By John Richardson THE refining industry enjoyed a golden era before the global economic crisis thanks to a booming economy and gasoline shortages caused by Hurricane Katrina. Inevitably, therefore, as is so often the case with commodity industries, too much new capacity was planned that came on-stream at the worst possible time. But recently some […]
Asian Chemical Connections
European Petchems & Future Competitiveness
By John Richardson Dear Reader We hope and pray that the nuclear crisis in Japan will be resolved and that the rebuilding process following the earthquake and tsunami can be begin. My colleagues at ICIS news are doing a comprehensive job in covering the disaster in terms of how it is affecting the petrochemicals industry […]
European petchems could be tempted to overproduce
By John Richardson EUROPEAN refiners are “awash with naphtha” as a result of long-term structural length and a lack of arbitrage, a petrochemicals feedstock purchasing manager told the blog yesterday. The decline in US gasoline demand (according to most experts consumption in the States peaked in December 2007 and has been falling ever since) has […]
Saudi Producers Remain Confident
By John Richardson THE optimism of Saudi Arabian petrochemical producers remains extremely high, according to an industry observer who spoke to the blog. One might think we were to some extent stating the blatantly obvious as their margins will have swelled thanks to higher oil prices. But there is also little concern among the producers […]
Flood Of LPG Supply On The Way
Here is another article on the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) market, a subject we have covererd several times on the blog over the last few months. Below we discuss how the temporary supply constraints that have kept LPG tight this year look set to end, creating a very attractive feedstock option for higher-cost Asian cracker […]
European Polyolefins: The Luxury of Unintended Consequences
Another excuse for a Dylan picture – ref “Shelter From The Storm” Source of picture: www.israbox.com By John Richardson WEST EUROPEAN polyolefin markets remain tight thanks to the lingering effects of lack of spending on maintenance, several market sources have told the blog. “Companies were so short of cash from late 2008 that they began […]
China Polypropylene Market Tightens
By John Richardson Polypropylene (PP) appears to have become very tight in China over the last week as a result of a reduction in import availability and a resurgence in buying activity. “PP is incredibly tight right now because the supply from North America is no longer available for delivery to China,” said a Singapore-based […]
Europe Faces More Middle East Pressure
A high chance of more showers Source of picture: www.stuff.co.zn By John Richardson A closer look at last year’s polyolefin trade flows illustrates just how vulnerable European producers will be over the next few years to rising pressure from Middle East imports. “The volume of trade in Western Europe (intra-regional plus imports) for all […]
The Dangers of Forgetfulness
By John Richardson “IF YOU want to develop a good memory, you should learn to stop xxxxxxx forgetting, you brain-dead idiot” a former editor of mine often said, in his charming Glaswegian accent, after I had made the same mistake yet again. The same might apply to petrochemicals where maybe, just maybe, shutting down capacity […]
Asia Polyolefins: “Bloodbath” Postponed
Source of Picture : purchasing.com In his own words, here is how one contact describes the current situation with a couple of extra points added by yours truly (with links) “We’ve seen arbitrage close from Europe on polyolefins with no new business since April-May. Some material was delivered in June but this was merely May […]
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