By John Richardson NEW banking regulations could severely restrict the ability of small and medium-sized (SMEs) companies to access trade finance. This would hit Asia particularly hard, as the majority of chemicals and polymer business involves SMEs. Under the Basel III regulations, due to be phased in from next year, a three-month trade finance loan will […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Confidence Is Often Relative
By John Richardson CONFIDENCE can be very relative. So, compared with late Q4 last year when global cracker and derivatives markets ground to a virtual halt, perhaps it was inevitable that January would see some kind of rebound in the industry’s mood. Deep operating rate cuts in Northeast Asia have been a factor behind this […]
Operating rate cuts the only option
By Malini Hariharan News of operating rate cuts is pouring in. Crackers in Japan, Taiwan and parts of southeast Asia have been running at reduced rates of 80-90% in October. But now there is also talk of rate cuts at crackers in South Korea. More importantly, a Sinopec source confirmed yesterday that the Chinese major […]
Buying resumes but will it last?
By Malini Hariharan A spurt in polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) buying in China over the last few days has raised hopes among sellers that the market has bottomed out and prices should rise in the coming weeks. After hand-to-mouth buying for the last three months buyers are said to be replenishing stocks which should […]
China Tries To Transform Itself
By John Richardson CAN China succeed in transforming its economy from one which is over-reliant on exports to one where domestic consumption is a much bigger driver of growth? And how long will this process take and in the interim, can we expect a few years of lower GDP (gross domestic product) growth? As delegates […]
Last chance for Taiwan petchems
By Malini Hariharan The Taiwanese government is once again talking of removing a ban on cracker investments by Taiwanese companies on the mainland. The country’s minister of economic affairs said late last week that the government is willing to consider lifting the ban provided certain conditions are met. Taiwanese companies must have a controlling stake […]
Formosa up but not out of the woods yet
By Malini Hariharan Operations at the Formosa group of companies in Mailiao, Taiwan, are slowly resuming but the group faces an uphill task in regaining public and government confidence in its ability to run plants safely. There have been seven accidents in the last twelve months with two fires at the Mailiao complex in July. […]
Chem Companies And The Oil Delusion
By Nigel Davis and John Richardson On the financial markets it depends when investors feel confident enough to step back into shares. An analyst on Tuesday asked who would be willing to catch a falling knife? But there are already indications of a mini-rally following the slump on global markets of the past week. Stock […]
Formosa’s troubles deepen, markets rally on supply concerns
By Malini Hariharan The latest accident at Formosa Petrochemical Corp’s (FPCC) refinery at Mailiao, Taiwan, on Sunday is adding to the bullish sentiment in markets for key petrochemicals. A fire in the propylene recovery unit has forced the company to close its 540,000 bbls/day refinery and related facilities, including two residual fluid catalytic cracking units […]
MEG reacts to Taiwan developments
By Malini Hariharan Spot monoethylene glycol (MEG) markets have quickly reacted to news that Nan Ya Plastics, an affiliate of the Formosa Plastics Group, has been ordered by the Taiwanese government to shut down two plants. Prices surged by $15-30/tonne to $1,140-1,160/tonne CFR China, reports the blog’s colleague Becky Zhang on ICIS news. Nan Ya […]
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