By John Richardson THE mood in European ethylene and polyethylene (PE) markets has changed over the last two weeks, according to my ICIS pricing colleagues, Nel Weddle and Linda Naylor. “A drop in crude oil and naphtha values saw speculation over a decrease for the May (ethylene) contract build this week,” wrote Nel last Friday. […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Costly Oil Hurts US Industry
By John Richardson THE higher that oil prices go the more the US petrochemical industry’s margins have expanded. Petrochemical prices are oil-driven and, therefore, have to go higher as crude becomes more expensive, whereas the cost of shale gas-based ethane keeps on falling due to rising supply. US petrochemical producers are cracking increasing amounts of […]
China’s March Inflation
By John Richardson THE importance of reliable market intelligence on China was further emphasised on Monday with the release of the March inflation data. Last week a sales and marketing executive with a polyolefins producer told us: “”Although the overall inflation rate has fallen to 3.2 percent (the February number), this is very misleading as it […]
MEG’s Fading Star
By John Richardson CHINA’S mono-ethylene (MEG) market was supposed to be very strong this year. But instead, to date we have seen persistently weak market conditions that few people, least of all the traders, seem to have anticipated. The traders appear to have been taken in by the hype and booked cargoes for delivery […]
Confidence And Petrochemicals
By John Richardson CONFIDENCE is a strange thing. It can be derived from solid reasons for optimism over the future or from temporary factors that can rapidly disappear. And what is the value of publicly-expressed confidence? Is it often politically motivated rather than being based on the genuine belief that the future holds tremendous promise? […]
Further China Evidence
By John Richardson FURTHER evidence of weakness in the Chinese economy has emerged via the polyolefins market. In an excellent Insight article, my ICIS colleagues Chow Bee Lin and Peh Soo Hwee say that China’s plastics processors are resisting additional price increases because their customers, the manufacturers of finished goods, are struggling. The combined retail […]
Why Should Q2 Be Any Better?
By John Richardson THE question being asked during the first quarter of this year was, “Why shouldn’t Chinese chemicals demand come roaring back after a disappointing 2011?” The relevant question now, as we move into Q2, is, “Why should it come roaring back?” Chemicals analysts, and quite a few traders in products such as […]
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), […]
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 […]
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