Signs of recovery at hand, but more rationalization is needed

摘要

This year is expected to be a better year in tmes of demand and pricing than 2001, but petrochemical markets wil remain oversupplied and profitability poor, says Gary Adams, president of CMAI (Houston). More rationalization will be needed in the industry to offset new capacities, producers and analysts say. BASF and Atofina recently fired up their joint 545,000-m.t./year cracker at Port Arthur, TX, and Formosa Plastics is scheduled to bring onstream its 817,000-m.t./year cracker at Point Comfort, TX this month.