CHINA HDPE injection grade prices over naphtha feedstock costs are the lowest this year since our price assessments began in 1990
Asian Chemical Connections
China PP spreads data continue to show no recovery, weakest market since at least 2003
UNTIL WE SEE a recovery in China PP-naphtha spreads during around a 12-month period to close to long-term annual averages, there will have been no complete rebound in the market. The spread so far this year at just $264/tonne is 41% lower than the previous lowest year of $447/tonne in 2012.
European PE and PP: Energy cost and demand crisis gathers momentum as pricing falls closer to China levels
The chart shows European
dependence on Russian gas compared with country-by-country percentages of the region’s total PE capacity, Germany is the standout risk country as it has a nearly 50% reliance on Russia for its gas supplies with a total of more than 70% of Europe’s PE capacities across the three grades. In the case of the Netherlands, it is the location for just under 40% of capacities with its dependence on Russian gas at around 20%.
China’s HDPE market is the weakest since at least 1990
As the chart above shows, the spreads or differentials between China CFR HDPE injection grade prices and CFR Japan naphtha costs are this year the lowest they have been since 1990.
China PE demand may fall by 5% this year with net imports 3.2m tonnes lower
ANY short-term recovery in China’s PE and PP markets will likely be driven by supply and not demand. Local supply could become tighter on refinery rate cuts. Refineries have reduced production because of weak gasoline and diesel demand.
European polyolefins could be dragged down by China
Will China, the world’s most important HDPE demand centre, and an increasingly important supply centre, drag Europe down to its levels? Or will the China market increase closer to today’s levels in Europe?
China petrochemicals spreads data: until or unless it recovers, growth will remain weak
IF THERE IS no return to the historic patterns of spreads between China’s petrochemicals prices and feedstock costs, there will be no economic recovery.
Chemicals companies face an unprecedented demand and supply crisis
THE GLOBAL CHEMICALS industry is, I believe, facing a demand and supply crisis on a scale and on a level of complexity that nobody has experienced before. This is a huge subjects requiring a series of posts. Let me start by looking at China’s role in this crisis. In later posts.
China’s latest LLDPE spread and demand data offer worrying clarity about the broader economy
THE LATEST DATA on linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) China CFR (cost & freight) pricing spreads over CFR Japan naphtha costs underlines the evidence from the other grades of polyolefins, that China is a long way from a full economic recovery.
China LDPE demand could fall by as much as 8% this year with net imports 500,000 tonnes lower
CHIINA’S LDPE spreads over naphtha feedstock costs have held up very well this. But this doesn’t mean to say that demand is good. Chinese demand could fall by as much as 8% in 2022.