By John Richardson IF exploration and production (E&P) is the dog and refining the tail on the dog, poor old petrochemicals is merely a flee on the tail of the dog, goes the old saying. Hence last November we reported on the strange case of how China’s drive to hit emissions targets under its 11th […]
Asian Chemical Connections
China Remains Weak On Government Tightening
By John Richardson CHINA’S polyethylene (PE) market – a reasonable proxy we often use for the chemicals and polymer industries as a whole – remains worryingly weak, according to several traders and producers interviewed by the blog this week. Modest restocking did take place last week, leading to a very slight improvement in sentiment and […]
Opportunities Can Vanish Before You Know It
By John Richardson “Just when you think it is the right time to make an investment case to a board of directors, the particular opportunity you have been studying has an annoying habit of disappearing,” said a business development manager for a global polyolefins producer. His comments reflect the increasingly complex world in which we […]
Asian C2 Muddle Reflects Wider Uncertainty
By John Richardson ASIAN ethylene markets appear to be in a muddle over the Middle East supply picture. Click here for a graph of the latest pricing – EhylenePrices1March2011.ppt A shipping industry source we spoke to recently insisted that more rather than less C2s were being exported from the region as opposed to the reduced […]
Petchems Confront Another Lehman Bros
By John Richardson THE main issue facing Asian cracker operators a couple of weeks ago was how long co-product credits would continue to compensate for a moribund China polyethylene (PE) market. Feedstock cost is now the biggest immediate worry. A hike in naphtha saw integrated low-density PE (LDPE) margins plummet by $172/tonne, according to the […]
European petchems could be tempted to overproduce
By John Richardson EUROPEAN refiners are “awash with naphtha” as a result of long-term structural length and a lack of arbitrage, a petrochemicals feedstock purchasing manager told the blog yesterday. The decline in US gasoline demand (according to most experts consumption in the States peaked in December 2007 and has been falling ever since) has […]
Job-hopping Causes Post-New Year Demand Dip
Chinese workers are on the hop…. Source of picture: advanced-fibre.com By John Richardson CHINA’S polyolefin demand in the few days of proper trading that have taken place since the Lunar New Year has been described as “horrendous” and “grim” by two traders the blog spoke to yesterday. This was confirmed by a source […]
Saudi Producers Remain Confident
By John Richardson THE optimism of Saudi Arabian petrochemical producers remains extremely high, according to an industry observer who spoke to the blog. One might think we were to some extent stating the blatantly obvious as their margins will have swelled thanks to higher oil prices. But there is also little concern among the producers […]
Saudi Oil And Gas Supply – Anyone’s Guess
By John Richardson SAUDI Arabia’s crude-oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 40% or 300bn barrels, according to this article on February 8 in the Guardian, based on cables between Saudi and US diplomats obtained by Wikileaks. The blog the Oil Drum used the occasion of the article to […]
What an excellent boss
By John Richardson VERY occasionally the blog deviates from its close coverage of petrochemical markets to focus on broader business issues. Today is one such occasion after a discussion with a manager of a major Asian chemicals trading operation. The manager is convinced that the good times are behind us, to refer back to the […]
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