By John Richardson THE big US petrochemicals story at the moment is, of course, shale gas and the potential it offers for the local industry to substantially expand capacity. This would, in theory, give producers a strong position to export to South America, Asia and Europe. Exports are going to be essential as the US market, […]
Asian Chemical Connections
It’s All About Shale Gas
By Malini Hariharan As expected, excitement around shale gas is running strong at the CERAWeek conference in Houston. But an element of caution is also visible with the majors appearing to be in no rush to finalise their investments. Shell is still a few years away from taking a final investment decision on a proposed […]
US Petchems: The Bigger Picture
By John Richardson Access to cheap feedstock, access to cheap feedstock and access to cheap feedstock might seem like the three most-important elements to any petrochemicals strategy. Thus, for many in the US, adding capacity based on abundant and therefore low-cost ethane, thanks to the shale-gas revolution, adds up. US ethylene capacity could be increased by […]
US Cooks The Golden Goose
By John Richardson THE blog would sincerely like to find evidence that it has been wrong and report a strong, sustainable recovery in China’s polyethylene (PE) market. Alas, however, the rise in pricing of around $100/tonne over the last four weeks appears to have been almost entirely the result of increased trader activity and producers […]
Petchems And The Non-Profit Motive
By John Richardson AS the US contemplates raising its ethylene capacity by up to 29 percent by 2017, we would be fascinated to know whether the companies involved in these proposed expansions, and the “cheer leader” chemical industry observers spurring them on, have ever considered a chart such as the one below: First […]
Saudi Gas Costs Head Higher
By John Richardson SAUDI Arabia’s petrochemical producers could soon, or may already, be paying $1.50-2.00/mmBTU for their ethane supplies. “We are not sure whether the proposed increase from $0.75/mmBTU will take place from 1 January this year or from early 2013, but we think it is going to happen,” said one industry source on the sidelines […]
The Risks For US Petchems
By John Richardson THE US petrochemicals industry might be in danger of being lured into old thinking about the future direction of the global economy as a result of abundant shale gas. Despite the short-term markets gloom which we described yesterday, several industry executives and observers who we spoke to on the sidelines of […]
US shale gas buzz in the Middle East
By Malini Hariharan The US shale gas advantage is a recurring theme at this year’s GPCA forum with companies giving more details about their expansion plans. Chevron Philips Chemical confirmed that it will build a 1.5m tonnes/year cracker at its Cedar Bayou complex in Texas, reports ICIS news Permits for the project are being filed, […]
It’s Always Helpful To Have A Plan
By John Richardson THERE are four major reasons why the first three quarters of 2011 have been excellent for chemicals companies, which are: 1.) Strong co-product credits have supported what have been weak commodity-grade polyolefin markets since March of this year (higher-value grades, such as co-polymer grade polypropylene for auto applications, have been better) 2.) […]
Middle East-China PE Exports Up 60%
By John Richardson NORTHEAST Asian polyethylene (PE) exports to China fell by 34% in January-August this year compared with the same period in 2010 as Middle East shipments surged by 60%, according to Global Trade Information Services – click here for a graph: ChinaPEImportsJan-Aug2011.ppt Exports from the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region, which […]
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