By John Richardson FURTHER evidence has emerged of the Chinese government’s determination to deal with an air pollution crisis that a new study says shortens life spans in China by three years . Local government officials have long been measured by how rapidly they expand GDP growth. But in a quite stunning reversal of policy, Beijing has […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Methanol stays strong, but for how long?
By Malini Hariharan The doom and gloom affecting many segments of the petrochemical industry has yet to reach methanol. Asian spot prices have been stable since January and have hovered in the $340-350/tonne range during the last three months. Methanol traditionally tracks crude oil prices but the product has been unaffected by the recent slide […]
Middle East Study Casts Doubt On Downstream Strategy
Petro Rabigh Source of picture: arabianoilandgas.com By John Richardson Petro Rabigh’s attempt to move further down the value chain raises interesting questions over exactly how successful the Saudi joint venture will be in attracting the necessary investment. As my fellow blogger Malini Hariharan wrote earlier this week, plans for the second phase of Petro […]
Aromatics get complicated
By Malini Hariharan Asian aromatics markets are getting increasingly hard to read not merely because of volatile crude prices. Demand, usually strong at this time of the year, has so far failed to materialise. The US gasoline season has started on a slow note. In Asia, benzene demand has been hit by maintenance shutdowns and […]
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