Source: Petroleum Institute of Thailand By John Richardson THERE is a lot of excitement about the self-sustaining nature of Southeast Asia’s (SEA) economy thanks to, for example, nine consecutive quarters of GDP growth of more than 6% in Indonesia and rising domestic consumption across the region. But, as we discuss in this Insight article […]
Asian Chemical Connections
PE Middle East Offers Keep Falling
By John Richardson POLYOLEFIN markets are not going to bottom out until August-September at the earliest, according to several producers and traders who the blog spoke to yesterday. And even if prices do eventually stop declining, confidence has all but disappeared that there will be any substantial recovery in either pricing or demand for the […]
Chems Trade Finance Threat
By John Richardson NEW banking regulations could severely restrict the ability of small and medium-sized (SMEs) companies to access trade finance. This would hit Asia particularly hard, as the majority of chemicals and polymer business involves SMEs. Under the Basel III regulations, due to be phased in from next year, a three-month trade finance loan will […]
Japan Disaster: Immediate Petchem, Refining Impact
By John Richardson THE earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on Friday afternoon is still hard to take in. We send our sympathy to everyone connected with this disaster and just hope and pray that the rescue efforts go exceptionally well. As Japan returns to work this morning it will confront the huge cost of […]
Chemicals And Polymer Prices Behave As We Predicted
By John Richardson AS the blog had anticipated would happen, there were sharp retreats in some chemicals and polymers pricing late last week on the steep declines in equity and crude prices. Polyethylene (PE) fell by $70-130/tonne, according to our colleagues at ICIS pricing, as the Dalian Commodity Exchange once again demonstrated that it has become […]
Asian Polyolefin Trade Slows on Free-Trade Muddle
By John Richardson Polyolefin shipments have been held up in ports by lack of awareness among customs officers at some ports in Southeast Asia over how to implement new free-trade deals, an industry source told us. It seems highly likely that the same applies to other chemicals and polymer cargoes. The Association of Southeast Asian […]
Philippines cracker – revival of an epic saga
By Malini Hariharan Some projects never die. JG Summit has been planning a cracker since 1995 but has always had problems in securing funding. The project was revived in 2005 even as questions were raised about its viability. It would help JG Summit secure feedstock for its polyethylene and polypropylene plants, but how would it […]
Concerned about the Asean FTA? There’s not much you can do about it.
The implementation of a zero-tariff regime in Asean from 1 Jauary 2010 has raised concerns among polymer producers in Indonesia and the Philippines about intense competition from Singapore and Thailand leading to a erosion in market shares. Producers from these two countries are lobbying to defer or block implementation of zero tariffs. But a trade […]
China Export Gains Raise Sustainability Fears
Source of picture: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23512037/ CHINA is making export gains at the expense of other higher-cost competitors that might not be sustainable because of reasons including rising trade protectionism and economic rebalancing. Chemical companies need to factor in this risk – and take into account how overall demand might merely be shifting location […]
The Philippines: Left With the Crumbs
“Here’s your entire allocation for this month” Source of Picture: Adammakwright.wordpress In the words of a plastics converter from the Philippines: “Markets are so tight at the moment that we are left to pick up the crumbs. Suppliers are concentrating almost entirely on China.” The converters have been waiting for so long for the great […]
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