By John Richardson THE global growth outlook grows ever murkier as a result of credit tightening in China (or is the problem instead continued strong growth in lending?), inflation problems throughout Asia, possible monetary tightening in the West, the direction of oil prices and the Japanese tsunami-earthquake. We feel that this is making the rest […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Was NPRA Off The Mark On China?
By John Richardson I HAVE been speaking to my colleagues who attended this week’s NPRA conference in San Antonio, Texas, and it didn’t appear from discussions during the event that a potential slowdown in China was high on anyone’s radar screen. In fact, for many of the delegates it didn’t seem to be blinking on […]
China Quiet Market Persists
By John Richardson LACK of credit and inflation are becoming even greater problems in China, which is reflected in polyolefin markets that remain very quiet indeed. “It is ice cold out there with very little activity. Importers are waiting and hoping for some kind of improvement,” a Singapore-based polyolefin trader told the blog today. A […]
Shale gas spurs optimism but questions remain
By Malini Hariharan The mood at this year’s International Petrochemical Conference, hosted by the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (NPRA) in San Antonio,US, is quite bullish and is evident in the reports being filed by the blog’s colleagues on ICIS news. An improvement in profitability and increased availability of ethane has prompted companies such as […]
Middle East Social Pressures & Gas Supply
By John Richardson THE blog held a fascinating discussion with a very well-placed industry observer last week, further underlining some of the key challenges facing the Middle East.. These include the well-documented feedstock shortages that will result in a dearth of new capacity post 2012 – and the difficulty in executing the few projects that […]
Japan Disaster: Plants and markets update
By Malini Hariharan Japan’s benzene supply is expected to drop by 10% following plant shutdowns and diversion of product for gasoline blending, reports my colleague Mahua Chakravarty. This works out to about 40,000 tonnes/month, which is lower than the initial estimate of 100,000 tonnes/month made immediately after the earthquake. Traders have started booking cargoes from […]
China PE Re-exported To Europe
By John Richardson CHINA’S polyethylene (PE) market is in such a bad state that re-exports are now being considered to Europe. The wide disparity between a flat China market and strong pricing in European has created this exceptionally rare arbitrage opportunity, which, according to an industry observer “has happened before, many moons ago, but not […]
Japan Disaster – Update On Lost Production
By John Richardson and Nigel Davis THE humanitarian side of this disaster is foremost in everyone’s minds with more than 18,000 people now estimated to have died in the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Of equal concern is the crisis at the country’s stricken nuclear power plants which the International Atomic Agency describes as “very serious”. […]
European Petchems & Future Competitiveness
By John Richardson Dear Reader We hope and pray that the nuclear crisis in Japan will be resolved and that the rebuilding process following the earthquake and tsunami can be begin. My colleagues at ICIS news are doing a comprehensive job in covering the disaster in terms of how it is affecting the petrochemicals industry […]
Japan Disaster – Plants update
By Malini Hariharan More companies are reporting damages to facilities after last week’s earthquake and tsunami. Mitsubishi Chemical said in a statement that berths, roads and infrastructure around the plant area at its Kashima site have been damaged and delivery or shipment of cargo “would be next to impossible”. “Restoration of capabilities will take quite […]
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