Source of picture: http://www.intentblog.com By John Richardson and Malini Hariharan THE view from a particular geography, grade of polyolefin or end-use application might be distorting the outlook for 2011. In China and India and other emerging markets demand growth continues to astound and even though the rates of expansion might have slowed down […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Iran Sanctions Lead To Illegal Shipments Claim
Source of picture: http://www.westernesa.com/ By John Richardson AN allegation has been made that traders could be changing bills of lading on cargoes of a certain liquids chemical being shipped out of Iran in an effort to get round tougher international sanctions. “What is I suspect is happening is that a cargo loaded in Iran […]
Saudi Arabia: The Implications Of Going Downstream
An example of how Lexan solar control IR sheets (made by SABIC Innovative Plastics) can be put to use Source of picture: SABIC By John Richardson SAUDI ARABIA is busy reshaping its petrochemical industry to reflect a drastic shift in priorities. Such is the change in the kingdom that commentators are going so as […]
China, Russia To Boost Iranian Ethylene Trade?
Iran’s South Pars gas field Source of picture: www.petropars.com By John Richardson THE ability of Iran to further exploit its huge natural gas reserves – and in so doing maintain ethylene exports at constant levels throughout the year – now appears to hinge on Chinese investment (Western companies have withdrawn from the Iranian energy […]
European Polyolefins: The Luxury of Unintended Consequences
Another excuse for a Dylan picture – ref “Shelter From The Storm” Source of picture: www.israbox.com By John Richardson WEST EUROPEAN polyolefin markets remain tight thanks to the lingering effects of lack of spending on maintenance, several market sources have told the blog. “Companies were so short of cash from late 2008 that they began […]
Picking The Winners And Losers
Source of picture: ICIS By John Richardson ICIS has just published its Top 100 listing for 2009, which, not surprisingly, reveals the nothing-short-of devastating impact of the global economic crisis on chemical company financial performances. “Unprecedented operating and financial conditions helped drive annual sales for industry giants down more than 30%,” writes my […]
Looking for ethane? Head West
By Malini Hariharan A problem of plenty is building up in the US where the rise of shale gas production could create problems in disposal of ethane. This may sound hard to believe but a new report by Bentek Energy concludes that a big challenge for Marcellus Shale gas producers, located in Northeast US, is […]
A Downturn With Areas Of Persistent Strength
Tougher sanctions set to reduce Iranian exports Source of picture: amix.dk/blog/post/19116 By John Richardson I met a hedge-fund manager yesterday who wanted a straight answer as to why he felt that ethylene, propylene and polyolefin margins are holding-up relatively well, despite an apparent flood of new capacity. “The margins, particularly for polyproplyene (PP), are much […]
China to invest in Iran petrochemical projects?
By Malini Hariharan The recent sanctions are making business operations difficult for Iranian petrochemical producers. And just when questions were being raised about the prospects of the country’s numerous projects, news has emerged that Iran and China are on the verge of finalizing a pact which will see China invest money in Iranian petchems. The […]
The Unexpected Bonus For Polyolefins – In Summary
Every dark cloud has a silver lining… By John Richardson GLOBAL polyolefins markets are being kept very tight be a collection of what might seem like only temporary factors. But in the case of the butene-1 shortage, for example, (see below) this has been restricting linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) for more than a year. And many […]
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