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Asian Chemical Connections

APIC Delegates Focus On Capacity

By John Richardson THE article of faith publicly expressed at last week’s Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference (APIC) in Fukuoka, Japan, was that the current problems with demand in China and India were only temporary. Discussions the blog held were packed with the conventional wisdom that not enough capacity would be built over the next few […]

How Can This Year Not Be A Let Down?

    Ali Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, suggests more oil supply could be on the way       Source of picture: stonesoupstationblogspot.com   By John Richardson CHEMICALS analysts at HSBC have added further weight to the argument that 2011 could well turn out to be a year of disappointment following the very high expectations set […]

A Toxic Combination: Sentiment And Oil Prices

By John Richardson Yesterday we suggested that demographic challenges in the West, the strain on resources resulting from rising consumption in emerging markets and rising inflation should heavily feature in discussions at this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos. Chemical industry leaders who could be attending include Mohamed Al-Mady, CEO of SABIC, Andrew Liveris, CEO […]

Overconfidence The Bisk Risk For 2011

  By John Richardson OVERCONFIDENCE is perhaps the biggest risk for 2011 as a result of sales volumes that have this year exceeded even the most wildly optimistic forecasts. The danger is that we have yet to see the worst of this current petrochemicals cycle. Companies and chemicals analysts might have got a little ahead […]

The slow trek downstream

By Malini Hariharan Nearly two years after SABIC and ExxonMobil signed an agreement for a multi-billion dollar 50:50 joint-venture elastomers complex iin Saudi Arabia, the two majors have yet to take a final decision on the project. At last year’s GPCA forum in December, Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC’s CEO, had indicated that the two companies were waiting […]

Indian PP Growth On The Right Track

Here’s the stereotype…. Source of picture: www.watblog.com   By John Richardson WE talked last week about how emerging markets continue to astound when it comes to demand, meaning that we might have to take a long and hard look at the parameters used to measure growth. Further support for this argument came from a visit […]

Saudi Private Petchem Cos To Consolidate

A-Jubail in Saudi Arabia Source of picture: www.chemicals-technology.com   By John Richardson SOME of the privately-owned Saudi Arabian petrochemical producers could well be forced to consolidate as a result of lack of feedstock for expansions, an industry source told the blog yesterday. The private players in Saudi Arabia are listed on the local stock exchange, but […]

PO demand slows, will prices slide?

By Malini Hariharan After a fairly steady climb Asian polyolefin markets have hit the pause button. Demand for polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in China and Southeast Asia has weakened but this development has so far been balanced out by continuous reports of operating issues across Asia and the Middle East. The latest is Yansab’s […]

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