Collapsing second quarter financial results show that the industry may face permanently low growth, driving the need for radical business model transformation. - Q2 financial results show persistent downturn in sales, profitability - Europe chemicals still plagued by China-driven global overcapacity, higher production costs, poor downstream demand - BASF reports double-digit fall in net income, weighed by lower prices. Warns of second half risks from stronger price reduction, lower volume growth...
Jul 30, 2024•30 min•Ep. 1226
European petrochemical leaders should take inspiration from Japan, which is further ahead in reducing base chemicals while expanding in specialties and low carbon technologies. - Japan hit by high naphtha feedstock costs, growing global overcapacity - 70% of crackers are more than 50 years old - More than 10% of Japan’s crackers could close - Downstream production also closing such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and paraxylene (PX) - Japan basic chemicals losing ground, new focus on special...
Jul 25, 2024•24 min•Ep. 1225
Typhoon Gaemi will test the resilience of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply chain, causing temporary shipment delays and port closures.
Jul 25, 2024•3 min•Ep. 1224
CHENGDU (ICIS) -- Asia’s epichlorohydrin (ECH) market has been relatively flat in recent months, a situation that has been prolonged by the persistent supply overhang in Asia and the lack of demand outlets. Weak performance in derivative epoxy resins market to endure Reduced run rates likely to remain a key response from ECH makers Upcoming capacities to add pressure on a structurally long supply picture In this podcast, markets reporter Michelle Liew discusses trends in the Asia ECH market, as ...
Jul 25, 2024•3 min•Ep. 1223
SINGAPORE (ICIS) -- China's installed capacity of gas power generation is projected to surpass 150 GW by 2025, representing roughly 6% of the country's total installed power generation capacity. This presents substantial investment prospects within China and aligns with the nation's ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Hydrogen, often regarded as a potential fuel for blending with natural gas, offers a promising avenue for reducing emissions from power generation. In this podcast, ICIS...
Jul 24, 2024•4 min•Ep. 1222
Senior Editor for PET, Caroline Murray , and Senior Editor for Recycling, Matt Tudball talk about the current state of the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and recycled PET (R-PET) markets and the uncertainties both face for the rest of the year. These include: PET feedstock situation High freight costs impacting availability Capacity growth in Asia Upcoming recycled content targets for R-PET Limited availability of food-grade R-PET pellets...
Jul 22, 2024•16 min•Ep. 1221
SHANGHAI (ICIS)—In this podcast, markets reporter Shannen Ng discusses how northeast Asia’s methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) supply is expected to remain tight as Q3 progresses, however, poor demand expectations in the Asian import markets for the rest of this quarter remain. Polymeric MDI sentiment in SE Asia, India supported by tight supply Monomeric MDI particularly sluggish and expected to remain so Weak demand outlook for China’s downstream construction and automotive sectors...
Jul 18, 2024•2 min•Ep. 1220
SINGAPORE (ICIS) -- In this podcast, Asia ethylene editor Josh Quah and analyst Aliena Huang discuss the factors impacting arbitrage flows of ethylene from the US to Asia. Spot arbitrage window between US and Asia closed but term arrivals for July remain healthy Storm Beryl, low affordability in Asia, may keep spot arbitrage trades closed into Aug Panama Canal traffic levels expected to return to pre-congestion levels by Oct
Jul 18, 2024•6 min•Ep. 1219
SINGAPORE (ICIS) -- In this podcast, ICIS analysts Patricia Tao, Lewis Unstead and Aliena Huang delve into how the upcoming CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) will impact China’s export-oriented manufacturing sectors and hydrogen’s crucial role in its low-carbon economy. China's national energy law draft includes hydrogen, a shift towards low-carbon Move comes ahead of EU's CBAM CBAM to affect global trade, particularly for high-emission products...
Jul 18, 2024•6 min•Ep. 1218
LONDON (ICIS) -- Europe’s run up to holiday season has been unusually busy for polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) markets, including some spot prices reversing for the first time since March 2024. In this ICIS podcast, European PE and PP senior editors Vicky Ellis and Ben Lake pick out July’s big themes, from logistics (hurricane Beryl and still-spiked Asian freight rates) to the mismatch between how local suppliers and converters are experiencing demand this month. They also highlight wha...
Jul 17, 2024•12 min•Ep. 1217
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published the July World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE) report, which shows that corn production is forecasted to increase by 240m bushels while for soybeans the outlook is for a decrease by 15m bushels. Senior editor Mark Milam talks to Sylvia Traganida about the report and the latest developments in the US market.
Jul 17, 2024•7 min•Ep. 1216
Rampant overcapacity in China will change as limits to refinery expansions and new plants may stifle feedstock availability. - Big structural reforms needed to improve China’s economy - China petrochemical trends become more complicated - Country plans to cap refinery capacity at 1 billion tonnes/year from 2027-2040 - China forging closer relations with Saudi Arabia - Swift rise in China electric vehicles threatens petrochemical feedstocks - Zero carbon rules limit future plant construction in C...
Jul 16, 2024•21 min•Ep. 1215
Caprolactam (capro) availability in Europe has been very tight until recently due to a shortage of sulphur and low downstream demand. Slow capro demand has also helped balance the market. Senior capro editor Marta Fern talks to senior editors Julia Meehan and Sylvia Traganida about current developments in the market and what lies ahead.
Jul 16, 2024•9 min•Ep. 1214
The US overtook the Middle East for the first time as China’s largest supplier of propane and butane in the first half of 2024.
Jul 16, 2024•5 min•Ep. 1213
SINGAPORE (ICIS)-- China is pushing ahead with plans to meet its national emissions targets by facilitating low carbon hydrogen production through regulatory reforms. China’s hydrogen production and demand have been increasing steadily in recent years but renewable hydrogen, a critical enabler for hard-to-abate industries to reduce carbon footprints, accounted for less than 2% of China's total hydrogen production in 2023. China has pledged to achieve net zero carbon emission by 2035 and carbon n...
Jul 16, 2024•5 min•Ep. 1212
SINGAPORE (ICIS) — Asia propylene will continue to see new capacities coming from China in H2 2024, while its demand is also likely to improve as new derivative projects come up. Margin challenges may continue to impact the market by altering propylene and its derivatives’ operations. As China is the largest producer and consumer globally, dynamics in the country will impact the wider Asia propylene market. What will be the outlook for propylene in 2024? In this podcast, analysts Joey Zhou and S...
Jul 12, 2024•17 min•Ep. 1211
SINGAPORE (ICIS)-- China's recent decision to include hydrogen in its draft national energy law signals a transformative shift in the country's energy landscape. By positioning hydrogen alongside traditional energy sources, China is unlocking vast investment opportunities and paving the way for robust market growth in the burgeoning hydrogen sector. In this podcast, ICIS analysts Patricia Tao and Yu Yunfeng delve into how this strategic focus on hydrogen will reshape China's energy sector and fo...
Jul 09, 2024•5 min•Ep. 1210
Climate change and warming oceans mean that the US Gulf Coast chemical sector will have to adapt to more frequent weather events such as Hurricane Beryl. - Gulf Coast area where Hurricane Beryl made landfall houses 13m tonnes, 29% of US ethylene production capacity - Beryl is earliest Category five hurricane on record; busy season forecast - Warming oceans mean there may be double the number of severe hurricanes - Energy, chemical industries must adapt to cope with more weather events - Move tow...
Jul 09, 2024•22 min•Ep. 1209
Squeezed by high propane costs and weak propylene prices, some Chinese propane dehydrogenation (PDH) operators are turning to a potential lifeline: commercializing hydrogen, a valuable byproduct of their operations.
Jul 08, 2024•5 min•Ep. 1208
SINGAPORE (ICIS) -- The ICIS recycling analyst team recently presented on Asia’s recycling market at the Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference (APIC) in Seoul, Korea, and at Alliance to End Plastic Waste’s CEO round table in Beijing, China. Join recycling analysts Joshua Tan and Chua Xin Nee in this podcast as they have a conversation about key takeaways from both events, pyrolysis in Korea, and recycling in China. If you would like to know more about Asia’s recycling market, feel free to reach...
Jul 04, 2024•9 min•Ep. 1207
SINGAPORE (ICIS) -- The ICIS recycling analyst team recently presented on Asia’s recycling market at the Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference (APIC) in Seoul, Korea, and at Alliance to End Plastic Waste’s CEO round table in Beijing, China. Join recycling analysts Joshua Tan and Chua Xin Nee in this podcast as they have a conversation about key takeaways from both events, pyrolysis in Korea, and recycling in China. If you would like to know more about Asia’s recycling market, feel free to reach...
Jul 04, 2024•9 min•Ep. 1207
Chemical companies can expect to pay even more for container space along the Asia to Europe route as attacks against shipping persist, port congestion grows and demand rises. - Shipping rates soar amid congestion, rising demand, echoing post-pandemic era - Shipping reliability, customer service levels have fallen - Shippers reorganizing routes, focussing on big ports like Singapore - Global container shipping capacity growing by 20% year-on-year - Container fleet utilization over 90% despite ris...
Jul 02, 2024•44 min•Ep. 1206
In this podcast, ICIS analyst Claire Gao explores the oxo-alcohols market overview and outlook.
Jul 01, 2024•4 min•Ep. 1205
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Asia’s base oils supply is expected to improve slightly in H2 2024, while overall demand will likely improve towards the later part of Q3 with the onset of the seasonal peak. Group I brightstock supply from southeast Asia and Group II supply from South Korea expected to gradually increase India demand to pick up in September after monsoon; China demand to remain stagnant amid economic woes Tight Group I base oils supply to remain offset by sluggish demand In this podcast, edito...
Jun 26, 2024•5 min•Ep. 1204
LONDON (ICIS)--European monoethylene glycol (MEG) editor, Melissa Hurley, explores the global glycol situation with Judith Wang, Cindy Qiu, Melissa Wheeler and Antulio Borneo. Asia tug of war between limited imports and sluggish demand Downstream polyester plants may cut operating rates further in China China MEG inventories fluctuated between 700,000 and 800,000 in June European import supply set to improve in July Tropical storm Alberto brings heavy rainfall but no impacts to gulf coast produc...
Jun 24, 2024•13 min•Ep. 1203
LONDON (ICIS)--The European oxo-alcohols market and the majority of its derivatives have been characterized by ample supply in June, particularly following the lifting of OQ Chemicals' force majeure at the end of May. Demand across most markets remains tepid and slow due to ongoing economic challenges. The construction and coatings industries have not experienced the expected seasonal surge. Butyl acetate reporter Marion Boakye speaks to oxo-alcohols reporter Nicole Simpson, glycol ethers report...
Jun 24, 2024•10 min•Ep. 1202
In this podcast, we will have Mason to talk about China MMA market.
Jun 24, 2024•4 min•Ep. 1201
ICIS consultant, James Ray, describes how the shale gas revolution has benefited the US economy and chemicals plus views on demand and the green transition. - US shale gas revolution has helped entire economy - Low energy costs key driver of economic growth - Post-pandemic soaring demand, crimped supply pushed margins very high - US chemicals margins have now normalised, companies profitable - US construction market hurt by inflation, high interest rates - US auto industry improving but inventor...
Jun 20, 2024•35 min•Ep. 1200
China's propane import growth is expected to remain strong this year although local authorities have been encouraging food catering and residential end-users to switch from bottled LPG to piped natural gas (PNG). In this podcast, ICIS LPG analysts Yan Wang , Lillian Ren and natural gas editor Yueyi Yang discuss the current market dynamics and outlook.
Jun 20, 2024•5 min•Ep. 1199
LONDON(ICIS)--European downstream demand remains low due to inflation and high interest rates. Add logistics issues and a continuous flow of imports to that, and the doom of European petrochemical industry begins. But with the recent reduction in interest rates by ECB and increased tariffs on Asian EVs, there is hope that the acetone and phenol derivative chain might come back to its glory. Europe ICIS editors Jane Gibson (acetone and phenol), Heidi Finch (bisphenol A and epoxy resins), Meeta Ra...
Jun 14, 2024•25 min•Ep. 1198
