By John Richardson WHEN I WAS a boy in 1970s Britain, a new pair of shoes was an expensive proposition and so I had to make them last. Durable goods in general were costly relative to incomes, so many people rented televisions and had to save long and hard to buy new sofas. But then […]
Asian Chemical Connections
NATPET Warns On Saudi Gas Increase
By John Richardson SAUDI ARABIA’S National Petrochemical Industrial Co (NATPET) has gone public over an issue that has worried Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) petrochemical producers for several years now: The erosion of the GCC’s competitive advantage over the US. “There has been a migration of investment to the US that is a very clear threat […]
Saudi Petchem Production Threatens Recovery
By John Richardson RISING oil production in Saudi Arabia has resulted in bigger volumes of polyethylene (PE) being delivered into Asia-Pacific markets, a source with a major plastics processor told the blog late last week. “Saudi Arabia has definitely, in my view, already raised PE production on more availability of associated gas. I am seeing […]
Middle East Petchem Producers Feel China Slowdown
By John Richardson MORE evidence has emerged of a slowdown in demand for polyolefins in China following the sharp decline in March imports. The Middle East is now feeling the pinch as a result of the impact of inflation and the reduced availability of credit. “I visited a propane dehydrogenation (PDH)-to-polypropylene (PP) producer in Saudi Arabia last week. The […]
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 […]
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 […]
Saudi Gas Shortage Will Last A Long Time
Goodbye to all of that Source of picture: www.gas2.org By John Richardson in Mumbai for the Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference (APIC) EXISTING Saudi Arabian crackers will continue to run at less than 100% until the Kingdom’s oil production returns to 10m bbl/day – and that’s not going happen for some considerable time, […]
Surge in Saudi-US PE Exports Reported
Heading West,,Jeddah’s container port Source of picture: http://ofwngayon.com/home/?p=257 By John Richardson SABIC has increased its exports of PE to the US in response to high pricing and what could be weaker demand in China, a source with a North American producer told the blog earlier this week. “I have heard of more linear-low […]
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