A Famous Ditherer Source of picture: sarafinewordpress.com Chasing higher oil prices and/or a response to the now long-running recovery in Chinese demand that’s become sustainable? Not wanting to sound too much like the start of a famous Shakespeare soliloquy, these are the questions that should be wracking everyone’s brains as they try to figure […]
Asian Chemical Connections
China and M-E Delays To Offer More Market Support
As this updated table from my colleagues at CBI in China illustrates, cracker-complex delays in China have the potential to further stagger the arrival of new volumes into the market. Chinanewcapacitytable.doc This follows the widespread problems in starting up new capacity in the Middle East. The 800,000 tonne/year Fujian Petrochemical/ExxonMobil/Saudi Aramco cracker is on-stream, […]
China’s chemical imports up – again!
By John Richardson We don’t have the actual data yet (hopefully, we’ll be able to give you the numbers later this week), but…… ……China’s commodity chemicals and polymer imports “continued to amaze” in September with monoethylene glycol (MEG) shipments hitting an all-time high, said Jean Sudol, president of US-based International Trader Publications Inc (ITP). “Imports […]
All’s well in South Korea – for now
By Malini Hariharan (Malini is now joint blogger for Asian Chemical Connections) South Korean petchem majors are expected to post another quarter of bumper earnings thanks to high operating rates and strong sales volumes. A Seoul-based equity research analyst think this year could well turn out to be a bonus. He expects the fourth quarter […]
Chemical execs go long on realism
Offsetting the risk of being over-optimistic? Source of picture: thetradingpit.net MAYBE there should futures contracts in realism versus recklessness. That way any senior company executive who wants to take a punt on next year being better than 2009 can offset the risk by going “realistic” on the futures markets – and, of course, vice […]
Thai project delays good news for markets, but…..
….what do these environmental issues mean for Thailand as an investment destination? The Map Ta Phut refinery-petrochemicals complex Source of picture: Pattaya News By Malini Hariharan (Malini is now joint blogger for Asian Chemical Connections) Here’s yet another unexpected project delay that could prop up markets in the fourth quarter. […]
China’s consumption growth challenge
“China, please please do what we did and spend what you might not be able to afford…” Source of picture: The Daily Maily Whether or not China’s pace of economic recovery will be maintained would have become an intensely boring topic of discussion if it wasn’t so important for all our livelihoods. More data specific […]
Dalian Swings In Favour Of The Buyers
Polyolefin producers doing RMB business in China were delighted when price increases on the Dalian Commodity Exchange linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) futures contract started leading the physical market on the way up. “We used the exchange to justify charging higher prices for real deals because in the heady days of February-early August the general trend […]
How do Asian cracker operators compete?
Source of Picture: www.autospies.com Not an easy answer and not one much suited to a few paragraphs of blogging. But here’s one thought as the competitive environment becomes a great deal more difficult due to new Middle East capacity and the potential for China to move towards self-sufficiency in polyethylene and polypropylene: Have a chat […]
Is Dalian setting the markets?
Make your own mind up about the role of the Dalian Commodity Exchange linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) futures contracts from the interviews below. The first quote is from Sinopec – from an ICIS news story. There then follows my interviews with a major Asian producer and a consultant based in Asia. […]
Jump to page: