By John Richardson and Malini Hariharan Cautious optimism first gave way to mounting anxiety over the prospects for the second half of this year, but now the mood surrounding China’s polyolefins market is downright pessimistic. “It is going to take a few months to clear up polyolefin inventories and volumes from new plants,” Mazlan Razak, […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Petchem stocks attract buying interest
By Malini Hariharan Is this the right time to buy petrochemical stocks? Asian equity analysts are having a tough time answering this question being posed by portfolio managers across the region. They are seeing a ‘mini downcycle’ emerging with a weaker second half relative to H1 2010 and potentially a weak H1 2011, explained one […]
Optimism as China returns
By Malini Hariharan The China market appears to have started the year of the tiger on a strong note. We are not yet hearing a roar but at least it is not a whimper. Pic source: Xinhua A polyolefin market participant says that traders have started making enquiries after the Lunar New Year holidays. End-users […]
The Indian growth story – part 2
By Malini Hariharan A few weeks back I had written about robust demand growth figures emerging from the Indian polymer market. I will be posting some numbers over the next few days but ahead of that I would like to highlight what industry players have been saying on the major growth drivers and also developments […]
What’s behind the delays and operating troubles?
By Malini Hariharan With start-up delays, commissioning issues and operating troubles becoming increasingly common across the Middle East and many parts of Asia, I have been asking industry players on what they think are the major issues that companies are facing. At the top of the list is the shortage of skilled manpower. We have […]
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