Source of table: The Economist By John Richardson WHEN you are an energy giant such as Shell you can afford to explore multiple avenues in an effort to profit from China’s long-term energy needs. Thus Shell re-affirmed last week that it plans to invest $1bn in a year in exploiting the country’s vast shale-gas […]
Asian Chemical Connections
US Chemicals Still Behind 2007
By John Richardson US chemicals production remains way below its pre-crisis 2007 level but production in Asia-Pacific, after a brief blip in 2009, continues to soar, according to these charts from the American Chemistry Council. Whereas US producers have carried out few capacity expansions since 2007 and are runnning existing plants at lower operating rates, […]
Northeast Asia PE Weakest Margins
Source: ICIS pricing Weekly Asian PE Margin Report By John Richardson The slide above shows how Northeast Asian naphtha-based polyethylene (PE) producers are struggling as a result of the weak China market (dark blue bars). And it confirms what we were discussing yesterday: The US, with its ethane advantage and with reportedly high […]
Butadiene Set To Decline Further
By Malini Hariharan The drama continues in the Asian butadiene market. Bids this week are about $100/tonne lower than sellers’ price ideas, writes Helen Yan in an ICIS news report. Buying indications have dropped to $3,350-3,400/tonne CFR Northeast Asia. Butadiene prices appear to be going through another downcycle, reflecting the fundamentals of a market that it […]
China Coal-to-Chems Challenges
By John Richardson CHINA’s coal reserves will last only another 38 years at their present rate of extraction, according to Kai Pflug, CEO of Shanghai-based consultancy, Management Consulting – Chemicals, in this article from ICIS Chemical Business. This suggests that the current enthusiasm for coal-based chemicals, as coal supplies become constrained, might wane among China’s […]
US Petchems: The Bigger Picture
By John Richardson Access to cheap feedstock, access to cheap feedstock and access to cheap feedstock might seem like the three most-important elements to any petrochemicals strategy. Thus, for many in the US, adding capacity based on abundant and therefore low-cost ethane, thanks to the shale-gas revolution, adds up. US ethylene capacity could be increased by […]
Europe Markets Lure Asian Polyolefins
By John Richardson EXACTLY the same scenario is playing out in European polyolefin markets, as in Latin America and possibly the US, my ICIS colleague Linda Naylor reported last Friday. High polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) prices in Europe have led to increased offers for re-exported material from China, according to Linda – our European […]
SABIC And Sinopec’s Trinidad Partnership
By Malini Hariharan More news has emerged on the Trinidad methanol and methanol-to-olefins (MTO) project covered by the blog last week. Chinese major Sinopec is likely to be SABIC’s partner for the $5.3bn project. The two companies are in negotiations with the Trinidad government, said SABIC. With Sinopec as a partner, SABIC would gain access […]
Petchems And The Non-Profit Motive
By John Richardson AS the US contemplates raising its ethylene capacity by up to 29 percent by 2017, we would be fascinated to know whether the companies involved in these proposed expansions, and the “cheer leader” chemical industry observers spurring them on, have ever considered a chart such as the one below: First […]
The Fragility Of the Recovery Story
By John Richardson A VERY illuminating discussion with a Shanghai-located sales and marketing manager for a major Asian polyolefin producer reveals how the post- Lunar New Year “recovery” story being sold by the investment community is on even more shaky ground than we at first thought. Three points worth highlighting, before we publish verbatim what he said, […]
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