By John Richardson LIKE the boy who cried Wolf the blog might not be believed as we once again warn about the risks ahead for China’s economy. We have been worried for a long time that eventually China’s huge economic stimulus package, in response to the threat of social unrest, would cause some major problems. […]
Asian Chemical Connections
US Petchems Overconfident On Shale Gas
By John Richardson THE soaring confidence of the US petrochemicals industry over abundant ethane feedstock from shale gas could end up being colossally misplaced, as we have discussed before on the blog. America is the most NIMBY (not in my backyard) of all societies and so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody that […]
Broad Commodities Sell-off Beckons
By John Richardson THE blog remains extremely worried that there is about to be a major sell-off of commodities in general, including petrochemicals, as conditions right now feel very similar to those in 2008. Whether we will face a systemic shock to the system, a black swan, on the scale of Lehman Bros is of […]
Huntsman to scale up India capacities
By Malini Hariharan US chemical producer Huntsman plans to rapidly expand capacities and sales in India, a country that has caught the attention of global majors. The blog caught up with the company’s President and CEO Peter Huntsman in Mumbai yesterday. “In every one of our businesses, except titanium dioxide, we will be spending money […]
One more US expansion
By Malini Hariharan The shale gas based ethane rush in the US continues with Westlake Chemical the latest to announce big expansions at its two crackers in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Each of Westlake’s two light feedstock crackers will be expanded to provide ethylene for existing internal derivatives units and the merchant market, said the producer. […]
Chemicals And The Removal Of The Punch Bowl
By John Richardson LUNCH with a chemicals analyst yesterday, during the blog’s latest trip to Singapore, gave an intriguing glimpse into the world of those who invest in the chemicals industry. “The Morgan Stanely “Supercycle” report (which the blog wrote about late last year) seems to be on every fund managers desks,” he said. “These […]
Growing in confidence
By Malini Hariharan After sorting out their merger, PTT Chem and PTT Aromatics and Refining (PTTAR) are looking at a major new investment to take care of their future. In an interview with the blog’s colleague Tahir Ikram, PTT Chem’s president and CEO disclosed that the two companies are jointly studying a cracker project. “We […]
Growing Uncertainties Cloud Chemicals Outlook
By John Richardson THE global growth outlook grows ever murkier as a result of credit tightening in China (or is the problem instead continued strong growth in lending?), inflation problems throughout Asia, possible monetary tightening in the West, the direction of oil prices and the Japanese tsunami-earthquake. We feel that this is making the rest […]
Was NPRA Off The Mark On China?
By John Richardson I HAVE been speaking to my colleagues who attended this week’s NPRA conference in San Antonio, Texas, and it didn’t appear from discussions during the event that a potential slowdown in China was high on anyone’s radar screen. In fact, for many of the delegates it didn’t seem to be blinking on […]
China Quiet Market Persists
By John Richardson LACK of credit and inflation are becoming even greater problems in China, which is reflected in polyolefin markets that remain very quiet indeed. “It is ice cold out there with very little activity. Importers are waiting and hoping for some kind of improvement,” a Singapore-based polyolefin trader told the blog today. A […]
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