Note to my readers: I had planned to write about China’s polyethylene (PE) market today, but have decided that it is, first of all, important to further explain the reasons why Asian chemicals markets are in such distress at the moment. (I will, instead, focus on PE tomorrow). Oil prices are tumbling because real price […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Diesel Demand In China To Fall As Banks Hoard Cash….
..…LETTERS OF CREDIT TAKE 5-6 WEEKS TO OBTAIN, UP FROM 5-6 DAYS – THAT’S IF YOU GET THEM AT ALL By John Richardson DIESEL consumption is another crucial measure of China’s real economic growth because China is the world’s manufacturing powerhouse. This means lots of demand for diesel to run trucks, trains and back-up electricity generators etc. […]
China’s Demand For Lending In Steep Decline
By John Richardson WHEN the demand for lending in any economy starts to decline, you know that the people who make up that economy have an understanding that things are likely to get worse before they get better. Hence, chemicals and other companies need to take note of the latest survey from the People’s Bank […]
China’s July Lending Underlines The Real Direction
By John Richardson WHEN there was a big year-on-year surge in China’s lending in June some commentators took this is an indication that Beijing was going soft on its economic reform programme. Instead it seemed more likely at that time that, as the whack-a-mole game continued, another few moles had popped up via the shadow […]
China’s “Whack-A-Mole” Game Continues
By John Richardson THE blog loves playing the the “whack-a-mole game” in our local arcade. How it works is that every time a plastic mole pops up, you have to try and whack it back down with a hammer in order to win points. Moles just keep popping up, no matter how frantically you deploy […]
China Credit Squeeze Further Weakens “Real Demand”
By John Richardson DESPITE the 26% increase in China’s polyethylene (PE) imports in Q1 of this year over the same period in 2013, “real demand” continues to weaken – i.e. the resin bought by end-users to actually make things. The main reason is that China’s determined credit crackdown is having a bigger and bigger effect on […]
How Jack Ma Is Liberalising China’s Lending System
By John Richardson JACK Ma is a popular guy at all levels of Chinese society. And so, last June, the hugely successful online businessman was allowed to write this in a commentary in the People’s Daily, the government-run newspaper: “Innovation in many industries has been triggered by outsiders.” We think, therefore, that it might be […]
Why China’s Polyethylene Imports Have Surged
By John Richardson CHINA’S polyethylene (PE) imports jumped by 26% in the first quarter of this year over the same period in 2013, according to data from Global Trade Information Services (see the above chart). This isn’t the result of a dip in domestic production that had to be made up by imports, as […]
China And Re-examining Your Customers
In the first part of a two-part series on how chemicals companies need to respond to China’s economic reforms, we look at the “account receivables” challenge. Tomorrow we will look at new growth opportunities. By John Richardson AS China’s credit wind down continues, and its overall economic reforms accelerate, chemicals companies need to look […]
China And The “Conflation” Problem
By John Richardson WHEN all you care about is making money on the next chemicals cargo, or on a recovery in financial markets, then the current “will they, won’t they?” question over whether China will launch a new round of economic stimulus makes every bit of sense. The debate grew more intense on Monday after […]