By John Richardson THE consequence of either a failure by the US to raise the debt ceiling and/or a downgrading of the country’s Triple A debt rating would have obviously have serious consequences for the Asian and global chemicals industries. Just how serious nobody really knows as we are in uncharted waters. At the very […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Dow To Sell PP to Braskem
DOW Chemical is to sell its polypropylene (PP) business to Brazil’s Braskem for $340m, according to our colleagues at ICIS news. The blog is digging around for the implications for Dow in Asia. For the time being, however, here are some initial thoughts…. Included in the sales are two plants in the US and two […]
Cosy Platitudes Are Not Enough
By John Richardson DO you trust your government to always get it right? The answer in the case of the West is “of course not”, but in China’s case the publicly-expressed assumption still holds that the economy is being effectively managed. CEOs of chemicals and polymer companies might find it politically challenging to openly say […]
China Chemical Imports Fall On Affordability
By John Richardson China’s petrochemical imports continued to decline in June on tight credit conditions and price rises that deterred consumers, according to our colleagues at ICIS news. Linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) imports fell by 18% month-on-month and 3% year-on-year, for example. High-density PE (HDPE) shipments slipped by 4% month-on-month and 8% year-on-year. Benzene shipments halved […]
The Edginess, The Nervousness Continues
By John Richardson THE edgy and nervous nature of the recovery in Asian polyolefin markets became even more apparent from discussions the blog held with traders and producers during a visit to Singapore last week. Such was the uncertainty that there were mid-week reports of falls in pricing. By Friday, though, one producer told us […]
Dow-Aramco Set To Start Al Jubail JV
By Malini Hariharan Dow Chemical appears to be ready to take a final decision on its huge cracker and derivatives joint venture with Saudi Aramco in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Media reports in the last two days indicate that the $18-20bn project, first announced in 2007, has moved forward with a final decision likely to […]
Polyolefins At A Tipping Point
By John Richardson EUROPEAN polyolefin markets are at one of those fascinating tipping points following the recent price recovery. Ethylene spot prices rebounded late last week with July sales much better than those in June, wrote Nel Weddle, European ICIS pricing olefins editor, in this report. Propylene, however, remained under pressure because of a long market. […]
Sleepless in Riyadh
By Malini Hariharan CEOs of Asian petrochemical companies worried about rising feedstock costs, a weak economic outlook and profitability should have been reassured to read over the weekend that even Mohammed Al-Mady, vice-chairman and CEO of Sabic is having sleepless nights. His chief concern is keeping Sabic’s record profits at record levels. Sabic churned out […]
The Benzene Versus Propylene Debate
By John Richardson SHELL Chemicals put an argument forward last week that polystyrene (PS) had regained ground from polypropylene (PP) as a result of expensive propylene. And the petrochemicals major forecast a bright future for both PS and expandable polystyrene (EPS). The blog pretty much always enjoys playing the devil’s advocate and so later on […]
Saudi Petchem Production Threatens Recovery
By John Richardson RISING oil production in Saudi Arabia has resulted in bigger volumes of polyethylene (PE) being delivered into Asia-Pacific markets, a source with a major plastics processor told the blog late last week. “Saudi Arabia has definitely, in my view, already raised PE production on more availability of associated gas. I am seeing […]
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