By John Richardson WHAT is happening in India’s polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sector reflects some of the macro-economic challenges we discussed earlier this week. An additional 8.5m tonnes of PVC pipes demand could be generated in the space of just five years if the government can get its act together on economic reform, said an Indian […]
Asian Chemical Connections
US Chemicals Still Behind 2007
By John Richardson US chemicals production remains way below its pre-crisis 2007 level but production in Asia-Pacific, after a brief blip in 2009, continues to soar, according to these charts from the American Chemistry Council. Whereas US producers have carried out few capacity expansions since 2007 and are runnning existing plants at lower operating rates, […]
South Korea “Denial” Continues
By John Richardson EARNINGS estimates for South Korean petrochemicals companies for the full-year 2012 remain around 30 percent above where they should be because “most financial analysts remain in denial“, said an industry source. A sign of how bad the times have become was that LG Chem’s Q2 results, which were released last week, […]
Polyolefin Demand Remains “Very Weak”
By John Richardson DEMAND remains “very weak” in China’s polyolefins markets, said a sales and marketing executive with a major Western producer. “I am having real trouble justifying higher prices to my customers, which are partly the result of naphtha having risen in line with stronger crude. What they cannot understand is why crude […]
BRICS Version 2
Mind the gap – India’s rich and poor Source of graph: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sonalde-desai-the-great-indian-poverty-game/469351/ By John Richardson INDIA’S economy is expected to grow at its slowest pace for a decade as a result of political gridlock, tight monetary policy and the weak global economy, according to a Reuters’ poll of economists. As we discussed […]
Food Prices And Chemicals
Graph prepared by the http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Personal/2012-Annual-Letter By John Richardson RISING food prices resulting from adverse weather conditions in the US, South America and Russia represent yet another threat to global economic growth. Grain prices could, for instance, increase by as much as 25 percent this year, warns Danske Bank. Dry weather in the US has […]
China’s Unreliable GDP Data
By John Richardson THE economic slowdown throughout Asia became more apparent last week with the release of disappointing data, prompting interest rate cuts in China, Vietnam and South Korea. China’s key polyethylene (PE) market responded as trading volumes fell and sentiment weakened for the week ending 13 July, according to ICIS. Market participants, however, expressed […]
Energy, Politics & Economics
Source of graph: http://thinkprogress.org/ By John Richardson DANIEL Yergin’s superb book, The Prize, describes how the history of the 20th century was shaped by oil and gas. Now we are entering a new era. Some 600,000 jobs have already been created by the US shale and oil gas revolutions, leading to hopes of […]
China And Demographics
OUR last four blog posts have focused on some of the big challenges confronting China’s economy over the next 12-18 months. Today we again switch our focus to how major changes in demographics could adversely impact longer-term growth prospects. By John Richardson CONTINUING high rates of urbanisation are constantly cited by chemical industry executives […]
China Politics
In the last of our series of blog posts on some of the major challenges facing China’s economy over the next 12-18 months, we look at politics. By John Richardson THE outcome of the battle over China’s economic direction is, of course, of crucial importance to the world economy. It would be comforting […]
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