The major retail groups are excellent indicators of future trends in chemical consumption. Since before the Crisis began, consumers have been focusing more on price and value-for money. Now Wal-Mart is reporting that consumers face “more pressure than a year ago“. This suggests that demand destruction is already well underway. And Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke […]
Chemicals and the Economy
Electric autos launched in the USA
The blog has been following the development of General Motors’ electric auto, the Volt, since October 2008. Its old friend, Pedro Spohr of Galp in Portugal, had highlighted how a move to electric autos had the potential to change naphtha balances for the chemical industry. So it is delighted to see that the Volt has […]
China’s gasoline at record highs, EU’s close to peak
Crude oil prices have been rocketing lately. In turn, they have produced the seemingly ‘strong’ year-end for the chemical industry forecast by the blog in early November. At this point, there is a clear divergence of view. The blog’s bullish friends see this as a sign of a major recovery in demand, and confidently forecast […]
Lower refining rates support EU petchem margins
Sometimes every cloud does have a silver lining. And that’s currently the case with the fall in demand for oil products. The European petchem industry is based on feedstock from refineries such as naphtha and LPG. And as the chart above from the IEA shows, German refinery runs, like others elsewhere in Europe, are down […]
Lower Western gasoline demand helps paraxylene
Paraxylene (PX) has been a great petchem success story over the past 30 years. This 4th post in the blog’s series looks back at its history, and discusses how its future may develop. It is hard to remember that back in the 1970s, DMT (dimethyl terephthalate) was the main polyester material. But the superior properties […]
Gasoline stocks at all-time high ahead of US driving season
They say that you learn more from your mistakes than your successes. In the blog’s case, it will never forget the mistake it made when it began to build a long position in early May, soon after arriving in Houston, Texas. It was expecting product to go tight as the US gasoline season began on […]
Saudi cuts oil output below OPEC quota
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, now seems to be moving to Phase 2 of its efforts to achieve a $75 – $100bbl price range. As the blog noted in early December, the Saudis’ initial tactic was to play ‘hardball’ within OPEC. The aim was to ensure that other countries did not try to […]
Volt could change naphtha balances
A blog reader has kindly pointed out the potential impact of GM’s new Volt car on the chemical industry. The Volt will have an operating range of 40 miles (64km), when it becomes available in 2010. According to GM, it will enable 75% of America’s daily commuter journeys to take place without using gasoline. And […]
US drivers cut back – a little
Yesterday’s US government data on gasoline consumption gives the clearest picture yet of what is happening to US demand. The data compares the 4 weeks covering the July 4 Independence Day weekend, with the same period last year. And it shows gasoline demand was down just 2.1%, even though oil prices have doubled since last […]
China’s olefin imports surge as government subsidises gasoline/diesel demand
China’s ethylene and propylene imports have surged in recent months, as the country has diverted naphtha to supply gasoline and diesel needs. ICIS news, reporting official China Customs figures, says 2007 ethylene imports were over 400% higher at 510KT, versus just 117KT in 2006. Ethylene exports also more than halved to 50KT in 2007, from […]
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