Another excuse for a Dylan picture – ref “Shelter From The Storm” Source of picture: www.israbox.com By John Richardson WEST EUROPEAN polyolefin markets remain tight thanks to the lingering effects of lack of spending on maintenance, several market sources have told the blog. “Companies were so short of cash from late 2008 that they began […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Saudi ethane price revision to be delayed?
By Malini Hariharan The much talked about revision in Saudi ethane prices may not take place in 2012. In a recent report on the Middle East petrochemical sector analysts from Nomura expected the current price of $0.75/mmbtu to continue until 2015. They pointed out that there has been no official update from the Ministry of […]
Asian Ethylene Market Uncertainty Continues
By John Richardson THE outlook for ethylene spot market availability remains muddled as a few weeks ago due to higher freight rates and uncertainties surrounding Middle East natural-gas feedstock supply. Freight rates for all Middle East, Asia and West Mediterranean routes were higher in August than their 12-month average, according to Singapore shipping broker Braemar […]
Saudi Private Petchem Cos To Consolidate
A-Jubail in Saudi Arabia Source of picture: www.chemicals-technology.com By John Richardson SOME of the privately-owned Saudi Arabian petrochemical producers could well be forced to consolidate as a result of lack of feedstock for expansions, an industry source told the blog yesterday. The private players in Saudi Arabia are listed on the local stock exchange, but […]
Picking The Winners And Losers
Source of picture: ICIS By John Richardson ICIS has just published its Top 100 listing for 2009, which, not surprisingly, reveals the nothing-short-of devastating impact of the global economic crisis on chemical company financial performances. “Unprecedented operating and financial conditions helped drive annual sales for industry giants down more than 30%,” writes my […]
Looking for ethane? Head West
By Malini Hariharan A problem of plenty is building up in the US where the rise of shale gas production could create problems in disposal of ethane. This may sound hard to believe but a new report by Bentek Energy concludes that a big challenge for Marcellus Shale gas producers, located in Northeast US, is […]
A sleeping giant awakens
By Malini Hariharan It’s a question that has puzzled many – why has Petronas, the state-owned Malaysian oil and gas major, not made any effort to scale up its petrochemicals business in the last five years. But there are signs that this is changing. Petronas has spun off the petrochemicals operations into a new company […]
Middle East Study Casts Doubt On Downstream Strategy
Petro Rabigh Source of picture: arabianoilandgas.com By John Richardson Petro Rabigh’s attempt to move further down the value chain raises interesting questions over exactly how successful the Saudi joint venture will be in attracting the necessary investment. As my fellow blogger Malini Hariharan wrote earlier this week, plans for the second phase of Petro […]
Map Ta Phut concerns refuse to fade away
By Malini Hariharan Companies with projects at Thailand’s Map Ta Phut must have heaved a sigh of relief last week after the Administrative court ruled that 74 out of 76 suspended projects could move ahead after completing health impact assessment studies and obtaining necessary approvals. The court’s decision was based on a list of 11 […]
Singapore’s aromatics binge
By Malini Hariharan Jurong Aromatics Corp (JAC), part of a rare breed of standalone aromatics projects, is finally seeing some progress. At a time when most new aromatic projects are integrated with refinery operations, JAC plans to build a condensate splitter and an aromatics facility to produce 800,000 tonnes/year of paraxylene (PX), 450,000 tonnes/year of […]
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