Today’s uncertain economic and oil price environment has created chaos in petrochemical feedstock and product markets. This creates major risks for producers, consumers and investors.
ICIS and International eChem have therefore decided to combine our resources to launch a new Study, that will analyse the potential impact of these developments on the olefins, aromatics and polymer value chains over the next 10 years. It will provide answers to the 5 key questions that arise from this increasingly chaotic environment:
- Can companies still plan ahead for demand by simply using a relevant multiple for each product in relation to an IMF GDP growth forecast?
- Can they continue to assume that oil prices will inevitably return to recent highs, or are prices more likely to return to the lower levels seen before 2004?
- Do China’s New Normal policies mark a complete change of direction from its previous role as the manufacturing capital of the world?
- Will today’s globally ageing population maintain the same levels of demand for autos, housing, electronics etc as in the past?
- Should companies focus on new growth areas for demand, in potential megatrend areas such as water, food, shelter, health, mobility and the environment?
Our analysis will therefore explore the critical challenges that confront the industry today.
Please click here to download a copy of the Prospectus. And please click here to see an interview with Will Beacham, deputy editor of ICIS Chemical Business, where we discuss the key issues covered in the Study.
WEEKLY MARKET ROUND-UP
My weekly round-up of Benchmark prices since the Great Unwinding began is below, with ICIS pricing comments:
Brent crude oil, down 51%
Naphtha Europe, down 47%. “Russian refineries are expected to go on maintenance as usual because of the cold weather”
Benzene Europe, down 59%. “Upward movement on crude oil and US benzene helped European benzene spot pricing push higher midweek”
PTA China, down 40%. “Downstream polyester makers of bottle chips and yarns are still not expecting uplifts in demand for end products. They are presently not seeing seasonal demand from the onset of the winter and year-end festival season.”
HDPE US export, down 36%. “Domestic export prices held steady during the week”
¥:$, down 18%
S&P 500 stock market index, up 3%