By John Richardson JIM Gallogly, the former CEO of LyondellBasell, has advised US petrochemicals companies to “think very, very hard” about new investments. “Some of you simply are going to be too late. And you need to recognise where you are at,” he told delegates that this week’s 40th American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers […]
Asian Chemical Connections
EU Must Tackle Unemployment Crisis
By John Richardson IF the above chart applied to China then China would be in the midst of its biggest political, social and economic upheaval since the 1949 revolution, with the Communist Party quite probably out of office. But luckily for the global economy, unemployment in China is nowhere as bad as in the EU. […]
China Jan-Feb Polyethylene Imports Fall 22%
By John Richardson CHINA’S polyethylene (PE) imports declined again in February, and are down by an average of 22% over both January and February of this year compared with the same period in 2014. SOME people will tell you that this is nothing to be seriously worried about. They will argue that January-February 2014, imports reached […]
Sinopec’s Role In China’s New Normal
By John Richardson SINOPEC has published its first-ever environmental report, as fellow blogger Paul Hodges points out in this blog post. What an amazing turnaround. Before the pivotal November 2012 Third Plenum meeting, there was little pressure on Sinopec or any other Chinese company to improve its environmental performance. Instead, the focus was on growth […]
The US Must Wise-Up And Back China
By John Richardson AUSTRALIA has very sensibly reversed its decision not to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). This is the first good policy move I can think of since Tony Abbott became Australia’s prime minister. And with the UK, France, Germany and Italy also now on-board with the AIIB, and with South […]
Oil Supply Rising On Efficiency Gains, Govt Policy
By John Richardson FOR most of the time from 2009 until the end of H1 2014, understanding what was going on in petrochemicals markets was pretty easy. The price of oil was stable in the region of $100 a barrel and so upstream costs were very predictable. This meant that you only really had to […]
China Jan-Feb Polyolefins Production Underlines New Direction
By John Richardson Here is another chart to consider as you, hopefully, dismantle and completely rebuild your strategy for China: It shows that in in January-February of this year compared with the same period in 2014, China’s polyethylene (PE) production was 15% higher at 2.3m tonnes. Its polypropylene (PP) production was 21% higher at 2.5m […]
PetroChina and Sinopec Will Never Be The Same Again
By John Richardson CHINA’S two giant state-owned oil, gas, refining and petrochemicals companies have enjoyed many fantastic years during which they could do just about what they liked, according to an increasing number of critics. “You can’t control them,” an official from China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is quoting as saying in the […]
China’s New Investment Bank: Either Join Or Lose Out
By John Richardson THE UK, first of all, agreed to join the China-led Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and now France, Germany and Italy have followed suit. Encouragingly, also, in one of the few good decisions since he came to office, Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott is considering reversing a decision not to join […]
US Fed Cannot Solve Deflationary Crisis It Has Created
By John Richardson ALL eyes will be on the precise detail of the statement the US Fed issues after its latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which takes place today and tomorrow (March 17-18). Many analysts think that the ideal outcome for emerging market governments and companies, and those who have gone “long” […]
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