Another excuse for a Dylan picture – ref “Shelter From The Storm” Source of picture: www.israbox.com By John Richardson WEST EUROPEAN polyolefin markets remain tight thanks to the lingering effects of lack of spending on maintenance, several market sources have told the blog. “Companies were so short of cash from late 2008 that they began […]
Asian Chemical Connections
PO demand slows, will prices slide?
By Malini Hariharan After a fairly steady climb Asian polyolefin markets have hit the pause button. Demand for polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in China and Southeast Asia has weakened but this development has so far been balanced out by continuous reports of operating issues across Asia and the Middle East. The latest is Yansab’s […]
Picking The Winners And Losers
Source of picture: ICIS By John Richardson ICIS has just published its Top 100 listing for 2009, which, not surprisingly, reveals the nothing-short-of devastating impact of the global economic crisis on chemical company financial performances. “Unprecedented operating and financial conditions helped drive annual sales for industry giants down more than 30%,” writes my […]
A Downturn With Areas Of Persistent Strength
Tougher sanctions set to reduce Iranian exports Source of picture: amix.dk/blog/post/19116 By John Richardson I met a hedge-fund manager yesterday who wanted a straight answer as to why he felt that ethylene, propylene and polyolefin margins are holding-up relatively well, despite an apparent flood of new capacity. “The margins, particularly for polyproplyene (PP), are much […]
Long-term Shift In LPG Cracking Economics
Source of picture: the truth about cars By John Richardson WHEN my fellow blogger Malini Hariharan once asked a particularly unhelpful individual who used to track polyethylene (PE) markets what was going on, his only response was “conditions are volatile”. And so as you kick-off this fine and sunny morning (at least it is here […]
The Unexpected Bonus For Polyolefins – In Summary
Every dark cloud has a silver lining… By John Richardson GLOBAL polyolefins markets are being kept very tight be a collection of what might seem like only temporary factors. But in the case of the butene-1 shortage, for example, (see below) this has been restricting linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) for more than a year. And many […]
US Polyolefins Confront Tough H2
Source of picture: www.usaembassy.com By John Richardson THE US poyolefins industry has enjoyed a remarkable recovery since the depths of the financial crisis thanks to major feedstock advantages in polyethylene (PE) and the rebound in the domestic economy. Booming demand from China also attracted substantial imports of PE and polypropylene (PP) from the […]
Polyethylene Price Recovery Built On House Of Cards
Source of picture: keplarllp.com By John Richardson It always seemed as if the Asian polyethylene (PE) price rebound was built on a house of cards. The Chinese economy is slowing down, the country’s domestic production has greatly increased and new capacity in the Middle East – though still plagued by start-up and operating […]
Fingers Crossed For No Double-Dip Recession
The Risk Of Exhausted Optimism Source of picture: http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/double-dip-recession/ By John Richardson Global polyethylene (PE) oversupply will be “challenging but manageable” over the next year-and-a-half provided there is no double-dip economic downturn, said Joe Duffy, consultant with DeWitt & Co. “My analysis suggests that if economic growth continues into 2011 at the […]
Asian Polyolefins – A Dead Cat Bounce
Source of picture: anirudhsethireport.com By John Richardson WE reported earlier this week that cautious confidence is being expressed that the worst might be over in polyolefin markets with prices having reached the bottom. “The market seems to be improving and my view there is no much room for further price corrections from a […]
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