By Malini Hariharan The polypropylene (PP) anti-dumping investigation that Indian producers had initiated against exporters from Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Oman has finally drawn to a close. The Finance Ministry confirmed anti-dumping duties (ADD) late yesterday, just a day before a recommendation made by the Commerce Ministry in August was due to expire. Pic source: […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Oversupply In Petchems Still On The Way
Perhaps not just yet…. By John Richardson COULD it be that some chemicals industry players and observers, in the great galloping rush to join the supercycle stampede, have got ahead of themselves in predicting that we are already through the bottom of the margins trough? This distinct possibility was raised by Joe Duffy, consultant with […]
More LPG For Petrochemicals – Eventually!
By John Richardson In theory there should be an additional 20-30m tonne/year of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) coming on-stream between 2008-2012, according to Petrochemical Corp of Singapore (PCS) – the Singapore Jurong Island-based cracker operator. This could lead to 5-10m tonne/year more LPG being cracked if the pricing incentives are right, added PCS in a […]
The slow trek downstream
By Malini Hariharan Nearly two years after SABIC and ExxonMobil signed an agreement for a multi-billion dollar 50:50 joint-venture elastomers complex iin Saudi Arabia, the two majors have yet to take a final decision on the project. At last year’s GPCA forum in December, Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC’s CEO, had indicated that the two companies were waiting […]
No Going Back, But Don’t Expect Smooth Ride
Cloth nappies?….you have to be kidding Source of picture: babygavin.com By John Richardson IT IS the biggest transformation that the global economy has probably ever undergone, resulting in numerous opportunities and challenges for the chemicals industry as emerging markets continue to boom. The obvious opportunity is for those who can meet […]
Indian PP Growth On The Right Track
Here’s the stereotype…. Source of picture: www.watblog.com By John Richardson WE talked last week about how emerging markets continue to astound when it comes to demand, meaning that we might have to take a long and hard look at the parameters used to measure growth. Further support for this argument came from a visit […]
Distorting The Outlook For 2011
Source of picture: http://www.intentblog.com By John Richardson and Malini Hariharan THE view from a particular geography, grade of polyolefin or end-use application might be distorting the outlook for 2011. In China and India and other emerging markets demand growth continues to astound and even though the rates of expansion might have slowed down […]
Don’t worry, be happy
By Malini Hariharan The blog was able to talk to a Korean polyolefins producer who was not perturbed by the recent weakness in Chinese demand and was fairly confident of selling October volumes. “It’s the holiday season so converters do not want to buy. But I see no reason to lower prices. We have sold […]
Saudi Kayan commercial production delayed to end-2011?
By Malini Hariharan Sabic’s Saudi Kayan appears to be heading down the same road as other recent Saudi petrochemical projects. After starting up a 1m tonnes/year cracker and a mono ethylene glycol (MEG) facility, a local media report states that commercial production is likely only in late 2011 and not mid-2011 as was widely expected […]
Saudi ethane price revision to be delayed?
By Malini Hariharan The much talked about revision in Saudi ethane prices may not take place in 2012. In a recent report on the Middle East petrochemical sector analysts from Nomura expected the current price of $0.75/mmbtu to continue until 2015. They pointed out that there has been no official update from the Ministry of […]
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