By John Richardson JUST when you thought it might have been safe to push really hard for building more low-density polyethylene (LDPE), prices have started to decline. European prices, for example, recently slipped by Euros30/tonne with Asia down by $20-50/tonne last week, according to ICIS pricing. Overall polyolefin prices are, of course, on the decline – […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Opportunities Can Vanish Before You Know It
By John Richardson “Just when you think it is the right time to make an investment case to a board of directors, the particular opportunity you have been studying has an annoying habit of disappearing,” said a business development manager for a global polyolefins producer. His comments reflect the increasingly complex world in which we […]
Reliance Reveals Major Investment Plans
By Malini Hariharan India’s Reliance Industries is evaluating investments in a number of chemicals including olefins and derivatives, acetyls, elastomers and fibre intermediates to increase its petrochemicals production from crude, a senior company executive has told the blog. “We would like to maximise petrochemical production from our refineries, swing product slate from fuel […]
Making Everyone Feel A Little Bit Middle Class
Far more choices now… Source of picture: www.mhhe.com/business By John Richardson THE nature of demand growth in emerging markets is a subject the blog has paid some attention to over the last few weeks. Taking advantage of this growth will require the ability to innovate in order to tap into the huge opportunities […]
Getting Education Right Is Crucial
The brightest and the best, but will there be enough of them? Source of picture: schoolsinnewdelhi.com By John Richardson EDUCATION, education and education are three of the biggest challenges facing developing countries over the next 10-20 years. This will determine overall growth of economies. Without the right skill sets the rapid rates of […]
Abandon Fear And Plan For The New Utopia
Michael Corleone once told his fiancee, “The old way of doing things is over – even my father knows that. In ten years time, the Corleone family will be entirely legitimitate” and ten years later he was still killing lots of people. So beware of what follows… Source of picture: www.i-italy.com By John Richardson […]
APIC Confidence A Dangerous Thing?
Mumbai at night Source of picture: travelygan.wordpress.com By John Richardson in Mumbai POLYOLEFINS will not see a margin collapse this year due to persistently strong demand growth and continued problems with new-capacity start-ups, said numerous industry sources on the sidelines of the Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference (APIC) in Mumbai. The belief seems […]
Cash Will Remain King in 2010
Still too crowded… Source of picture:www.tripadvisor.com By John Richardson Dear Readers – Welcome Back. Having spent the last two weeks lying on Western Australian beaches, drinking beer and reading books on European history – while also building sand castles etc with my three-year-old son – I have given little thought to chemicals. But […]
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