VIEWPOINT

Restocking Ahead

5:49 AM MST | January 27, 2012

Early earnings reports confirm the weak end to 2011. Volumes fell in the fourth quarter, but revenues and earnings were decent thanks to strong pricing (p. 9, 12). DuPont reported a 10% year-over-year drop in volumes, with demand dragged down by weakness in...

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Water Treatment

CWs cover story this week focuses on the market for water treatment chemicals and services (p.19). Water scarcity, regulatory pressures, and rapid industrial development in areas where high-quality water is limited continues to provide strong market...

2012: Still a Growth Story

Global chemical demand will continue to grow in 2012 even as solvency concerns in Europe, tightening credit and slower growth in China, and high unemployment in the U.S. weigh on confidence. ACC is forecasting a 3.6% gain in global chemical output in 2012, on...

Mideast Moves Downstream

The theme of the Sixth Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) Annual Forum, held earlier this month in Dubai, sums up the direction and challenge ahead for Mideast producers: ‘Moving Downstream: Creating Added Value and Sustainable...

Shale Advantage Swells

The surge in U.S. shale gas production has restored an enviable cost position for U.S. petrochemical makers. The previous decade was marked by gloom for U.S. petrochemical makers as they marched toward the top of global production cost curves and exports...

Middle East: Growing Up

Producers in the Middle East are nearing the end of a five-year growth spurt. Ethylene capacity is expected to reach 28 million m.t. in 2011, doubling from 14 million m.t. in 2007, according to CMAI (Houston). The region now accounts for almost 20% of global...

IHS Acquires Purvin & Gertz

We are excited by the latest development at parent company IHS (Englewood, CO), which has added the esteemed consultancy Purvin & Gertz (Houston) to our energy and chemicals portfolio. Purvin & Gertz was founded in 1947 by Robert Purvin and Bud Gertz...

A ‘Two-speed Economy’

Third-quarter earnings continue strong with higher prices offsetting weaker volumes and higher raw materials cost. Growth has slowed from the strong pace of early 2011, but executives say that conditions are better than macroeonomic reports and stock market...

World is Flat, Earnings Are Up

Volumes have flattened in the third quarter but chemical makers have still managed to post higher earnings as prices and revenue continue to rise. BASF’s chemical operations and DuPont reported volume growth of 1%, while Dow Chemical and PPG Industries...

Rare Bird Alert: Chemical Week Sighting in “The Big Year”

Chemical Week magazine has a small cameo in the film “The Big Year,” which opened in the U.S. last Friday. The movie is a fictionalized account of Mark Obmascik’s 2004 book “The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession.” The book tells the story of three men, including a former senior executive with Rohm and Haas, who take on the “Big Year," a competition among birders to find the most species of birds during the calendar year....

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