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Special Market Reviews

  • Unsaturated Polyester Resins Industry In Battle Between Low Demand And Falling Margins
    27 January 2010
    It has been a year since the most spectacular destocking and fall in demand stunned the petrochemical industry in January 2009, and still the European UPR sector is struggling to spot signs of improvement in outlook.
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  • BASF Annonunces Intention to Cease Activities in Feluy, Belgium
    22 October 2009
    BASF announced 22 October its intention to close maleic anhydride production in Feluy, Belgium by the end of 2009 and to withdraw all BASF activities from the site.
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  • Styrene and Polystyrene Closures Reflect Sharp Changes in Demand
    24 July 2009
    Styrene monomer and polystyrene plants have closed at an alarming speed in response to dramatic changes in demand for the polymer over the past 10 years and to the build-up of monomer capacity in Asia and the Middle East.
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  • Wilton, UK, Losing Its Identity As Petrochemical Hub
    17 July 2009
    The petrochemical industry landscape has changed quickly during the past decade, and the pace of that change has accelerated during 2009 with the global recession forcing many companies to cut costs and close unprofitable operations.
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  • Dow's Glycols Shutdowns in US to Change Markets
    03 July 2009
    Dow’s announcement on 1 July that it will permanently close some of its ethylene and EO/EG assets at Taft, Louisiana has specific implications for the glycols market and Dow’s role in this market.
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  • Celanese Planning To Double Acetic Acid Capacity In Nanjing By End-2009
    14 May 2009
    The current global recession has forced many, if not all, major petrochemical companies to examine their finances closely and cut costs in 2009 – drastically in some cases. Celanese, however, has decided to add acetic acid capacity.
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  • Europe’s Unsaturated Polyester Resins Industry Faces Challenging Transition
    24 April 2009
    If there is a sector of the chemical industry that can mirror and amplify GDP performance, it is unsaturated polyester resins (UPR). Historically, this industry has reliably predicted GDP contractions and expansions as it is so closely linked to the construction and transportation segments.
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  • Middle East Chemicals Lose Lustre as Global Downturn Grinds on
    06 January 2009
    The rapid expansion of petrochemical units in the Middle East was fuelled by demand from China. Chinese demand for chemical intermediates was in turn based on demand from Europe, the US and other Asian countries for finished goods, such as textiles, plastic toys and other consumables. Since the demand from the West has stalled for almost all commodities, Chinese chemical requirements have fallen sharply, and Middle East output is also rendered less vital.
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  • Middle East Petrochemicals Hold on to Edge
    24 November 2008
    The Middle East economies are looking relatively robust today in a very shaky world, despite some severe knocks to both the Dubai and Kuwaiti stock exchanges in the last few weeks. Banks are holding up well and the area is one of the only parts of the globe still able to lend money to the rest of the world. Oil and chemical companies, with large government stakes, are expected to remain strong players, despite the impact of the world economic downturn and the fall in the price of oil.
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  • Industry calls for radical action as recession spreads
    14 November 2008
    Major petrochemical producers are seriously evaluating profitability measures to counter the slump in demand triggered by the economic crisis.
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  • Petrochemical Industry Calls for Adjustment to New Cost Dynamics
    10 June 2008
    Recent corporate announcements in the US are clearly pointing to the fact that the petrochemical industry as a whole is being confronted by dramatically new cost dynamics and that it is now time that companies react accordingly.
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  • Wellman story nears an end
    23 April 2008
    The story of the reshaping of PET and polyester producer, Wellman, which began in May 2007 with the sale of downstream assets in Europe, is approaching some kind of resolution. It has been the story of a company’s attempt to re-create itself in a more successful form, and it looks like a happy ending of sorts is still possible as the 15 August 2008 deadline approaches.
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  • Chemical Stocks Weather January Jitters
    31 January 2008
    If the rest of 2008 plays out in the global stock markets as January has done, it could be quite a nervous year for investors. Most major stock exchanges have suffered through days of huge losses, only to see the pendulum swing back the other direction the very next day in some cases. Many of the major chemical companies were hit at the same time, with shares dropping precipitously before correcting back up to close to their original values. Core strengths, whether in feedstocks, downstream diversity and specialisation or both, will be crucial in the current context of nervous financial markets.
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  • A Brave New World in Ethanolamines
    04 January 2008
    Dow's announcement on 13 December of the establishment of a new joint venture with PIC of Kuwait, will see the company shake off a significant portion of its chemicals assets, and leave itself free to focus more on specialty businesses. For the ethanolamines market, the announcement ushers in a brave new world with a powerful new player.
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  • Benzene Buyer Beware
    12 December 2007
    Benzene margins, like those of other intermediates, have shrunk over the past year in response to the pressure from high crude oil costs, which have shot up in a way that downstream chemicals markets struggle to keep pace with. Crude oil prices have gone from $63.43/bbl on 1 December 2006 to a peak of $98.24/bbl on 23 November 2007. Over the next year, if crude oil prices remain at the kind of levels we have seen in 2007, products downstream from benzene will need to see significant price increases.
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  • STYRENICS – 2007 ENDS WITH MORE CUTS
    06 December 2007
    It has been quite a year for the styrene and derivatives industry. Acquisitions, strategic announcements and capacity rationalisation have been the buzzwords in 2007.
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  • MEG Through the Looking Glass
    02 October 2007
    The global MEG market is moving in the opposite direction to that which was expected for the last quarter of 2007. The glut of material that was programmed as a result of new production coming up this year has simply not been seen, partly due to delays in start-ups of new plants and partly because of operating issues globally. A delay in the price deterioration that was anticipated for MEG has been widely expected for some time; but price increases were the last thing most participants had planned for.
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  • Acquisitions Continue To Reshape Acrylates Markets
    24 August 2007
    As global competition has increased, acrylates producers have accelerated the pace of downstream integration over the past couple of years with a series of strategic acquisitions.
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  • BASF puts Styrenics Up for Sale
    20 July 2007
    The styrenics market continues to offer opportunities for repositioning businesses, and this year has been particularly hectic with acquisitions and partnering taking place chiefly in North America and Europe. Markets view all this activity as positive as it may trigger the capacity rationalisation needed by this sector in order to turn the business around.
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  • Basell-Lyondell — The Polyolefins Giant
    20 July 2007
    On 15 July, Basell, the world largest polyolefins producer (owned by Access) announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Lyondell's outstanding common shares for $48/share in an all-cash transaction with a total value of approximately $19 billion, including the assumption of debt.
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  • Chinese Protests Hit Petrochemical Industry
    16 July 2007
    The recent rallying of Chinese protestors in Xiamen on a range of issues from child labour to pollution has highlighted the vulnerability of the chemical industry to popular uprisings of this kind in an increasingly vocal population. Reactions to announcements of new plants can be based on emotion as well as science. Information from Chinese sources illustrates this issue as it affects the petrochemical industry.
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  • Hexion wins bid for Huntsman Corp
    13 July 2007
    Hexion won a short-lived battle with Basell over Huntsman on 12 July. The company, which is owned by equity group Apollo Management, will pay $28.00 per share, up from its own prior offer of $27.25 and significantly higher than Basell's bid of $25.25 per share. The merger agreement reached between Basell (Access Industries) and Huntsman on 26 June has been cancelled. Hexion is to pay half of the $200 million break-up fee due to Basell.
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  • Basell and Hexion locked in bid battle for Huntsman Corp
    10 July 2007
    On 26 June Huntsman announced polyolefins major Basell was to acquire its remaining stock for $25.25 per share in a deal valued at $9.6 billion, including the assumption of debt. The transaction was announced as subject to approvals in the US and Europe and closing was seen in quarter four 2007. Equity group Access Industries is owner of Basell, a joint venture between BASF and Shell. The deal would enhance Access's strategic presence in the chemical sector.
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  • Soft Landing for Global Glycols
    12 June 2007
    The MEG market has proved at once more robust and less predictable than ever over the last year or so. MEG producers have been bracing themselves for a crash since early 2006 when the market expected start-ups of several large units in Asia and the Middle East.
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  • REACH Affects EU on 1st June 2007 - Are You Ready?
    06 June 2007

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  • Private Equity Groups Turn Attention to Major Petchem Deals
    15 March 2007
    Within the last month, two news stories emerged concerning potential mega-deals involving some of the most recognizable corporations in the world, let alone the petrochemical sector. In one instance, Dow Chemical reportedly received buyout interest from a consortium of private equity firms at a price tag of $54 billion. Also, GE Plastics, a division of US industrial stalwart General Electric, is the subject of buyout talk involving four major private equity groups. GE valued this business at $10 billion.
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  • Is Europe Ready for REACH?
    15 January 2007
    REACH gives industry greater responsibility to manage the risks coming from around 30,000 chemicals and to provide safety information on all substances used on their own or in preparations. Both manufacturers and importers are required to gather information on the substances and to register this information in a central database.
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    Forthcoming Events

    • Chlor-Alkali Business Training Seminar
      19 - 22 October 2010
      Hôtel Hôtel Mercure Thalassa, Port - Fréjus, France
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    • 7th China International Polyester & Intermediates Forum
      3 - 5 November 2010
      Shanghai
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    • 4th International Polyurethane Summit in China
      18 - 19 November 2010
      China
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    • 8th China International Polyamide & Intermediates Forum
      1 - 3 December 2010
      Shanghai
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