Petrochemical Markets and Economics - The Impact of Feedstocks and Costs on Competitiveness and Business Strategy

Course Summary
This three-day course provides a fundamental understanding of petrochemical economics and the feedstock/price inter-relationships affecting market competitiveness. It will analyse the fundamentals of competitiveness in producing base chemicals and how these will affect business decisions, process and feedstock selection. Participants will analyse production and supply costs which will highlight the price determining mechanisms and opportunities for profits in the industry. The course is not aimed at existing experts but instead, serves as an introduction to more specialised courses.
Please note: a laptop and up-to-date version of Office would be an advantage in order to engage in market data; however it is not essential.

Industry Structure and Feedstock Linkages

• Petrochemicals related to refining, gasoline and fuels
  
• Upstream and downstream feedstock linkages
  

Petrochemical Economics

• Costing: cash and full costs, variable and marginal costs, cost curves and competitor cost structure
  
• Pricing, price setting mechanisms, price monitoring
  

Feedstocks - An Analysis

• Petrochemical feedstocks for cracking, reforming and intermediates production
  
• The oil refinery and refining/petrochemicals interface
  

Technology and Economics of Olefins and Aromatics

• Process descriptions and flo- descriptions
  
• Methodology of cost of production analyses and sensitivities
  
• Steam cracker economics
  
• Effect of different feedstocks on yields
  
• Aromatics economics
  

Commodity Polymer Trends

• Trends in production and markets
  
• Polymer usage, LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE, PP, PS, PVC
  
• Interpolymer competition and price equilibrium
  
• Motivation for polymer trade and impact on established producing areas