Martin Brudermüller Source of picture: BASF By John Richardson “THE struggle over China’s future direction seems to be harder fought than we had imagined,” said BASF vice chairman Martin Brudermüller last Thursday, in a German newspaper interview. “There are very intensive discussions being held in China about the direction the country should take. […]
Asian Chemical Connections
A Polyolefin Trader’s Perspective
By John Richardson Word for word, see below what an Asian polyolefins trader told us yesterday: “This year has been absolutely terrible, the worst I can remember in eight years in this business, and even worse than 2008. There is just no demand out there. “There was supposed to be a recovery after the Chinese […]
Honam’s next expansion
By Malini Hariharan Honam Petrochemical’s plans for Indonesia appear to be progressing. Company sources told ICIS news yesterday that a feasibility study is underway for a $4-5bn petrochemical complex in Southeast Asia with Indonesia the most likely location. The study is likely to be completed by early 2013. Meanwhile, Indonesia media quoted senior managing director […]
PTT Global’s latest buy and Siam Cement’s Indonesia plan
By Malini Hariharan There have been no headline-grabbing deals but bit by bit PTT Global Chemical is extending its business beyond Asia and entering new product areas. Yesterday, PTT Global announced plans for a joint venture with Perstorp Holding France in toluene diisocyanate (TDI), aliphatic isocynates such as hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) and derivatives. PTT Global […]
Not All Plastics Are Born Equal
DSM’s Dyneema replaces steel in offshore ropes Source of picture: offshore-technology.com By John Richardson THE polyethylene (PE) shopping bags that get thrown away in their millions every day are some considerable distance down the value chain from DSM’s Dyneema ultra-high molecular weight PE (UHMWPE for short). Applications for Dyneema® include stopping bullets (it is […]
Siam Cement set for next Indonesian buy
By Malini Hariharan After picking up a 30% stake in Chandra Asri, the Siam Cement Group (SCG) is looking to seal its next Indonesian buy. Two companies, SCG and Japan’s Itochu Corp, are reported to have advanced to the second round of bidding for chlor-alkali and vinyls producer Sulfindo Adisuha. The deal is expected to […]
There Is No Going Back
By John Richardson “IF we build polymer capacity in India the demand will come,” a very senior industry executive told the blog last year. He amplified this statement by explaining that greater availability of plastics would always stimulate strong demand growth for low-end packaging materials etc in emerging markets in general, as the poor became […]
Siam Cement eyes big Indonesian buy
By Malini Hariharan Confirmation has come in from the Siam Cement Group (SCG) that it is in the race to acquire stakes in two Indonesian companies – Chandra Asri and Sulfindo Adiusaha. “We are interested in both firms in Indonesia as petrochemicals are SCG’s core business. But we cannot disclose anything at the moment because […]
Chandra Asri stake up for sale?
By Malini Hariharan Indonesia’s sole cracker operator Chandra Asri faces yet another ownership change with Singapore’s Temasek Holding reported to be looking at divesting its stake in the company. The news report in the Wall Street Journal said several companies from Thailand, South Korea and Japan have shown interest in Temasek’s stake, including Thailand’s PTT […]
The View From Ground Level Is Different
By John Richardson The macroeconomic headwinds are building, making it hard for some of those at the ground level in Asian polyolefin markets to foresee anything but fragile and tough trading conditions. This is in marked contrast to the fairly optimistic outlook presented by some of the big, well-integrated and differentiated chemicals and polymer companies […]
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