By John Richardson
CHEMICALS and polymer markets have enjoyed a very strong recovery in Asia since November/December, according to many of the traders we have spoken to.
“We are getting $150-200/tonne more for benzene and toluene in January compared …
China graduates at a job fair in Chongqing in November 2012
Source of picture: HAP/Quirky China News/Rex Features
By John Richardson
CHINA sometimes seems like several different countries from the super-rich elite to the middle classes whose average annual disposable income …
By John Richardson
INDIAN polyvinyl chloride (PVC) demand is expected to increase by 13-14% in the financial year ending 31 March 2013 compared with just 3% growth in 2011-2012.
This is further evidence that, just perhaps, the decline in the …
By John Richardson
THE overall HSBC flash purchasing managers’ index for January, which was released yesterday, was at a two-year high (see the above chart), with the sub-index of production at a 22-month high.
This is great news for equity values …
By John Richardson
The end of the eight-week long bull-run in China’s purified terephthalic acid (PTA) pricing might well indicate a wider problem about to beset other petrochemicals: Reality undermining the positive sentiment of the early part of this year.…
A woman wearing a mask looks across the Pudong on 16 January this year
Source of picure: Zuma/Rex Features
By John Richardson
A DISPUTE between state-owned refiners Sinopec and PetroChina and environmental regulators serves as a good example of …
By John Richardson
LAST week we highlighted how a Boston Consulting Group study has reached many of the same conclusions as our e-book, Boom, Gloom & The New Normal, on the fault lines in the global economy.
Similarly, many of …
Chinese job seekers at a recruitment fair
Imaginechina/Rex Features
By John Richardson
As petrochemicals markets begin to slow down ahead of the Chinese New Year, which this year falls on 10 February, a lot of attention is, as always, …
By John Richardson
AN important study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) underlines most of the views we put forward in our e-book, Boom Gloom & The New Normal.
“The developed world’s Ponzi scheme is caused by record-high levels of …
By John Richardson
FINANCIAL speculators began to play an increasing role in crude-oil markets following liberalisation of financial trading rules, signed into law by Bill Clinton in 2000, as we argued in chapter 3 of our e-book, Boom Gloom & …