The brightest and the best, but will there be enough of them? Source of picture: schoolsinnewdelhi.com By John Richardson EDUCATION, education and education are three of the biggest challenges facing developing countries over the next 10-20 years. This will determine overall growth of economies. Without the right skill sets the rapid rates of […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Indian PP Growth On The Right Track
Here’s the stereotype…. Source of picture: www.watblog.com By John Richardson WE talked last week about how emerging markets continue to astound when it comes to demand, meaning that we might have to take a long and hard look at the parameters used to measure growth. Further support for this argument came from a visit […]
Abandon Fear And Plan For The New Utopia
Michael Corleone once told his fiancee, “The old way of doing things is over – even my father knows that. In ten years time, the Corleone family will be entirely legitimitate” and ten years later he was still killing lots of people. So beware of what follows… Source of picture: www.i-italy.com By John Richardson […]
Distorting The Outlook For 2011
Source of picture: http://www.intentblog.com By John Richardson and Malini Hariharan THE view from a particular geography, grade of polyolefin or end-use application might be distorting the outlook for 2011. In China and India and other emerging markets demand growth continues to astound and even though the rates of expansion might have slowed down […]
Wrong Assumptions Drive Shipping, C2 Investments
The goat has been got Source of picture: michaelscomments.wordpress.com By John Richardson EARLIER this week we blogged on the 25 or so ethylene carriers that could be delivered into the shipping market by 2013 and the risk this poses to freight rates. Thanks to one of our readers, Mark Mirosevic-Sorgo – managing director of […]
The perils of forecasting
By Malini Hariharan This is a tough time for those who are in the business of forecasting. Predictions of petrochemical margins hitting the bottom in 2009 have so far not materialised and volumes from new plants are being digested quite easily. “What’s happening? It is hard to understand the [market] situation; until when can you […]
Iran Sanctions Lead To Illegal Shipments Claim
Source of picture: http://www.westernesa.com/ By John Richardson AN allegation has been made that traders could be changing bills of lading on cargoes of a certain liquids chemical being shipped out of Iran in an effort to get round tougher international sanctions. “What is I suspect is happening is that a cargo loaded in Iran […]
Chandra Asri And TriPolyta To Merge
By John Richardson The consolidation talked about in Indonesia for more than ten years – that between cracker operator and polyethylene (PE) producer Chandra Asri and polypropylene (PP) producer TriPolyta – is finally set to happen by January next year. Now it will be up to the companies to make the synergies work with the most […]
Ethylene Freight Rates Head For Collapse
“If I didn’t care what happens to you….” Source of picture: www.sydbarrett.com By John Richardson AS many as 25 new ethylene vessels could be in operation by 2013 as a result of what one shipping industry source told the blog was “irresponsible shipping brokers and consultants talking up the market”. He predicted that the […]
China, Russia To Boost Iranian Ethylene Trade?
Iran’s South Pars gas field Source of picture: www.petropars.com By John Richardson THE ability of Iran to further exploit its huge natural gas reserves – and in so doing maintain ethylene exports at constant levels throughout the year – now appears to hinge on Chinese investment (Western companies have withdrawn from the Iranian energy […]
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