By Malini Hariharan A turnaround in petrochemical fortunes in the US, as a result of falling gas prices, means that Dow Chemical is willing to wait to get the best value for its basic chemicals business. At an earnings call last week, the company’s ceo, Andrew Liveris, was clear that while Dow was committed to […]
Asian Chemical Connections
A view from the West
By Malini Hariharan The Asian olefin and polyolefin markets have softened in recent weeks but the US market remains on a different track, as seen in these reports filed by my colleagues on ICIS news. Ethylene prices are still firm on tight supplies. Spot ethylene for March/April was at 61-63 cents/lb, up from 42.5-43.0 in […]
The changing world of gas
By Malini Hariharan The blog has recently written about gas availability in the Middle East and upcoming changes to pricing which have big implications for the petrochemicals business. But the global gas market is seeing wider changes and these have been excellently summarised by The Economist. The key development has been the rise of shale […]
Iran’s many problems
By Malini Hariharan A new problem is brewing for Iranian petrochemical producers. It appears that the government is quite keen on raising feedstock ethane prices and this issue is now under ‘hot negotiations’. “The National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) and the petroleum ministry would like to rationalise the price of ethane according to the international […]
It helps to have the right partner
By Malini Hariharan And Sumitomo Chemical has discovered this. The company recently said that PetroRabigh, its joint venture with Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia, has managed to secure fresh ethane allocation of 30m scf of ethane for a second phase of projects. Ethane is running short in Saudi Arabia and getting an allocation, even a […]
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