By Malini Hariharan Economic data from India continues to disappoint. The economy grew at only 6.9% for the quarter ended September, the weakest pace in more than two years and below forecasts. Activity in the manufacturing sector slowed sharply as a result of high interest rates. The segment, which accounts for around 16% of the […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Fresh US sanctions to target Iran petchems
By Malini Hariharan The US is looking to introduce fresh measures targeted at the petrochemicals industry. The specifics of the new sanctions are not yet available but the goal, says this report, is to bar foreign companies from doing business with Iran’s petrochemical industry by threatening them with being banned from U.S. markets. US companies […]
Operating rate cuts the only option
By Malini Hariharan News of operating rate cuts is pouring in. Crackers in Japan, Taiwan and parts of southeast Asia have been running at reduced rates of 80-90% in October. But now there is also talk of rate cuts at crackers in South Korea. More importantly, a Sinopec source confirmed yesterday that the Chinese major […]
Buying resumes but will it last?
By Malini Hariharan A spurt in polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) buying in China over the last few days has raised hopes among sellers that the market has bottomed out and prices should rise in the coming weeks. After hand-to-mouth buying for the last three months buyers are said to be replenishing stocks which should […]
LDPE No Longer A “Speciality Polymer”
The shoe might now be on the other foot (ouch…apologies) Source of picture: http://5magazine.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/reebok_zigtech_5-570×5371.jpg?w=606&h=570 By John Richardson NOT so long ago several major producers were evaluating new investments in low-density polyethylene (LDPE), as the almost-serious comment circulated among business development managers that it had become a speciality polymer. The reasons were: […]
Constant Search For Feedstock Advantage
By John Richardson AROUND $6bn worth of proposed petrochemical investments in Kazakhstan – the giant central Asian country with abundant oil and gas reserves – once again confirms the three most important factors for success: Feedstock, feedstock and feedstock. “The gas that will supply these projects is sufficiently advantaged to overcome major construction and logistics […]
Chandra Asri stake up for sale?
By Malini Hariharan Indonesia’s sole cracker operator Chandra Asri faces yet another ownership change with Singapore’s Temasek Holding reported to be looking at divesting its stake in the company. The news report in the Wall Street Journal said several companies from Thailand, South Korea and Japan have shown interest in Temasek’s stake, including Thailand’s PTT […]
High Frequency Trading dominates as markets crash
by Paul Hodges The Chemicals and the Economy blog was almost alone at the end of April, when it launched the IeC Downturn Alert. Today, its fear that we are close to a global downturn has become mainstream. As the American Chemistry Council report, “fears of another global recession are rising with several noted forecasters […]
Q2 setback for Korea
By Malini Hariharan The margin pain experienced in Asia in the last quarter is clearly evident in the recently released results by South Korean majors Honam Petrochemical and LG Chem. Honam’s operating profit for Q2 declined 36.8% from the previous quarter to Won36.1bn. LG Chem’s operating profit was down 7.2% at Won775.4bn while its petrochemical […]
Dow To Sell PP to Braskem
DOW Chemical is to sell its polypropylene (PP) business to Brazil’s Braskem for $340m, according to our colleagues at ICIS news. The blog is digging around for the implications for Dow in Asia. For the time being, however, here are some initial thoughts…. Included in the sales are two plants in the US and two […]
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