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OPEC output, Chinese oil demand, hit records

OPEC's oil output hit an all-time record in July at 32.8mbd, due to higher volumes from Saudi and Iran. The Saudi increase to 9.55mbd was in line with their pledge at the Jeddah summit in June to raise output to 9.7mbd. But the Iranian increase appears to have been a one-off, as the country sold...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-13-2008
Current shipping costs = 9% trade tariff

I noted in June that P&G were reviewing their global supply chain strategy , as a result of higher oil prices. Now a study by Canadian Bank CIBC suggests the rise in shipping costs equals a ' 9% tariff on trade' , adding that 'the cost of moving goods, not the cost of tariffs' is...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-04-2008
No news from Iran on nuclear issue

There seems to have been no response from Iran to the 2 week deadline set by the US and Europe on the nuclear issue. Over the weekend, Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said 'the Iranian nation would not retreat one iota from its rights.' Earlier, Israel's deputy Prime Minister, Shaul...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-04-2008
Paul Ray's excellent ICIS PE margin report provides plenty of food for thought this week. The chart above shows that European LDPE prices (the red line) have moved up quite sharply since June. But almost all of this improvement has been captured by cracker operators. Margins for integrated players...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-02-2008
'2009 - another difficult year' says BMW

BMW, the world's largest luxury car manufacturer, warned today that it is no longer immune from the global downturn: 'Business conditions for the automobile industry deteriorated sharply again in the second quarter due to further ongoing steep rises in oil and raw material prices, the weakness...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-01-2008
US housing 'terrible'

When a leading banker says things look ' terrible' , one know they must be really bad. Jamie Dimon is CEO of JP Morgan Chase, the only major US bank not to take write-downs on its housing loans to date. He described the US housing market as follows: 'We saw subprime go first, then you see...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-31-2008
The end of 'stretch targets'

There is little doubt that chemical growth is weakening. The above chart, taken from Kevin Swift's excellent weekly report for the American Chemistry Council, indicates that a serious downturn is underway. Since January, world production growth (the solid green line) has halved - from 4.1%, to 1...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-27-2008
European auto sales fall 8%

Europe is the world's largest auto manufacturer, accounting for 32% of the global market. So news that European auto sales fell 8.3% last month, compared to 2007, is worrying. Italy's sales fell 20%, and were today described as ' disastrous' by CEO Sergio Marchionne, who announced that...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-23-2008
Intel's Grove calls for electric cars

A new debate about increasing US energy security, by reducing gasoline dependence, may be getting underway. Leading the move is Andy Grove, the man who made Intel into the leading global chip company. His key phrase, and the title for his 1996 book, was 'Only the paranoid survive'. Now he is...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-21-2008
US, Iran to meet - crude drops $20/bbl

I suggested at the weekend that the Iran issue had the potential to move oil prices by $50/bbl either way. Since then, prices have fallen $20/bbl to $130/bbl, on news that the USA and Iran will meet tomorrow for the first time in nearly 30 years. If they reach agreement on the nuclear issue, oil prices...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-18-2008

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