Global economic slowdown has also caused economies to decline in 2008, affecting petrochemical industry worldwide. Japanese and South Korean petrochemical industry were faced with a need for serious structural reform even before the onset of the economic crisis. This was due to the massive investments made in the Middle East in mega sized low cost ethane cracker projects. Additionally, large scale petrochemical projects are coming onstream in China, reducing China’s dependence on imports, sourced from Japan and South Korea. Petrochem producers in these two large Asian countries have been gearing up to face the new challenges by realigning their product portfolios and market positions, attempting restructuring, consolidations, mergers and acquisitions. Read in Global economic tsunami could boost restructuring efforts and strategic tie-ups in Japan, South Korea

A study found that the polymer volume used for thin wall packaging in 2008 remained unchanged at 2.5 mln tons, despite the economic recession. Increasing consumer demand for convenient packaging solutions has propelled the growth of TWP, increasing its penetration in food packaging. To know more about the largest producers in Europe, the larger markets, growth regions, polymer grades used and being developed, applications, limitations & challenges, etc, read Thin wall plastic packaging in Europe withstood economic slowdown to retain 2.5 mln ton consumption in 2008

Global PVC demand amounted to around 33 mln tons in 2009, with a fall in demand in NAFTA, Europe and Japan. Growth was seen in India and Asia, and is expected to continue in these regions and in Latin America. Developments in PVC are currently evolving to take into account legislation against the use of heavy metal stabilisers worldwide, trends in flame retardants and the controversies over the use of some phthalate plasticizers. Read more in Advances in PVC take into account legislation, controversies over phthalate plasticizers

Nanotubes are relatively newer, and it is necessary to understand them for their processing. Nanotube compounds require lower shear processing equipment for developing efficient conductivity and other properties. To know the aspects for successfully producing a polymer CNT compound, read Extrusion and processing parameters for nanotube compounds

New research shows that the future of lighter, cheaper and more-flexible solar cells looks bright. A research team added silver nanoparticles to polymer semiconductor photovoltaic materials and observed a relative efficiency boost of 12%. The discovery could pave the way to flexible organic photovoltaics with all the advantages of ease of manufacture and inexpensive starting materials. Another research has developed a multi-cell array that achieved an efficiency of 43%, setting a new record for solar cell efficiency. Read details in Silver nanoparticles can increase electrical power generation of polymer solar cells