By John Richardson THE potential returns from LG Chem’s electric battery and electronic materials are tremendous and are leading to some bullish forecasts from analysts as to future earnings. What will be interesting, though, is what will be the main driver of profitability for the South Korean major over the next few years – […]
Asian Chemical Connections
South Korea To Raise C2 Capacity By 9.2 Percent
By John Richardson SOUTH Korea is set to raise its ethylene and propylene capacities by 700,000 tonne/year and 740,000 tonne/year by 2013, Seo Kyung Sun, executive director of the consulting business of Seoul-based Chemical Market Research Inc (CMRI) told the blog last week. Downstream expansions in polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) […]
Polyolefins Supply Surge Warning – Yet Again
By John Richardson A GREAT deal more polyolefins supply is expected to hit the Asian markets over the next few months resulting in what two chemicals analysts tell the blog will be depressed margins up until March next year. After that the analysts – one in Singapore and the other in South Korea – predict […]
Flood Of LPG Supply On The Way
Here is another article on the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market, a subject we have covererd several times on the blog over the last few months. Below we discuss how the temporary supply constraints that have kept LPG tight this year look set to end, creating a very attractive feedstock option for higher-cost Asian cracker […]
Supercycle Claims Dismissed
By John Richardson THE Morgan Stanley Supercycle report, which we first blogged on last Friday, has created a big stir among the blog’s contacts. Click herefor a copy of the report RI_PETROCHEM_BLUEPAPER2010.pdf As we said in this ICIS news article on both the Morgan Stanley report, and one from Merrill Lynch which is in a similar […]
Making Everyone Feel A Little Bit Middle Class
Far more choices now… Source of picture: www.mhhe.com/business By John Richardson THE nature of demand growth in emerging markets is a subject the blog has paid some attention to over the last few weeks. Taking advantage of this growth will require the ability to innovate in order to tap into the huge opportunities […]
Petrochemicals Supercycle On The Way – Morgan Stanley
Watch out for the charging bulls… Source of picture: sbynewsblogspot.com By John Richardson A FEW senior industry executives told the blog as long as a year ago that a petrochemicals supercycle was on the way as a result of lack of new supply post-2011 and booming emerging markets demand growth. The babble of […]
Howling At the Moon And PE Price Discussions
Source of piicture: worldofstock.com By John Richardson CHINA’S surprise decision earlier this week to raise interest rates – the first rate rises since December 2007 – has badly dented sentiment in the polyethylene (PE) market, said a source with a Western producer. But estimates of price direction based on […]
More LPG For Petrochemicals – Eventually!
By John Richardson In theory there should be an additional 20-30m tonne/year of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) coming on-stream between 2008-2012, according to Petrochemical Corp of Singapore (PCS) – the Singapore Jurong Island-based cracker operator. This could lead to 5-10m tonne/year more LPG being cracked if the pricing incentives are right, added PCS in a […]
No Going Back, But Don’t Expect Smooth Ride
Cloth nappies?….you have to be kidding Source of picture: babygavin.com By John Richardson IT IS the biggest transformation that the global economy has probably ever undergone, resulting in numerous opportunities and challenges for the chemicals industry as emerging markets continue to boom. The obvious opportunity is for those who can meet […]
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