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LyondellBasell files for bankruptcy

LyondellBasell has become the largest-ever chemical company bankruptcy , just 12 months after its formation. Its US operations, and Basell Germany Holdings GmbH, filed for Chapter 11 protection in New York tonight. The company expects its other non-US operating entities to continue to function independently...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 01-06-2009
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 reducing production at...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 01-06-2009
A "V-", "U-", "W-" or "L-shaped" recession?

There is now general agreement that we are in a global recession. The World Bank's new 'Global Economic Prospects' report forecasts global GDP growth of 2.5% in 2008, and just 0.9% next year. This is well below the 3% level that signals recession. And the Bank also forecasts that world trade...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 12-14-2008
The end of the beginning

Last week's BASF announcement marked the end of Phase One of the downturn. This began over a year ago , with the first signs of financial crisis. Now, we will move into Phase Two - a long, multi-year recession, which will also include several bear-market rallies. The end of this "beginning"...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-23-2008
BASF sees "massive decline"

6 weeks ago , I warned that "the scariest moment of my 30 year chemical career" was about to be repeated. This had been in 1980, when "for some weeks it seemed that demand for many petchem products had simply stopped". Three weeks later, the blog confirmed that "the moment it...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-19-2008
BASF reduce 2008 global GDP forecast

BASF have now reduced their 2008 GDP forecast from 2.8% to 2.4%. This may sound a small amount, but it means it is now in line with the Global Downturn Scenario set out in our Feedstocks for Profit Study. Previously, it had been just below our Base Case Scenario. CEO Jurgen Hambrecht still sounds confident...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-19-2008
Dow buys Rohm & Haas

Dow's potential interest in Rohm & Haas had been much rumoured since December , when it announced the petchem/polymer JV with Kuwait's PIC. That deal has yet to close, but further evidence of the growing link with Kuwait comes with the news that the Kuwait Investment Authority will invest...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-11-2008
Shell, BASF, ACC warn on US downturn

‘The sharp drop in housing starts and the developing credit crisis will flow into the cracker business’, according to Shell Chemical’s CEO Stacy Methvin. She added that ‘the housing crisis is more far-reaching than anyone anticipated’ . Similarly, BASF is now more cautious about the potential impact...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 04-07-2008
BASF – the oil and gas company

BASF Chairman Jürgen Hambrecht sounded confident last week, following their annual results . 2007 sales were €58bn (up 10% on 2006), and income from operations was €7.3bn (up 8%). However, Q4 saw sales up just 1.6% at €14.7bn, and income actually down 3.4% at €1.6bn. The main culprit in Q4 was chemicals...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 02-24-2008
‘Don’t panic’ say Dow, BASF

Its not normally a good sign when chemical industry bosses feel the need to cheerlead on the outlook for the economy. Dow’s CEO Andrew Liveris therefore caught my attention at Davos, when he told CNBC that talk of recession was ‘over-reaction’. Particularly when he then corrected himself, adding that...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 02-12-2008

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