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IT IS not hard to see why China continues to remain on top of everyone's mind in the world of polymers and plastics. With a population of 1.3bn, it represents [...]

THE year was 1987. The Malaysian government invited Datuk T.T. Chao, founder of Chao Group International, to consider investing in Malaysia's petrochemical sector. The Chao Group was then considering a [...]

China's growing chemicals industry is being constrained by an inadequate Logistics infrastructure There is plenty that needs to be done for speedy movement of products by road, rail or water. [...]

ACRYLONITRILE PRODUCERS have unlimited reserves of resilience. Especially those who operate in Asia. That is clear from the fact that they have persisted in the business despite the many challenges [...]

CHINESE polymer markets are a perennial source of frustration for industry observers. It is as if the country's consumers are a force unto themselves, defying easy understanding. Sinodata Consulting points [...]

ASIAN petrochemicals markets are likely to remain bullish in 2005 although no one expects a repeat of the spectacular performance of 2004. Cracker operators and aromatics players are the most [...]

Exports are on the rise despite US-sponsored economic sanctions as buyers and sellers navigate around obstacles. However, capacity delays continue petrochemicals MALINI HARIHARAN MUMBAI MORE DELAYS FOR IRANian PROJECTS The [...]

Polymer markets in the Middle East and Asia must cope with a global container freight system skewed by China's export dominance. Will rates continue to rise? ALTHOUGH POLYMER prices in [...]

India's petrochemical industry has the potential for substantial development, providing current infrastructure and political hurdles can be overcome 'With a population of over 1bn, it could be an ideal investment [...]

DEMAND FOR polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in Israel is expected to strengthen in April. PE and PP prices in the domestic and import markets were also expected to go [...]

POLYSTYRENE (PS) prices in the Middle East have risen $40-50/tonne, or 4%, over the past month and are expected to continue rising in the coming weeks, suppliers, traders and end-users [...]

Iran Petrochemical Commercial Co (IPCC) has ordered four to six new liquids carriers for delivery in 2009-2010 to meet its logistics challenges, a senior company official revealed at the GPCA [...]

Sentiment in Middle East polyvinyl chloride (PVC) markets is likely to be upbeat in 2007, driven by supply constraints and robust demand. A possible surge in crude and ethylene feedstock [...]

'The market looks set to remain bullish througout the year, as construction booms' PVC market should be robust SENTIMENT IN the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) market in the Middle East is [...]

India's potential remains huge due to rapid demand growth. But political instability, protectionist measures and poor infrastructure stand in the way of investments, reports Prema Viswanathan of Asian Chemical News [...]

Discussions continue between Thailand's National Petrochemical Co. and Bangkok Polyethylene as they work toward a merger or 'cross-ownership' arrangement. No one realistically expects it to happen quickly. Other companies in Asia are looking at similar arrangements.

PETER HUNTSMAN'S corporate vision could be described by some as quixotic. Less charitable critics may even see it as inconsistent. And some of Peter's personal beliefs could be viewed as [...]

FORECASTING Chinese demand for polyester staple fibre (PSF) and polyester filament yarn (PFY) has never been easy. This year, the exercise is doubly daunting due to rather difficult market conditions, [...]

WITH the BASF-YPC cracker nearing mechanical completion, old challenges relating to construction have given way to a new one --competition for market share. It has been more than ten years [...]

THE path to crackerhood has been a difficult one for Shanghai Secco Petrochemical Co (Secco). It has been littered with obstacles such as lengthy negotiations, cultural differences, Sars (severe acute [...]

The US major outlines its direction. This includes boosting financial strength, maybe building a propylene oxide plant in China, possibly teaming up with Bayer to explore a polyols investment in [...]

Chandra Asri's US$1.14 billion debt restructuring has been stalled by Japanese and Indonesian creditors who are unwilling to make the first concessions.

TASNEE PETROCHEMICALS plans to debottleneck its polypropylene (PP) joint-venture plant at Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, and expand capacity by 35,000 tonnes/year to 485,000 tonnes/year in January, according to a company [...]

POLYPROPYLENE (PP) cargoes have been sold into Iran for the first time in six months, as dwindling domestic stocks forced end-users to seek imported material. Polymer trades ground to a [...]

A FIRE at the Reliance Industries refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, has caused anxiety among polypropylene (PP) converters in the country. Converters, who had been maintaining meager inventories during the [...]

SABIC HAS slashed its offers for November for the Middle East by $50-60/tonne from its October offers, due to lackluster demand and sliding Chinese prices, a source close to the [...]

Sabic will shut down its 800,000 tonne/year high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plant at Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, in a few weeks--a move that may tighten supply and stabilize prices. The plant, known [...]

MARUN PETROCHEMICAL has restarted its 1.1m tonne/year cracker at Bandar Imam, Iran. A 300,000 tonne/year polypropylene (PP) plant at the same site, which had started trial runs in July, has [...]

ASIAN STYRENE prices could fall by up to 12% by the end of 2006 because demand from China is expected to weaken, a senior executive at Samsung Total Petrochemical said [...]

SABIC EXPECTS global monoethylene glycol (MEG) markets to be balanced to tight next year, due to a large number of plant shutdowns. Fahad Al-Swailem, Sabic's general manager for fibre intermediates [...]

RECORD-HIGH prices over the last few weeks are spooking polymer end-users in the Middle East, concerned about thinning margins in the coming months. 'We are worried crude values may surge [...]

POLYMER TRADE with Lebanon has rebounded, with road transportation links being reestablished following a UN-brokered cease-fire, suppliers and traders said last week. Trading had come to a standstill in recent [...]

ENGRO Asahi Polymer and Chemicals, Pakistan's sole polyvinyl chloride (PVC) producer, plans to expand its 100 000 tonne/year plant near Karachi by 50% to 150 000 tonne/year by 2008. Currently, [...]

SABIC HAS hiked offers for the Middle East by $200 per tonne for polyethylene (PE) and by $120 per tonne for polypropylene (PP), on rising feedstock costs and tight supply, [...]

LALEH PETROCHEMICAL has further delayed the startup of its 300,000 tonne-per-year low-density polyethylene (LDPE) project at Bandar Imam, Iran, by a year to late 2007, a source close to the [...]

MARUN PETROCHEMICAL is expected to restart its 1.1 million tonne-per-year cracker at Bandar Imam, Iran, by the end of September, according to a source close to the company. The cracker [...]

THE INFLUX of Lebanese refugees into neighboring Syria to escape attack by Israeli troops has resulted in a surge in demand for polymers such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) [...]

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES, India's sole isopropanol (IPA) producer, has decided to permanently shut its 35,000 tonne-per-year IPA plant in Mumbai, Maharashtra state, due to poor economics, according to a company source. [...]

MIDDLE EAST polypropylene (PP) prices have surged to all-time highs on tight supply, improving demand and rising feedstock costs. Middle East producers raised their July offers this week for most [...]

SAUDI INTERNATIONAL Petrochemical (Sipchem) expects to launch an IPO (initial public offering) on the Saudi Arabian stock exchange by the end of 2006, a source close to the company said [...]

TIGHT SUPPLY, rising Chinese prices and high feedstock costs have led to polyethylene (PE) prices surging by $20-50 per ton in India, and by $10-30 per ton in the Middle [...]

POLYPROPYLENE (PP) prices in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region have surged by $30-40 per ton from a week earlier, reaching the same levels as prices in the East Mediterranean [...]

HIGH POLYOLEFIN prices are pushing consumers in the Middle East toward recycled and off-spec material in a bid to improve margins, traders said last week. Some who are unable to [...]

IRAN PETROCHEMICAL Commercial Co. (IPCC), the Iranian trading firm, plans to quadruple its polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) exports to China in 2006 due to strong demand growth, sources close [...]

MARUN PETROCHEMICAL, the Iranian producer, exported the first polyethylene (PE) cargoes from its new plant at Bandar Imam to its customers on a trial basis last week. 'The company had [...]