To follow all the breaking news on the crisis and the implications for petrochemicals and energy markets, please click here for the ICIS subscription topic page. If you need a trial of ICIS news, please let me know. By John Richardson WHETHER OIL PRICES will rise to a high of $135/bbl – the worst-case warning highlighted in […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Ukraine-Russia: Assessing petrochemical demand losses
To follow all the breaking news on the crisis and the implications for petrochemicals and energy markets, please click here for the ICIS subscription topic page. If you need a trial of ICIS news, please let me know. By John Richardson NOW THAT an invasion has started, the critical issue for petrochemicals companies is whether they can […]
Ukraine-Russia, polyethylene and no end to history
To follow all the breaking news on the crisis and the implications for petrochemicals and energy markets, please click here for the ICIS subscription topic page. If you need a trial of ICIS news, please let me know. By John Richardson FRANCIS FUKAYAMA famously wrote about the “end of history” after the Berlin Wall came […]
Petrochemicals transition to Net Zero to result in new margin and cost curve drivers
The petrochemicals or chemicals (depending what you prefer) transition to Net Zero is both connected and different from the energy transition for reasons I’ll detail in a series of blog posts, starting today with a few headline thoughts on how global margin and cost curve positions my change over the next few years – and […]
New scenarios for 2022 US PE exports as volatility and uncertainty increase even further
By John Richardson CONFUSED? If so, you are fully across what’s happening in the global polyethylene (PE) market. Anyone who isn’t confused is likely taking a vacation on Mars with no means of communicating with Planet Earth. The chart below is a case in point. What you can see from the data are actual US […]
China LDPE: Final review for 2021 and outlook for the rest of this year
Today I complete my series of posts on China’s polyolefins markets in 2021 with outlooks for 2022. This post focuses on low-density polyethylene (LDPE), following my earlier posts on polypropylene (PP), high-density PE (HDPE) and linear low-density PE (LLDPE). By John Richardson DO YOU want the good news or the bad news first? This is […]
Carbon and plastic waste: sorting workable solutions from the confusion and complexity
By John Richardson THE GREAT NEWS, as I discussed last month, is that the more 100 countries, including the US, are thought to favour a treaty being proposed at the next UN Environment Assembly that would set targets for reducing plastic waste in the environment. A date in has now been set for the meeting […]
China’s LLDPE market: final review for 2021 and further outlook for this year
China’s LLDPE demand grew by just 1% last year, below market expectations, with further 2022 downward pressure likely on Common Prosperity and Zero COVID
Calling all petchem C-suites: Key summary of China risks and opportunities
By John Richardson AS ALL THE CLAMOUR builds about inflation and rising energy costs – and absolutely, of course, these are major challenges which I shalll address in later posts – there’s a danger the petrochemicals industry will lose focus on charts such as the one above, courtesy of the pH Report. I am still […]
China HDPE: Final review of 2021 and a further outlook for this year
Following on from my final review of China’s polypropylene (PP) markets in 2021 , along with a further outlook for the rest of this year, see below the same for high-density polyethylene (HDPE). I will complete the picture with reviews and outlooks for linear-low density PE (LLDPE) and low-density PE (LDPE) next week. By John […]
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