India readies for surging petrochemicals demand

It was my privilege to participate in Petrochem 2019 in Mumbai over November 14-15, hear about how the country is getting ready to fulfil an anticipated strong domestic petrochemicals growth and to share with the delegates my view on major factors in the oil markets and the outlook for crude prices, which determine the sector's feedstock costs.

What I appreciated the most is how stakeholders in the Indian petrochemicals and recycling industries are strategising and working on not just how best to satisfy the growing demand for plastics, but also how to manage the consumption sustainably.

Discussions also centred on how to use India's surplus refining capacity to give the country a jump-start towards becoming more self-sufficient in petrochemicals, less reliant on imports.