By Malini Hariharan There is a lot of free price information and advice available to Indian polymer buyers via emails and SMSs. The gist of the messages these days is that the Chinese market is weak, international and domestic prices will fall and buying should be in limited volumes. An email that landed in the […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Iran Remains Optimistic On Exports
Dubai crucial for Iran By Malini Hariharan The blog recently had an opportunity to talk to a few Iranian companies and was impressed by their sanguine approach to the challenges posed by the new round of sanctions. This too shall pass was the prevailing philosophy. “We have a long experience [in dealing with sanctions]; […]
Petchem markets on a bull run
By Malini Hariharan The Chinese are back from their holidays and they are buying. This coupled with supply constraints and firm crude prices is fuelling a surge in petrochemical prices. Paraxylene (PX) prices hit a 2-year high this week on speculative activity and production problems at a couple of Chinese plants, reports ICIS news. Spot […]
Port congestion hits Saudi shipments
By Malini Hariharan The blog is hearing a number of reports about delays in polymer shipments from Saudi Arabia because of port congestion. This is being attributed to a shortage of containers and labour ahead of Ramadan. “It is now takes us 25-30 days to get material out of Saudi Arabia as against the usual […]
Chinaplas: Optimism, consolidation, new plant start-ups and more
By Malini Hariharan Chinaplas has just concluded and my colleagues have filed some great reports from Shanghai. Worries about a margin squeeze in the second half of the year persist but polymer producers seem to be increasingly confident about long-term growth prospects. The chairman of the China Plastics Processing Industry Association (CPPIA) talked of the […]
Polymer trading – a great investment opportunity?
By Malini Hariharan I recently met a businessman at a dinner party. After exchanging the usual greetings he eagerly disclosed his plans for a new business venture – trading in polymers. “There will be three of us in this business; we plan to import polymers in bulk from Taiwan and China; each consignment will not […]
Post merger Braskem talks of global growth through acquisitions
By Malini Hariharan After overcoming legal objections, Braskem took the final step late last week to announce the merger of the petrochemical operations of Petrobras, Odebrecht and Quattor, to create not only Brazil’s largest petrochemical company but also America’s largest polymer producer. The plan now is to develop the company to become one of the […]
Polymers start the year on a robust note, but how long will it last?
By Malini Hariharan and John Richardson Expect the unexpected and you probably stand a good chance of making money in the polymer market. Defying expectations of a slowdown in demand ahead of the Chinese new year in February markets have started 2010 with a bang – material is short and prices are steadily moving up. […]
Korea’s Kumho faces heavy dose of restructuring
By Malini Hariharan The financially troubled Kumho Asiana group, with assets stretching from petrochemicals to airlines, has finally been able to work out a plan that should satisfy its creditors. The Korea Herald reports that the group plans to raise $1.13bn by selling assets as part of a restructuring programme. Kumho Tire and Kumho Industrial […]
Where Have All The Flowers/Polymers Gone?
Source of Picture: http://backincccp.blogspot.com/ Peter Seeger’s most-famous song (being performed here by Pete, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins and Arlo Guthrie) was “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” Perhaps a new version should be cut entitled, “Where Have All The Polymers Gone?” when you start to piece together China’s imports during the H1 2009 versus plastic-production […]
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