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 […]
Asian Chemical Connections
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 […]
US Polyolefins Confront Tough H2
Source of picture: www.usaembassy.com By John Richardson THE US poyolefins industry has enjoyed a remarkable recovery since the depths of the financial crisis thanks to major feedstock advantages in polyethylene (PE) and the rebound in the domestic economy. Booming demand from China also attracted substantial imports of PE and polypropylene (PP) from the […]
Indian PP producers benefit from strong growth
By Malini Hariharan Indian polypropylene (PP) demand continues to remain strong with most end-use sectors showing good growth and it is local producers who are catering to the additional requirement. Polypropylene (PP) demand is estimated to have expanded by 13% to 809,000 tonnes during April-July, reports my colleague Prema Viswanathan on ICIS news. But import […]
Polyethylene Price Recovery Built On House Of Cards
Source of picture: keplarllp.com By John Richardson It always seemed as if the Asian polyethylene (PE) price rebound was built on a house of cards. The Chinese economy is slowing down, the country’s domestic production has greatly increased and new capacity in the Middle East – though still plagued by start-up and operating […]
Fingers Crossed For No Double-Dip Recession
The Risk Of Exhausted Optimism Source of picture: http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/double-dip-recession/ By John Richardson Global polyethylene (PE) oversupply will be “challenging but manageable” over the next year-and-a-half provided there is no double-dip economic downturn, said Joe Duffy, consultant with DeWitt & Co. “My analysis suggests that if economic growth continues into 2011 at the […]
China’s Unstoppable Consumption Juggernaut?
The major long-term shift in US refinery economics and C3s Source of picture: blueplanetgreenliving.com By John Richardson CHINA will account for around one-third of global polypropylene (PP) consumption by the middle of this decade, up from the current 25%, as domestic demand continues to grow at more than 10% a […]
China PE Price Rebound Driven By Futures Market
By John Richardson CHINA’S domestic linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) prices have rebounded by as much as Yuan 1,000/tonne ($147.5./tonne) or 8% over the last two weeks, according to this ICIS news article from my colleague Rainy Ma. As these graphs show (click below) there is now a significant gap between more expensive domestic material and […]
Singapore’s New Petrochemicals Strategy
Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands complex Source of picture: Washington Pos By John Richardson “SUCCESS in this business, whether you are tracking price direction or planning new investments, is 95% about feedstock,” says a senior European-based sales manager with a global polyolefin producer. So perhaps it shouldn’t be a great surprise that a […]
Advantage US?
By Malini Hariharan The advent of shale gas and a fall in natural gas prices has already altered the fortunes of US ethane-based petrochemical producers. And now a new report says that the advantage is here to stay. The Energy Information Agency (EIA) estimates that the US has 1,744 tcf (trillion cubic feet) of technically […]
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