By John Richardson THE last 18 months has been stellar for the polyester chain thanks to tight supply upstream in paraxylene (PX) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA), record-high cotton prices and a booming economy in China. But all good times must come an end if our worst fears about China come true. The longer-term direction of […]
Asian Chemical Connections
China Power Woes Hit Chem Output
By Malini Hariharan and John Richardson The power crisis in China, highlighted in this post last month and yesterday, has worsened and is likely to affect economic output in the second quarter. More than 10 provinces, including Zhejiang, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Hubei, Sichuan and Henan, have been affected. Small and medium-sized petrochemical producers in the […]
Supply Constraints Should Mean A Healthy China
By John Richardson THE extent of the weakness in China ‘s polyolefins market has become more apparent as a result of reports that a much-anticipated increase in Middle East production hasn’t happened. Back in February, oil production in Saudi Arabia had been raised to 8.9m barrels a day from around 8.5m barrels in January, a […]
Middle East Petchem Producers Feel China Slowdown
By John Richardson MORE evidence has emerged of a slowdown in demand for polyolefins in China following the sharp decline in March imports. The Middle East is now feeling the pinch as a result of the impact of inflation and the reduced availability of credit. “I visited a propane dehydrogenation (PDH)-to-polypropylene (PP) producer in Saudi Arabia last week. The […]
Tough times start for India polyolefins
By Malini Hariharan Tension is building up in the Indian polyolefin market with buying activity slowing down in recent weeks. “The market is really dull; trading activity is very flat and end-users are taking minimum quantities. We are worried that the situation will worsen if we offer more discounts,” says a concerned producer. The slow […]
Petronas set to unveil new refinery and petchem venture
By Malini Hariharan Malaysia’s Petronas is expected to soon announce plans for a new refinery and petrochemical complex Pengerang, Johor, a project that the blog had discussed a few months back. A report in the Malaysian newspaper Star says the project, named Rapid or Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development, would involve an investment of close […]
The False Promise Of US Petrochemicals?
By John Richardson THE remarkable shift in the competitive landscape of petrochemicals resulting from shale gas was highlighted yesterday in an excellent post by our fellow blogger, Paul Hodges. Drawing on data from the NPRA, with analysis from the ICIS data and analytics team and Bob Townsend of International e-Chem, Paul shows the steep rise in ethane […]
Old Growth Model Needs To Be Challenged
By John Richardson Calling all chemicals investors: If you hear any presentation from any company out there that talks about an uninterrupted boom in growth in China, please, please start asking some searching questions. Please….. We have so far yet to come across any evidence of such questions after scouring the web. Instead, we have […]
Broad Commodities Retreat Hurts Chemicals
By John Richardson WE hate to say we told you so but the 15 per cent fall in oil prices last week – the steepest one-week decline in two-and-a-half years – was evidence of growing concern over the health of the global economy. And as we predicted on 12 April, last week saw a broad sell-off […]
SBR under pressure on China slowdown
By Malini Hariharan Styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) prices, which have nearly doubled over the last year, may be heading for a much needed correction. The strength in feedstock butadiene markets and strong demand from the automotive sector have so far helped support the high numbers. But a key concern is that China’s tightened monetary policy […]
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