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Asian Chemical Connections

A Delicate Balancing Act

XI Jinping (see picture), the country’s new president, is being described either as a nationalist, who has set China on an overly aggressive course or as someone who will skilfully and harmoniously guide the nation through major domestic and international reforms. According to Robert Lawrence Kuhn , an international investment banker and author, Xi’s nationalism, or […]

The 10th ICIS Innovation Awards

The deadline of 3 July is closing in fast for entries to the 10th ICIS Innovation Awards, designed to reward innovation, environmental advances and sustainability in the global chemical industry. If you want a chance to win extensive coverage in ICIS Chemical Business and receive industry-wide recognition for your hard-won innovations as they enter the […]

China Will Do What Suits China

By John Richardson CHINA might well be in the midst of deflation caused by overcapacity in some chemicals, and in many other industries as well, but the longer-term strategic direction of reducing dependence on imports doesn’t appear to have changed. An indication of this was this story from my colleague Lilian Hua at ICIS. She […]

China’s Cancer Villages

Source of picture: Wikispaces.   By John Richardson CHINA has as many as 400 “cancer villages”, with many of the cancer clusters being blamed on the chemicals industry. Much of the nation’s countryside – the source of China’s food supply – is contaminated with toxic chemicals, it is claimed. Experts estimate that there has been an 80% increase […]

US Energy Supply: Morning In America

Source: ICIS Chemical Business   By John Richardson SEVEN grassroots crackers are now being planned in the US, along with numerous ethylene derivatives facilities (see the above table). The mood at last month’s the 38th American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) International Petrochemical meeting (IPC) in San Antonio, Texas, was incredibly buoyant on record current […]

Xi Jingping’s Challenges

By John Richardson XI Jinping, who formally became China’s president last week during the National People’s Congress meeting, faces enormous challenges. Life is, for example, pretty grim for hundreds of millions of people in China. Many have lost out on the country’s “economic miracle” because a hugely disproportionate share of the country’s wealth has ended […]

US LNG Projects Up In The Air

By John Richardson THE US petrochemicals industry is battling hard to block an explosion in liquefied natural gas (LNG) investments that they fear would result in a rise in ethane, propane and butane feedstock costs. Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical, raised this issue in December, but the pressure from the industry on legislators responsible […]

US Petchems “Double Peak” Theory

Wall Street rounding up investors? Source of picture: Rex Features   In a guest blog post, Joseph Chang, the global editor of our magazine, ICIS Chemical Business, echoes our own concerns that it is getting very frothy out there. The “this time it will be different” school of thought sems to be controlling the sentiment […]

US Shale Row Flares UP

Sorry for the corny headline; we couldn’t resist it.   By John Richardson THE argument that the switch to natural gas from coal and oil is good for the environment has been further undermined by reports earlier this week of the big increase in the amount of gas-flaring in the US. When the blog visited […]

PTA Price Decline Reflects Realities

By John Richardson The end of the eight-week long bull-run in China’s purified terephthalic acid (PTA) pricing might well indicate a wider problem about to beset other petrochemicals: Reality undermining the positive sentiment of the early part of this year. “PTA prices surged by 10% from early November to early January, mainly led by a […]

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