Bradford and Bingley, UK, auto industry, consumer spending, plastic packaging, financial meltdown
Asian Chemical Connections
Tainted food hits polymer sales
Cadbury, China civil unrest, financial meltdown, Tainted food
The big challenges
As delegates gather for this year’s European Petrochemical Association meeting in the unreal world of Monaco (unreal for the 99.9 per cent recurring of us who don’t own Ferraris), I thought it was worth summarising some of the issues discussed on this blog over the last few months. We’ve dealt with: *Oil-price volatility and the […]
Historic polyolefin market collapse
polyolefin market collapse, financial meltdown, financial rescue package, oil-supply crisis,
A drowning man will clutch onto anything
Peak Oil, Deutsche Bank, gas pricing, coal-o-chemicals, coal gasification, PetroRabigh, Saudi Aramco, Sumitomo Chemical
Japan’s corporate hero
manga, Japanese conformism, losing face, Lost Decade
Crazy money breeds new thinking
This article from The New Scientist suggests we might have to develop a whole new way of asssesing what drives all commodity markets. Intuitively, everyone knows that the herd instinct matters. But to measure this mathematically, or statistically, seems a mountainous but fascinating challenge. At least it will keep the a few academics off the […]
The search for more basic petrochemicals
Very interesting speech from Alan Kirkley, Vice President of Strategy and Portfolio for Shell Chemicals, which first of all goes over the predictable ground of where we are in the cycle and the threat from the Middle East. However, he then makes the valid point – which I made earlier this week – that the […]
History will surely repeat itself
The mood at the recent NPRA International Petrochemical Conference in San Antonio, Texas, was mixed, despite all the economic gloom. Some producers said they were still making money – especially those selling into manufacturing sectors benefiting from a rise in exports due to the weak dollar. What’s certain, of course, though is that things will […]
Is the last margin grab over?
Shortly after I wrote this article (see below) on the doom and gloom surrounding China polyolefins markets, hey presto, prices rallied and I was wondering whether I needed to be wiping egg off my face. But shortly after the slight rally occurred, a polyolefins trade told me it was likely to be the last margin […]
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