But with a global capacity glut in 2001 chemical prices softened, even as raw material costs like natural gas began a fivefold price increase.

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Natural gas prices, electricity prices, raw material prices, project financing costs and availability, emerging technologies and, hardest of all, politicians, who can make or break the industry with their decisions on government subsidies.

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On the West coast, Perth lies at the center of its vast natural gas and iron ore fields that are supplying China with much of the raw material for its factories.

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