Home Blogs Asian Chemical Connections

Asian Chemical Connections

The Suspension Has Gone

By John Richardson WHAT a week it’s been when, of course, politics has trumped everything else and has challenged the view of those who believe that demand will take care of itself. Demand did take care of itself during the Supercycle, but that is now over for good. China no longer has the comfort blanket of […]

China’s Risky New Lending Surge

By John Richardson BANK lending is once again surging in China as politicians try to shore up their support ahead of the leadership transition. “The central government has approved up to 7 trillion yuan ($1.2bn) for infrastructure investments since May to spur growth,” wrote the China Daily. This represents 15% of GDP. Real-estate loans in […]

US Set To Adopt A Golden Rule

By John Richardson ONE of the golden rules of petrochemicals is “always run hard if you have the feedstock advantage”. As a result, the US is said to have been a little frustrated by a series of operating problems that have constrained their average capacity utilisation to around 80% in 2012. “If they had been able to they would […]

China Reformer Sidelined

By John Richardson AN assumption is that economic reformers will win control of China’s Politburo after the once-in-a-decade leadership transition is out of the way (China’s new set of leaders are set to be announced during the 18th Party Congress, which begins on 8 November). The blog believes that this assumption needs to be rigorously challenged, […]

China PE Imports Rise On Recovery Theory

By John Richardson A SURGE in polyethylene (PE) shipments to China has exerted further stress on a market that continues to perform exceptionally badly. Total PE imports in August (the latest figures availabe) rose to 817,277 tonnes from 681,100 tonnes in July. Low-density PE (LDPE) shipments rose by 27%, high-density (HDPE) by 21% and linear low-density […]

China GDP Growth 4-5% in 2013-2020

Canton Trade Fair. Source of picture: http://www.vatti-china.com/News/83.htm   By John Richardson IT would be nice to believe that the improved mood at this week’s Canton Trade Fair represents a long-term turnaround in China’s economic direction. This reflects a 9.9% increase in overall exports in September, much higher than the 5.5% median estimate in a Bloomberg […]

China-Japan Dispute Worsens

By John Richardson THE collapse in Japanese auto sales in China, a result of the East China Island dispute, is just the first phase in what could be a very damaging economic war, the blog understands. Phase two could be the imposition of trade barriers against Japan by an increasingly hard line Chinese leadership eager […]

Foxconn And China Demographics

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/23/foxconn-taiyuan-riot/   By John Richardson THE riots and a strike at Foxconn factories in China point to demographic changes that have major implications for the country’s economy. China’s one-child policy means that it can no longer depend on a constant flow of compliant workers from the countryside prepared to accept exhausting and monotonous working […]

No More Of This…

By John Richardson THE big hope is that once China returns from its National Holidays (1-7 October), petrochemicals markets will enjoy a big and sustainable recovery. It is not going to happen. Throughout this year, the hope has been that the recovery is just around the corner. People have argued that deteriorating economic data has been […]

Asia Faces More Asset Bubbles

Marc Faber Source of picture: http://www.cliffkule.com/2011_06_26_archive.html By John Richardson RECENT action by Western central banks will result in more hot money flowing into Asia, creating further asset-price bubbles. Last week, the Fed launched QE3 and the previous week, the European Central Bank launched its bond-buying programme. Equity markets in China could also surge by 10-20 […]

Jump to page: