By John Richardson CHINA’S mono-ethylene (MEG) market was supposed to be very strong this year. But instead, to date we have seen persistently weak market conditions that few people, least of all the traders, seem to have anticipated. The traders appear to have been taken in by the hype and booked cargoes for delivery […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Confidence And Petrochemicals
By John Richardson CONFIDENCE is a strange thing. It can be derived from solid reasons for optimism over the future or from temporary factors that can rapidly disappear. And what is the value of publicly-expressed confidence? Is it often politically motivated rather than being based on the genuine belief that the future holds tremendous promise? […]
Wen’s Last Reform Push
By John Richardson Wen Jiabao has been at it again. His extraordinarily strong comments on Tuesday follow those he made last month about the risks of a return to the economic chaos of the Cultural Revolution. On this latest occasion, he has taken aim at the state-owned banks. China’s premier, who is to relinquish power […]
Further China Evidence
By John Richardson FURTHER evidence of weakness in the Chinese economy has emerged via the polyolefins market. In an excellent Insight article, my ICIS colleagues Chow Bee Lin and Peh Soo Hwee say that China’s plastics processors are resisting additional price increases because their customers, the manufacturers of finished goods, are struggling. The combined retail […]
China And Inflation
By John Richardson MUCH excitement heralded the announcement that February inflation in China had fallen to a 20-month low of 3.2 percent – well within the government’s annualised target of 4 percent. This led to the belief that the government would boost bank lending, and maybe further low bank-reserve requirements and interest rates. No doubt this […]
A Tough Q2 For The US
By John Richardson THE hard numbers, in the chart above, support anecdotal evidence we have been picking up for over a month of increased Asian polyethylene (PE) exports to Brazil and other Latin American countries. It also confirms reports that Middle East producers are raising shipments to the region. This includes one major player […]
The CEO’s Dilemma
By John Richardson The blog has, in its naivety, for some time been perplexed over why certain chemicals company CEOs portray a relentlessly optimistic picture of developing-markets growth. This is despite all the evidence pointing to increasing uncertainties over how China, India, and other developing economies are going to progress over the next decade. Last […]
Why Should Q2 Be Any Better?
By John Richardson THE question being asked during the first quarter of this year was, “Why shouldn’t Chinese chemicals demand come roaring back after a disappointing 2011?” The relevant question now, as we move into Q2, is, “Why should it come roaring back?” Chemicals analysts, and quite a few traders in products such as […]
Butadiene Market Standoff
By Malini Hariharan Just days after a recovery in butadiene prices, downstream synthetic rubber producers are once again threatening to cut production as weak demand has pushed them in to a tight corner. Asian major Korea Kumho Petrochemical is looking at trimming the operating rate at its 210,000 tonnes/year polybutadiene rubber (BR) plant to 85%, and also […]
New Policies Needed To Restore Growth
Politicians seem to be floundering as they seek to restore growth to the Western economy. Their prescriptions swing between austerity and economic stimulus as they argue over what has gone wrong. But in chapter 10 of our Boom, Gloom & The New Normal e-book we argue that they are on the wrong track. They are […]
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