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 […]
Asian Chemical Connections
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 […]
Ethylene Margin Feast On Borrowed Time
By John Richardson A remarkable feature of early 2010 has been the tremendous margins enjoyed by Asian ethylene producers. Profitability in February, up until the end of the second week, had been the strongest since 2001, according to my colleagues who produce the weekly Asian Ethylene and Polyethylene (PE) Margin Reports. We will provide some […]
Asian Aromatics Crawl Towards Post-Chinese New Year
A roar or a whimper? Source of picture: http://break4fun.zarke.net By John Richardson THE ASIAN aromatics market has had “both its legs chopped off below the knees, and has also had its proverbial hands broken,” said an Asian-based petrochemicals consultant today. “As a result, we are crawling in a great deal of pain towards what […]
China Polyolefin Inventories Surge
A post-Chinese New Year dream…. Source of picture: http://www.scsa.net.au/ By John Richardson The large amount of polyolefins delivered to China over the past few months is causing further head-scratching and anxiety among producers and traders. One view, well rehearsed previously on this blog, is that this is further evidence of a speculative bubble […]
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 […]
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 […]
What’s behind the delays and operating troubles?
By Malini Hariharan With start-up delays, commissioning issues and operating troubles becoming increasingly common across the Middle East and many parts of Asia, I have been asking industry players on what they think are the major issues that companies are facing. At the top of the list is the shortage of skilled manpower. We have […]
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 […]
Jump to page: