By Malini Hariharan A spurt in polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) buying in China over the last few days has raised hopes among sellers that the market has bottomed out and prices should rise in the coming weeks. After hand-to-mouth buying for the last three months buyers are said to be replenishing stocks which should […]
Asian Chemical Connections
LDPE No Longer A “Speciality Polymer”
The shoe might now be on the other foot (ouch…apologies) Source of picture: http://5magazine.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/reebok_zigtech_5-570×5371.jpg?w=606&h=570 By John Richardson NOT so long ago several major producers were evaluating new investments in low-density polyethylene (LDPE), as the almost-serious comment circulated among business development managers that it had become a speciality polymer. The reasons were: […]
Constant Search For Feedstock Advantage
By John Richardson AROUND $6bn worth of proposed petrochemical investments in Kazakhstan – the giant central Asian country with abundant oil and gas reserves – once again confirms the three most important factors for success: Feedstock, feedstock and feedstock. “The gas that will supply these projects is sufficiently advantaged to overcome major construction and logistics […]
Chandra Asri stake up for sale?
By Malini Hariharan Indonesia’s sole cracker operator Chandra Asri faces yet another ownership change with Singapore’s Temasek Holding reported to be looking at divesting its stake in the company. The news report in the Wall Street Journal said several companies from Thailand, South Korea and Japan have shown interest in Temasek’s stake, including Thailand’s PTT […]
High Frequency Trading dominates as markets crash
by Paul Hodges The Chemicals and the Economy blog was almost alone at the end of April, when it launched the IeC Downturn Alert. Today, its fear that we are close to a global downturn has become mainstream. As the American Chemistry Council report, “fears of another global recession are rising with several noted forecasters […]
Q2 setback for Korea
By Malini Hariharan The margin pain experienced in Asia in the last quarter is clearly evident in the recently released results by South Korean majors Honam Petrochemical and LG Chem. Honam’s operating profit for Q2 declined 36.8% from the previous quarter to Won36.1bn. LG Chem’s operating profit was down 7.2% at Won775.4bn while its petrochemical […]
Dow To Sell PP to Braskem
DOW Chemical is to sell its polypropylene (PP) business to Brazil’s Braskem for $340m, according to our colleagues at ICIS news. The blog is digging around for the implications for Dow in Asia. For the time being, however, here are some initial thoughts…. Included in the sales are two plants in the US and two […]
China Auto Market Provides Clear Evidence
By John Richardson DESTOCKING is obviously not the main driver of the decline in China’s polyolefins market, despite what a dwindling band of optimists are still arguing. The glaringly transparent reason for the fallacy of the fading belief is a decline in key end-use markets for polyoleifins – and for other polymers and chemicals. Today […]
PE Market Weakness Spreads To US
By Malini Hariharan After Europe, the US polyethylene (PE) market has started showing increasing signs of weakness. Spot offers have rapidly fallen putting downward pressure on June contracts that are currently under negotiation. Producers may have no choice but to settle at lower levels as exports to Asia is no longer a viable option. Spot […]
US Olefins, Polyolefins In Denial
By John Richardson THE majority of financial analysts seem to be clinging on to the hope that the recovery in petrochemicals demand from China is about to happen. This doesn’t just apply to our industry. Analysts across many sectors appear to have staked their reputations on a return to the Old Normal of booming […]
Jump to page: