2013-02-02 16:11:45 - Fast Market Research recommends "South Africa Petrochemicals Report Q1 2013" from Business Monitor International, now available

The latest South Africa petrochemicals report examines how the country's leading producer Sasol has sustained domestic sales in the face of increasing political unrest, a weakening external environment and the domestic economic downturn. It analyses the industry's competitiveness against external competitors and its plans for long-term growth.

While Sasol has succeeded keeping its sales volumes up, overall polymers demand has weakened due to hikes in prices, leading to a slowdown in demand from plastics converters further down the manufacturing chain. PE and PP demand were flat in H212 due to economic slowdown, labour unrest and the resulting decline in investor and consumer confidence. On the upside, the weakness of the rand kept import costs elevated, weighing on demand somewhat. Furthermore, the

slowdown in the growth of consumer spending and investment also kept a lid on import growth.


Full Report Details at
- www.fastmr.com/prod/529544_south_africa_petrochemicals_report_q1 ..


Over the last quarter, BMI has revised the following forecasts/views:

* Investor confidence has been knocked by the country's debt downgrade and rising labour unrest. Sasol, the country's biggest corporate taxpayer, has warned that the situation is 'not conducive to building investor confidence in the economy'. Another major downside risk for South Africa is a potential break-up of the eurozone.
* Polyolefin producer Safripol declared force majeure on its polymer supplies from early November 2012 due to problems in power supplies at its Sasolburg site, thereby worsening the shortage of HDPE and pushing up prices in Q412.
* Sasol was able to boost sales by focusing on cheaper LDPE grades in 2012, thereby undercutting the price of imports. It is also somewhat insulated from imports due to the costs of shipping, storage and delivery and the risks posed by fluctuations in the value of the rand against the US dollar.
* Instability in feedstock supply is set to be resolved with investment in plant efficiency, including Sasol's EPU5 and C3 stabilisation capital projects are expected to come on stream at end-2013 and end-2014 respectively and should raise ethylene production by around 48,000tpa by 2015.
* In BMI's Middle East and Africa Petrochemicals Risk/Reward Ratings (RRRs) matrix, South Africa comes seventh with 54.6 points, unchanged since the previous quarter. This puts it 2.2 points behind Israel and 5.6 points ahead of Turkey.

Report Table of Contents:

SWOT Analysis
- South Africa Petrochemicals Industry SWOT
- South Africa Political SWOT
- South Africa Economic SWOT
- South Africa Business Environment SWOT
Global Petrochemicals Overview
Global Oil Products Price Outlook
- Table: BMI's Refined Products Forecasts,2010-2016
- Table: Middle East Outperforms In Terms of Passenger Growth
Regional Market Overview
- Table: Africa's Gas Reserves, 2012 (bcm)
- Table: Africa's Oil Reserves, 2012 (bn bbl)
- Table: Africa's Cracker Capacity, 2011-2017, ('000 tpa)
South Africa Market Overview
- Market Structure
- Table: South Africa - Cracker Capacity, 2012-2017
Industry Trends And Developments
- Sasol
- Upstream Developments
- Alternative Fuels
Industry Forecast Scenario
- Table: South Africa's Chemicals And Petrochemicals Sector, 2010-2017, ('000tpa, unless otherwise stated)
Petrochemicals Risk/Reward Ratings
Middle East and Africa Regional Petrochemicals Risk/Reward Ratings
- Table: Middle East And Africa Petrochemicals Risk/Reward Ratings
South Africa Risk/Reward
Macroeconomic Outlook
- Table: South Africa - Economic Activity, 2011-2016
Company Profiles
- AECI
- Dow South Africa
- Sasol
- Shell
Country Snapshot
- Table: South Africa's Population By Age Group, 1990-2020 ('000)
- Table: South Africa's Population By Age Group, 1990-2020 (% of total)
- Table: South Africa's Key Population Ratios, 1990-2020
- Table: South Africa's Rural And Urban Population, 1990-2020
Glossary of Terms
- Table: Glossary Of Petrochemicals Terms
BMI Methodology
- How We Generate Our Industry Forecasts
- Chemicals And Petrochemicals Industry
- Cross Checks
- Business Environment Ratings
- Table: Petrochemicals Business Environment Indicators And Rationale
- Weighting
- Table: Weighting Of Indicators

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