  
October 17-18, 2007
The Houstonian Hotel - Houston, Texas
The petrochemical industry is undergoing some dramatic changes. There is little to no investments occurring in developed countries. Essentially all of the new crackers are being built in feedstock advantaged developing countries and China - and there is way too much of it. Today you need a geography course to keep up with the new investments occurring globally.
As a result of the dislocation of investments, trade patterns will change. For example, North America is forecast to become a net importer of most commodity chemicals and plastics. The good news is, however, that Nexant forecasts a strong period of industry profitability that could last as long as mid-2009. Companies will have a two-year window in which to position themselves for the impending cyclical downturn (which could be one of the worst in history). What is a company to do?
Nexant and ICIS are showcasing two dynamic companies that are clearly repositioning themselves to be major players in the global petrochemical business of the future: Braskem and Reliance Industries. Come hear what they have to say.
We hope that you will be able to join us on October 17 and 18 in Houston as we share our view of the petrochemical industry of the future.
For more information or to register online, click here.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
The Hotel Sofitel Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Friday, November 16, 2007
Hilton Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Argentina
(Prior to APLA's Latin American Petrochemical Annual Meeting)
Nexant has been forecasting an extended period of strong profitability starting in the second half of 2008 and continuing until some time in 2009. If true, this would be the longest period of sustained profitability in the history of the petrochemical industry. Evidently, we are not alone. There is a buying and selling frenzy that the industry has not seen for more than a decade - in fact it has only been comparable to the last structural cyclical fly up that occurred in the late-1980s/early 1990s. GE Plastics, Huntsman, Ipiranga and Lyondell are recent transaction examples. Clearly Apollo, Basell, Braskem, Koch and SABIC, the acquirers of these assets, are convinced that better times are ahead for the industry that justify the high prices paid. The key questions then become:
- How soon will we hit the peak?
- How long will the fly up last?
- How high will prices and margins go?
- What will the industry look like after the fly up?
Nexant's message has been clear for the coming period. Companies have a 12 to 24 month "window of opportunity" in which to use the profits from the fly up to re-position themselves for the coming downturn. This will be the theme of the seminar.
Click here to register online
For more information on Nexant's ChemSystems conferences, contact Patricia Carron at: cpcourses@nexant.com
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