 2007 , the US Federal Reserve warned that "credit concerns were spreading" and estimated that total bank losses due to US sub-prime loans could reach $100bn. Yet now , after the conclusion of its "stress tests", the Fed says...(read more)

EU sees 11% jobless; US banks raise interest rates

Chemicals & The Economy — Tue, 05 May 2009 23:23:13 GMT

The European Commission has again reduced its growth forecast for the EU. It now sees a 4% decline in GDP this year, and for the first time is suggesting that recovery will be delayed until mid-2010. As a result, it expects unemployment to reach 11%,...(read more)

Chrysler's bankruptcy marks dawn of new reality

Chemicals & The Economy — Sun, 03 May 2009 06:34:59 GMT

The International eChem team are very experienced in turnarounds and restructurings. We have undertaken these both as employees within our former companies, and then as advisers. This has taught us to be alert for the 'tipping point', when a situation...(read more)

Quick updates

Chemicals & The Economy — Fri, 01 May 2009 10:46:24 GMT

Chrysler. Yesterday, Chrysler entered bankruptcy . The hope is that this can be a "quick visit", lasting perhaps 30-60 days. But even if this can be achieved, there is little doubt that Chrysler's suppliers will suffer major write-offs Read...(read more)

Akzo results show depth of the downturn

Chemicals & The Economy — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:59:37 GMT

The blog's chemical career began with selling raw materials to the paint industry during the recession of the early 1980's. Since then, it has always regarded the decorative paint sector as an excellent real-time indicator of underlying economic...(read more)