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Asian Chemical Connections

India’s petchem projects dilemma

By Malini Hariharan I have been doing my annual exercise of compiling major petrochemicals projects in India and as usual there not too many. Making a case for investing in a cracker in India has never been easy and the task continues to be difficult despite the demand growth experienced in the last few years. […]

What’s next for Reliance?

By Malini Hariharan Reliance Industries appears to have hit the end of the road in its quest for LyondellBasell which has filed its own restructuring plan, rejecting a $14.5bn Reliance offer. LyondellBasell has said the Reliance offer was not “sufficiently valuable to abandon” its amended reorganisation plan. “The proposal…did not assure a higher overall value […]

SEA Chemicals Need To Learn From The Past

By John Richardson THE whinging is getting almost unbearable in Southeast Asia over the Asean-China Free-Trade Agreement (ACFTA). The deal was under discussion for EIGHT years and yet chemicals and polymer producers and customers seem to have left it until after-the-fact to start raising objections. Indonesian industry association representatives have gone as far as to […]

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 […]

India growth story – Part 3

By Malini Hariharan Some numbers today on Indian polyolefin and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) demand growth during April-December 2009. The strong growth trend noticed in the early part of last year continued and belied earlier expectations of a slowdown because of a drought over parts of India. PVC and polypropylene (PP) recorded the fastest growth rates […]

The Indian growth story – part 2

By Malini Hariharan A few weeks back I had written about robust demand growth figures emerging from the Indian polymer market. I will be posting some numbers over the next few days but ahead of that I would like to highlight what industry players have been saying on the major growth drivers and also developments […]

Dear Mr Ambani – or can I call you Mukesh?…..

    Source of picture: http://www.twelveatthetop.uku.co.uk/page18.htm     …I see from this news report – – that you have denied claims of your interest in buying Liverpool Football Club. If, perhaps, you do have any interest in buying an English football club may I turn your attention slightly eastward to the wonderful city of Leeds […]

China Latest Credit Tightening Blow To Chemicals

By John Richardson CHINA’S decision to temporarily halt lending by some banks – which was announced yesterday – as it attempts to further cool the economy will likely have a significant effect on chemicals demand and pricing. This follows last week’s decision to raise bank reserve requirements and two increases in the inter-bank lending rate […]

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