By Malini Hariharan Reliance Industries will take a call today on submitting a final bid for LyondellBasell, says this report from CNBC TV18. The report, quoting unnamed sources, adds that Reliance may be having second thoughts about the acquisition. Key concerns are said to be LyondellBasell’s high debt, potential liabilities if it tries to shut […]
Asian Chemical Connections
More action needed at Mitsubishi Chem
By Malini Hariharan Japan’s largest chemical company Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings has been actively restructuring this year but more needs to be done to complete its transformation. High on the list is reorganization of its cracker operations at Mizushima. Mitsubishi and Asahi, which also has a cracker at the same site, have been talking since 2007 […]
Shell would like to build two MEG plants in Qatar
By John Richardson An ethane shortage is slowing Shell Chemicals’ ambitions for building at least one cracker complex in Qatar, Ben van Beurden, executive vice-president of the company said last week. “Ideally, we’d like to build two crackers and two OMEGA process plants on the scale of this one here in Singapore, but at […]
Crude, Equities & Polyolefin Pricing
This is a huge subject, one that this blog will need to keep revisiting – and if you tell us we’ve got it wrong, we’ll always listen and respond. For what it’s worth, the article below might give you some food for thought. The influence of crude we are talking about below is different from […]
Reliance moving fast on LyondellBasell bid
By Malini Hariharan Reliance Industries’ bid to acquire LyondellBasell is progressing quite rapidly. I am told that a team of top executives from the company is in the US holding discussions with LyondellBasell. And according to this report in the Houston Chronicle, the team has also been enjoying Indian food in Houston. My source tells […]
Has Shell Made The Right Choices on MEG?
Looking pretty – the new Shell plant at night: Sourceof picture: Shell Chemicals By John Richardson WHEN Shell Chemicals officially opened its OMEGA process 750,000 tonne/year monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant in Singapore today, it mentioned how its global production share of the fibre intermediate was only 7%. One might wonder how effective this is […]
China’s Growth In 2010: Two Theories
More buying of junk in H1 next year that nobody really needs? Source: www.blogcleveland.com By John Richardson TWO theories about growth in China next year revolve around either an appreciation or devaluation of the Yuan. The appreciation theory is far more widespread as it assumes no global double-dip economic recession. It’s assumed that […]
China takes care of 2010
By Malini Hariharan After sorting out 2009 with a huge stimulus package the Chinese government is busy ensuring that there will be no slowdown next year. A number of measures have been announced to sustain growth in the domestic market. Subsidies on sales on home appliances in rural areas are being extended. The auto sector […]
Map Ta Phut projects – work has not stopped
By Malini Hariharan I have been trying to get some clarity on what is happening at Map Ta Phut and what companies are planning to do. Construction activity has not yet stopped despite the Supreme Court ruling last week which suspended 65 projects, says a PTT source. The government has yet to issue a notice […]
Thai Start-ups: What A Muddle
A real head scratcher…… Source of picture: www/http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com By John Richardson Confused? Sorry, but so far we cannot be of much help bringing any precision to what the implications of Thailand’s Supreme Court ruling will mean for the timing of petrochemical start-ups. If you remember, last Friday we wrote about how the Supreme Court […]
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