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Asian Chemical Connections

Polyethylene Pricing Separates From Fundamentals

By John Richardson Linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) pricing in China has become increasingly divorced from industry fundamentals as a result of the growing role of the Dalian Commodity Exchange’s futures contract, claimed a Singapore-based polyolefin trader late last week. And the contract is setting the physical market, resulting in Dalian performing a similar role that […]

Asia Olefins-Polyolefins To Stay Tight Till April

By John Richardson The tight supply olefin-polyolefin supply that has characterised markets since the first quarter of last year continues with no sign of relief for resin buyers until at least early April. But whereas production problems and start-up delays are likely to remain aplenty, the argument for further price hikes has been undermined by […]

India still shining

The figures may not be as impressive as China but India too has been churning out some good growth numbers. The Index of Industrial Production was up 11.7% in November, the fastest pace of growth in more than two yeas. While growth was broad-based the consumer durables sector was a major contribution as production expanded […]

Methanol Enjoys Oversupply Respite

By John Richardson SINGAPORE (ICIS news)–Multiple production issues are likely to keep Asian methanol markets tight until at least May after which new supply might give struggling buyers more leverage, said Mark Berggren, managing director of Singapore-based consultancy, Methanol Market Services Asia (MMSA). “There are many operating issues keeping supply tight in Asia at the […]

China Govt’s Next Moves Critical For World Economy

By John Richardson CHINA’S decision yesterday to increase the amount banks must set aside as reserves and two interbank interest rate rises in the space of a week are designed to tighten monetary conditions as worries grow over overheating and inflation. Lending reached Yuan 600bn ($88bn) in the first week of this year, not far […]

Asean-China FTA: Indonesian drama unfolds

By Malini Hariharan Eight years after agreeing to the Asean-China FTA (ACFTA) and a few days after its implementation the Indonesian government has succumbed to industry pressure to ask the Asean Council to renegotiate tariff reductions on 228 categories of goods across eight industrial sectors. In return, it has offered to accelerate implementation of tariff […]

China Inflation Threat To Chemicals

  Sky-high living costs? Source of picture: www.shanghaiist.com   By John Richardson CHINA’S imports surged by 55.9 per cent last December, raising concerns among chemicals traders and producers that this points to increasing inflationary pressure and a possible interest-rate hike later this year. The country’s current official borrowing rate stands at 5.31%. “The government has […]

China’s Credit Growth Versus the West

By John Richardson THE BIG gap in credit growth between China and the developed world has been thrown into further relief by recently released data – raising inflationary concerns in the world’s most important economy, while emphasising how rich-world countries remain on government life-support systems. Broad money supply growth was a huge 30% in China […]

Reliance ups LyondellBasell valuation

By Malini Hariharan LyondellBasell’s aggressive moves to convince creditors to approve its own reorganisation plan have drawn a reaction from Reliance Industries. A source familiar with developments confirms that Reliance has raised its valuation of LyondellBasell to $13.5bn, up from $12bn and a letter has been sent to LyondellBasell. But the Wall Street Journal reports […]

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