Episodes
-
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 specialties - Pushing materials for semiconductors, electronics - Also expanding into bio-naphtha and pyrolysis oil - Japan’s chemical companies want to licence recycling technologies- Using ammonia and hydrogen to reduce dependence on LNG- South Korea chemicals face existential crisis
-
Missing episodes?
-
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 endureReduced run rates likely to remain a key response from ECH makersUpcoming capacities to add pressure on a structurally long supply pictureIn this podcast, markets reporter Michelle Liew discusses trends in the Asia ECH market, as well as the near-term outlook.
-
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 senior LNG analyst Xu Fei will delve into the mechanics of hydrogen-fueled gas turbines and their potential to significantly cut carbon emissions.
-
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 situationHigh freight costs impacting availabilityCapacity growth in AsiaUpcoming recycled content targets for R-PETLimited availability of food-grade R-PET pellets
-
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 supplyMonomeric MDI particularly sluggish and expected to remain soWeak demand outlook for China’s downstream construction and automotive sectors
-
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 healthyStorm Beryl, low affordability in Asia, may keep spot arbitrage trades closed into AugPanama Canal traffic levels expected to return to pre-congestion levels by Oct
-
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 CBAMCBAM to affect global trade, particularly for high-emission products
-
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 what to watch for August.
-
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.
-
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 China- Europe needs to act fast to protect its industry
-
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.
-
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 neutrality by 2060.
ICIS Asia deputy news editor Nurluqman Suratman and ICIS hydrogen analyst Yu Yunfeng discuss China’s hydrogen developments on this podcast.
-
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 Seymour Chenxia discuss the trends and outlook for the Asia propylene market.
-
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 foster sustainable industrial growth.
-
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 towards net zero carbon gives opportunity to relocate plants, infrastructure
-
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.
-
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 out to our recycling analysts at [email protected] and [email protected].
-
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 out to our recycling analysts at [email protected] and [email protected].
- Show more
