By John Richardson THE blog attended the Asia Pacific Petrochemical Conference (APIC) in Fukuoka, Japan, today during which it heard mention of the phrase “China downturn” on 23 occasions from different contacts. Confidence is clearly at a lower than last year than at APIC in Mumbai, when all the talk was about delayed introduction of […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Boom, Gloom and the New Normal published this week
Today, the blog is proud to announce the publication the first Chapter of its new eBook: ‘Boom, Gloom and the New Normal: how Western BabyBoomers are changing global chemical demand patterns, again’ It is co-authored with Paul Hodges of International eChem – author of the Chemicals & Economy blog. A new chapter will […]
To frack or not to frack…
By Malini Hariharan …is a debate that has starting moving out of the US. A desire for energy independence has seen countries like Poland to embrace shale gas with the government welcoming US companies to quickly develop the country’s reserves, estimated at 5.3 trillion cubic metres. This would be enough to meet Poland’s annual gas […]
Misplaced Euphoria Threatens Industry
By John Richardson THE euphoria sweeping through the US petrochemicals industry seems to indicate strong support for the “supercycle” theory. Some of the comments made during the first-quarter results season certainly point that way, as does the upbeat mood of presentations made to investors over the past few months. A consensus view appears to have […]
Boom, Gloom and the New Normal
The blog is delighted to announce the title of its new eBook, jointly authored with fellow blogger, Paul Hodges. It explains how Western BabyBoomers are changing chemical demand patterns, again. We believe it will become vital reading for all those working in the global chemical industry. The first chapter of the book will be […]
Metallocene action from Chinaplas
By Malini Hariharan The fight for the metallocene market is heating up with South Korean producers increasingly looking at getting a share of this attractive market. SK Corp confirmed plans to build a new metallocene linear-low density polyethylene (MLLDPE) plant outside Asia once a new plant in South Korea starts operations, writes the blog’s colleague […]
PTA Set To Suffer in 2011-14
By John Richardson THE last 18 months has been stellar for the polyester chain thanks to tight supply upstream in paraxylene (PX) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA), record-high cotton prices and a booming economy in China. But all good times must come an end if our worst fears about China come true. The longer-term direction of […]
Supply Constraints Should Mean A Healthy China
By John Richardson THE extent of the weakness in China ‘s polyolefins market has become more apparent as a result of reports that a much-anticipated increase in Middle East production hasn’t happened. Back in February, oil production in Saudi Arabia had been raised to 8.9m barrels a day from around 8.5m barrels in January, a […]
Middle East Petchem Producers Feel China Slowdown
By John Richardson MORE evidence has emerged of a slowdown in demand for polyolefins in China following the sharp decline in March imports. The Middle East is now feeling the pinch as a result of the impact of inflation and the reduced availability of credit. “I visited a propane dehydrogenation (PDH)-to-polypropylene (PP) producer in Saudi Arabia last week. The […]
Petronas set to unveil new refinery and petchem venture
By Malini Hariharan Malaysia’s Petronas is expected to soon announce plans for a new refinery and petrochemical complex Pengerang, Johor, a project that the blog had discussed a few months back. A report in the Malaysian newspaper Star says the project, named Rapid or Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development, would involve an investment of close […]
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