By John Richardson MOST OF the time historical events move at a snail’s pace. The metaphorical tectonic plates are still moving but they are invisible to most of us. Stress then suddenly overcomes friction, as with earthquakes, and events gallop ahead. Take the Cold War as an example where both sides were locked […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Polyethylene production via oil and gas: The next horse and cart
By John Richardson IF YOU had conducted a snap survey of horse and cart manufacturers during New York’s Easter Parade in 1900, I am sure that hardly any of them would have foreseen that 12 years later their businesses would have all but disappeared. Photos show that during the Easter Parade in 2011 automobiles had […]
India’s pollution crisis threatens chemicals industry approach to growth
By John Richardson THE ten most polluted cities in the world are all in Northern India. It is therefore hardly surprising that a Lancet study found that pollution killed 1.24m Indians in 2017 — half of them younger than 70. This lowered the country’s average life expectancy by 1.7 years. These were just some of […]
China Accelerates Pollution Campaign In 2018: Implications For Chemicals
By John Richardson ON THE surface of things there will be no let up when China’s winter air pollution campaign ends in March, as I predicted would be the case. China is drawing up plans for tougher curbs on smog levels during the two years until 2020, with the details due to be released in […]
The Opportunities For 2016 And Beyond Are Huge
A happy festive season and all the best for the New Year to my readers. What should chemicals companies do to be successful in 2016 and beyond. What follows will help. I am taking a break from blogging, but will be back on 3 January. By John Richardson WHAT have we learnt from the last […]
China Will Do What Suits China
By John Richardson CHINA might well be in the midst of deflation caused by overcapacity in some chemicals, and in many other industries as well, but the longer-term strategic direction of reducing dependence on imports doesn’t appear to have changed. An indication of this was this story from my colleague Lilian Hua at ICIS. She […]
China and India: No Guarantees
MOST chemical companies now believe it is inevitable that China and India will reach developed economy status. Many even believe that their strong growth will mean “the end of economic cycles”. But as we discuss in Chapter 6 of ‘Boom, Gloom and the New Normal’, the new ICIS/ International eChem/ICIS eBook, there are three major risks […]
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