The big oil, gas and petrochemicals companies have already started planning for how the world will look after we have conquered the virus. What follows is therefore one scenario for how the petrochemicals world might look. I hope it helps to stimulate and challenge your thinking. These are my personal views only and not the […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Focus of petchems business must be on meeting medical and food needs
By John Richardson SEVERAL contacts have said to me over the last two weeks that increased medical and food security demand for petrochemicals is a distraction from coming to terms with the huge collapse in demand for all of our products that go into the durable goods which people are no longer buying. I agree […]
Be very, very cautious about buying into the idea of a Q2 crude price rally
By John Richardson IT IS the unprecedented nature of the demand shock that’s the thing, regardless of how much Saudi Arabia and Russia might cut crude production. In the old world, big production cutbacks would often result in a sustained rise in oil prices. But that was when there was normal demand. With some 3bn […]
No business as usual despite re-ordering of global polyethylene competitiveness
By John Richardson THERE ARE sadly no business as usual scenarios, in my view. Under normal circumstances with the collapse of oil prices, the European and Asian naphtha cracker players would be in a position to come roaring back. The above chart shows how, on a variable cost basis in HDPE (and it’s the same […]
Vital work to maintain petrochemicals supply for essential services must continue
By John Richardson INDUSTRY associations around the world are lobbying governments about the importance of the petrochemical industry for vital services beyond just the obvious production of hygiene products, face masks, pill bottles and disposable plastic bed sheets etc. This vital work needs to continue as the petrochemicals business is not fully understood by many […]
Coronavirus: The new ten-point guide for the petrochemicals industry
By John Richardson EARLIER THIS month I provided you with a ten-point guide for the impact of coronavirus on the petrochemicals industry. There have been many, many changes since then. Here is the latest version: The number One priority is employees and their well-being. Their psychological and emotional as well as physical needs will be […]
European polyethylene and coronavirus: Panic buying versus the real demand outlook
By John Richardson NOW that the epicentre of the virus has moved to Europe, we need to think through what this means for the region’s petrochemicals demand. As usual, I am going to focus on polyethylene (PE). But what follows can also be applied to other polymers that are heavily used in packaging applications such […]
Sustained collapse in oil prices: Effect on petrochemicals and the global economy
By John Richardson IT COULD be a game of chicken designed to pull Russia back to the negotiating table and the Saudis might win the game. This is how you could be interpreting the Saudi decision to raise oil production and offer aggressive discounts to customers following last week’s failure by OPEC to agree cuts […]
Coronavirus: No recovery in petrochemicals likely until end-2020 and here are ten reasons why
By John Richardson HERE IS your print-out-and-keep 10-point guide, summarising the key themes I’ve covered over the last two weeks with important updates. I hope this helps your petrochemicals business in its planning process. Before we begin, I am afraid to say that we have probably lost a year’s worth of demand growth.Growth likely to […]
Coronavirus: Global polyolefins cutbacks seem inevitable on major China demand loss
We all hope that the coronavirus outbreak will soon be brought under control, that’s the main thing, and my sympathies and concerns go out to my good friends and everyone else in China. It also important to also think, as a secondary and less important issue, of the business risks, and I hope my latest […]