Futures trading

The blog’s quarterly review of company results shows a considerable shift in mood since May.

Then, many analysts were completely fooled by the short-term support provided to margins by higher oil prices. And only Peter Huntsman warned about the risks…

Petchem markets have moved into an interesting phase. Optimists will point to the recovery in crude oil and financial markets, plus higher prices for naphtha and benzene. They will see these as signs that we are just in the middle

European ethylene contract prices (CP) can be excellent indicators of profitability trends in the industry. Buyers were caught short during December, as inventories had been run down for year-end reasons. So when crude prices started rising, they had to rush

The IeC Downturn Alert launched on 2 May. Later that day, the US S&P 500 – the world’s most important stock index – hit a post-Crisis high of 1370. Last Friday, it closed down 7% at 1268 (purple dotted line

When the blog launched its IeC Downturn Alert in early May, it noted that “they don’t ring bells at market turning points”. However, it hoped that the Alert would provide a replacement. It seems to be doing its job. As

The major US investment banks saw their revenues from commodity trading jump 55% in Q1, as oil and other prices rose. According to the Wall Street Journal, JP Morgan (which employs 1800 people in its commodities unit), made $750m in

Q1 saw near record margins for European petchem producers. And there was also a scramble for product, as buyers rushed to secure product ahead of feedstock price-related increases. But this remained a supply-led market. As the chart above shows, based

It is now 4 weeks since the blog launched its IeC Downturn Alert. Since then, as the chart shows (based on ICIS pricing reports): • Brent (blue dotted line) is down 11% • Naphtha (red) is down 13% in Europe

A month ago, the blog suggested that chemical companies would “report excellent results for Q1“. Its regular quarterly round-up, below, shows this expectation has been confirmed. The blog was also pleased to see Huntsman CEO, Peter Huntsman, warn about the

The blog was very interested to see a recent ICIS interview with Torsten Penkuhn, BASF’s petchem head in Asia, by Will Beacham. Penkuhn noted: “We are more and more concerned at BASF about an increasing risk of overbuilding once again.

There seems little doubt that China is increasingly worried by rising inflation. The latest sign is Unilever, the giant consumer products company, being fined $300k (RMB 2 million), for discussing plans to increase prices due to higher raw material costs.

The blog launched its Downturn Alert last week, since when we have seen dramatic moves in oil markets. These may well lead to a slowdown in chemical orders, as buyers now have no need to secure supplies ahead of price

They don’t ring bells at market turning points. Otherwise, we could all retire to the Bahamas. But there is growing anecdotal evidence, from chemical buyers and the main retailers, that we may have reached at least a temporary market peak.

The blog was in Brussels this week, chairing the ICIS European Purchasing Conference. It was a packed room. Buyers are clearly very concerned about the high level of current raw material prices, and their volatility. I was also interviewed by

Last November, the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve justified his $600bn QE2 programme to boost financial markets by claiming “higher stock prices will boost consumer wealth and help increase confidence“, whilst also leading to “lower mortgage rates“. And stock

Something very strange has been happening to US energy prices over the past 2 years. The chart above shows the ratio between WTI crude oil pricing and natural gas: • It was between 6.0 and 13.0 for 22 years between

Japan’s prime minister has described the current situation as “the country’s worst tragedy since World War 2”, whilst the emperor has said he is “deeply worried“. Certainly, never in our working lives have we faced the combination of an earthquake,

The IEA (International Energy Agency) is now very worried about the impact of today’s high oil prices on the global economy. Their chart above highlights the problem for the USA and EU. If oil prices average $100/bbl in 2011, then

European operating rates (OR%) for ethylene averaged just 82% in 2010, according to APPE data this week. This meant there was no improvement over H1 OR%, suggesting the recovery from 2009’s 76% OR% has stalled. Of course, in terms of

China’s Dalian futures market has become a hotbed of speculation over the past 2 years, since the government doubled bank lending to $1.4trn during 2009, equal to 1/3rd of GDP. Traders have particularly focused on the assumed linkage between LLDPE

In one of its first posts, at the time of the ill-fated Access deal for Lyondell in July 2007, the blog highlighted the strange divergence that had developed between the front pages of the newspapers, and their business coverage: “If

Last week, the blog repeated its warning that crude oil was preparing for a big move, either up or down. And prices then jumped 7%, to a two-year high of $87.49/bbl. So the ‘triangle formation’ proved its predictive power again.

Warren Buffett, the legendary US investor once cautioned that “over time, markets will do extraordinary, even bizarre, things.” We are certainly living through such times today. In August, the US S&P 500 Index fell 5%, as investors worried about the

Yesterday, the blog worried that oil prices were well out of line with fundamentals. It argued that momentum trading, highlighted by MF Global’s energy VP, Mike Fitzpatrick, had created a speculative mania. Today, it looks as though Fitzpatrick might agree.

As promised on Saturday, today’s post looks in more detail at the major change taking place in the relationship of propylene to ethylene prices. When the blog joined the chemical industry in the 1970’s, propylene was often regarded as a