By Malini Hariharan There are some exceptions to the generally weak petrochemical markets seen in Asia these days and monoethylene glycol (MEG) is one such product. Spot prices have hit a 44-month high of $1,275-1,280/tonne CFR China and are expected to soon cross $1,300/tonne, close to levels last seen in January 2008, reports Judith Wang, […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Glass half full or half empty?
By Malini Hariharan Despite a bleak global economic environment in the near term and uncertainty on how deep the next crisis will be chemical industry executives appear to be remarkably bullish about future prospects as is evident in KPMG’s latest industry survey. Eighty five per cent of the 142 senior chemical industry executives surveyed in […]
Last chance for Taiwan petchems
By Malini Hariharan The Taiwanese government is once again talking of removing a ban on cracker investments by Taiwanese companies on the mainland. The country’s minister of economic affairs said late last week that the government is willing to consider lifting the ban provided certain conditions are met. Taiwanese companies must have a controlling stake […]
Demand Weakness Dominates
By John Richardson A CAREFUL reading of all the major ICIS pricing reports covering olefins, polyolefins, aromatics and their derivatives over the last few weeks reveals very few mentions of the phrase “peak demand season”. This time last year, the reports were full of references to the seasonal surge in production of finished goods in […]
There Is No Going Back
By John Richardson “IF we build polymer capacity in India the demand will come,” a very senior industry executive told the blog last year. He amplified this statement by explaining that greater availability of plastics would always stimulate strong demand growth for low-end packaging materials etc in emerging markets in general, as the poor became […]
September Will Be A Cruel Month
By John Richardson SEPTEMBER is going to be a cruel month when the West returns from the summer holiday period and the extent of damage to chemicals and polymer demand becomes more apparent. In Asia, temporary supply constraints in polyolefins, paraxylene (PX) and styrene monomer (SM) have disguised the damage. These constraints will at some point ease, leading […]
China Inflation Pressure Mounts
By Malini Hariharan The Chinese government’s efforts to control inflation are showing no signs of yielding results. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) admitted yesterday that the government was finding it difficult to achieve its full-year inflation target of below 4%. It cited high global commodity prices as a major factor driving up local production […]
The New Normal World In 2021
By John Richardson ALL of us would love to be able to see into the future. Chapter 4 of our new eBook, ‘Boom, Gloom and the New Normal’, does just this. It offers 10 predictions about how the world will look in 2021, which are : 1. Young and old will be focused much more […]
Rocky road ahead
By Malini Hariharan Asian polyolefin producers confront yet another challenging week. The macro environment suggests that implementing price hikes for September cargoes will be difficult. Stock markets around the world continue to be jittery with concerns about a US recession and debt problems in Europe still in the forefront. Support from oil also appears uncertain. […]
Yet another week of price corrections
By Malini Hariharan Asian petrochemical markets continue to face downward pressure on concerns about the health of the global economy. Market sentiment for most products remains poor with buyers in no rush to resume purchases. Polyolefin markets closed last week on a weak note. Prices of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) dropped $10-40/tonne last […]
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