Politicians seem to be floundering as they seek to restore growth to the Western economy. Their prescriptions swing between austerity and economic stimulus as they argue over what has gone wrong. But in chapter 10 of our Boom, Gloom & The New Normal e-book we argue that they are on the wrong track. They are […]
Asian Chemical Connections
North America’s Oil and Gas Potential
By Malini Hariharan The energy landscape in North America is rapidly changing. After shale gas the focus has shifted to rising oil production from various unconventional sources, which has prompted some commentators to predict that the region will regain its status as a major global producer. In a new report, analysts at Citibank confidently predict that […]
Global Polymers Demand Up 4.5% In 2011
By Malini Hariharan Despite challenging market conditions in 2011, the global polymers industry managed to post demand growth of 4.5%, with the largest increase recorded by polyvinyl chloride (PVC) at 6.2% and linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) at 5.8%, estimates Fabrizio Galie of the ICIS consulting team. Global demand for commodity polymers, including PE, polypropylene (PP), […]
India: Muddling Through Won’t Do
By John Richardson Indian friends of the blog, many of whom work in the country’s chemicals industry, have long expressed their view that their country will always muddle through. Their trust in government to solve long-standing infrastructure and logistics problems has always been low. Through a great deal of hard work, and enormous amounts of […]
The Butadiene Rollercoaster
By John Richardson The remarkable rollercoaster that is butadiene, and its derivatives, continues. Although the synthetic rubber market for tyres in China appears to be strengthening, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) remains under pressure. And, in a reflection of what is a structurally extremely tight market for butadiene, LG Chem is talking about further reducing operating […]
Threat of Oil “Permafrost”
By John Richardson Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi on Tuesday did his best to calm the oil markets by arguing that the kingdom had met all its customers’ requests for crude, and was ready to raise output to full capacity of 12.5m barrels a day. “My only mission is to convey to you that […]
China Synthetic Fibres Fall Further
By John Richardson CHINA’S synthetic fibres chain continues to show serious signs of distress as a result of weak domestic and export demand, according to my ICIS colleagues, Judith Wang and Becky Zhang. Traders in monoethylene glycol (MEG) must have believed the theory that petrochemicals demand growth in general would be strong, as inventory levels in Chinese ports […]
China’s Shale Gas Potential
By John Richardson THE shale-gas revolution, which, of course, is already well underway in the US, could also have major implications for petrochemicals in China. China has 1,275 trillion cubic feet of recoverable shale-gas reserves, according to the Energy Information Administration – more than the US. As a result, the Chinese National Energy Administration has […]
Depressed China Demand Continues
By John Richardson ANOTHER week and sadly a repeat of the same old story: Depressed polyolefins demand in China. Pricing did, however, increase – by $10-50/tonne in the case of polyethylene (PE) and $10-40/tonne for polypropylene (PP), according to assessments by ICIS pricing for the week ending 16 March. But our colleagues at ICIS […]
China’s Leadership Struggle
By John Richardson IT is still an article of faith among some people in the chemicals industry that all you have to do is concentrate on cost-efficient supply and the demand in developing countries such as China will inevitably continue on an even, upward course. But this week’s extraordinary political events in China further demonstrates […]
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