Source of picture: Dachangplastic.com By John Richardson WHAT a difference ten years have made in the plastics processing industry, according to a Southeast Asian converter who sees China’s machinery=manufacturing prowess as an opportunity and threat. “Ten years ago I considered buying a process machine from the US for $300,000 but it was just […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Time to get aggressive
By Malini Hariharan LyondellBasell’s board is reported to have rejected Reliance Industries’ revised $14.5bn buyout offer. The rejection is not surprising as LyondellBasell is said to have valued itself at $15.5bn in its restructuring plan. Reliance still has room to up its offer although financial analysts are worried that a high-priced deal would not be […]
It helps to have the right partner
By Malini Hariharan And Sumitomo Chemical has discovered this. The company recently said that PetroRabigh, its joint venture with Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia, has managed to secure fresh ethane allocation of 30m scf of ethane for a second phase of projects. Ethane is running short in Saudi Arabia and getting an allocation, even a […]
THE US: Recovery, What Recovery?
Source of picture: http://www.infiniteunknown.net/ By John Richardson CORE consumer prices in the US declined for the first time in December since 1982, according to the latest American Chemistry Council (ACC) Weekl;y Chemistry and Economic Trends report. And the ACC’s latest monthly set of forecasts – compiled through averaging the predictions of “a […]
The Dangers of Forgetfulness
By John Richardson “IF YOU want to develop a good memory, you should learn to stop xxxxxxx forgetting, you brain-dead idiot” a former editor of mine often said, in his charming Glaswegian accent, after I had made the same mistake yet again. The same might apply to petrochemicals where maybe, just maybe, shutting down capacity […]
Reliance makes it next move in quest for LyondellBasell
By Malini Hariharan It is not surprising to read that Reliance Industries has raised its offer for LyondellBasell by $1bn to $14.5bn. The blog had been told last month that a higher offer was one of the strategic moves that Reliance would have to make. The Wall Street Journal reports the new Reliance offer would […]
Map Ta Phut pressure mounts
By Malini Hariharan PTT Chem is likely to miss its revenue growth target of 20% this year because of the Map Ta Phut crisis. The company had set a 2010 revenue target of about Baht100bn (US$3bn), up from Baht80bn in 2009, reports the Bangkok Post. As reported by this blog last month, suspension of parent […]
Douple-dip Appears To Have Begun
By John Richardson The start of the next dip in what this blog has long thought would be a double-dip economic crisis looks as if it could have begun. If not now, it’s going to happen at some point because of major global imbalances. What’s worrying right now is the combination of: *Potentially weaker demand […]
Liveris on the chemical cycle, Dow’s asset-light strategy and Ras Tanura
By Malini Hariharan I have been reading a transcript of Dow Chemical’s Q4 2009 earnings call and here are some interesting comments made by Andrew Liveris, the company’s ceo. Despite recording revenue and volume growth in 2009 Liveris was cautious on the outlook for 2010 citing an uncertain economic environment. But constraints in Middle East […]
Braskem makes its first US move; acquires Sunoco PP assets
By Malini Hariharan Less then a week after the blog had highlighted Braskem’s plans for global growth through acquisitions the company has announced that it will buy the polypropylene (PP) assets of US-based Sunoco. The $350m deal, still subject to regulatory approvals, gives Braskem 950,000 tonnes/year of US capacity and makes it the third largest […]
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