IT ALL CHAOS AND MUDDLE out there: China’s ethylene glycols demand could either grow by 10% in 2023 or contract by 5%.
Asian Chemical Connections
China’s ethylene glycols imports could decline by 45% in 2021
By John Richardson LET ME start with the good news first. As with the global polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) markets, the ethylene glycols (EG)* business isn’t likely to find that demand will be a problem in 2021. We can start to build the evidence for this conclusion by considering last year’s Chinese textiles and […]
The China polyester mystery continues in a world turned upside down
By John Richardson SOMETHING very strange is happening in China’s polyester industry which has enormous implications for the global industry, as ICIS data continue to point towards strong local apparent demand growth for paraxylene (PX) and monoethylene glycols (MEG) despite seemingly weak downstream fundamentals. The world “enormous” is no hyperbole because China completely dominates exports […]
China paraxylene and ethylene glycols apparent demand booms as real demand remains weak
All the numbers below are comparisons on a year-on-year basis By John Richardson WHERE HAVE all of China’s paraxylene (PX) and ethylene glycols (EG) gone? With suggestions that other commodities such as steel are being stockpiled, this is a question that must be answered as we assess what […]
China paraxylene imports head for bigger declines as excess industrial production appears to boost GDP
By John Richardson SOME PEOPLE see the 9.9% year-on-year rise in China’s crude oil imports in January-May as a sign that China’s economy has come roaring back from the coronavirus. They have been even more encouraged by the 33% surge in China’s oil imports in July. It is sadly not as simple as this, as […]
China MEG spreads turn negative on 171% rise in US retail prices for Chinese clothing
By John Richardson THERE are a lot of theories out there about why the spreads between Chinese mono-ethylene glycols (MEG) prices and naphtha feedstock costs have fallen in April and May of this year (see the above chart). But as I shall explain in detail later on, the only explanations that entirely stand up are […]
China’s Polyester Industry And The New Big Picture
Source: ICIS supply and demand database By John Richardson THE polyester chain in China is a good example of the dangers of assuming that the big macroeconomic picture will remain more or less unchanged. Large amounts of purified terepththalic acid (PTA) (see the above chart) and polyester capacity seems to have been added in […]
More People Wanting To Buy Than Sell
By John Richardson SOME people in the petrochemicals industry are showing great confidence in the future. Perhaps it is no coincidence that several of these people are said to be Chinese domestic traders in polyethylene (PE) and mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) who might have long positions to protect. But if PE is in genuinely wonderful shape, […]
China Textile Exports Decline
Source: http://www.economist.com/ By John Richardson RISING China labour costs are compounding weakness in the manufacturing sector and thereby, of course, damaging chemicals and polymer markets. The country’s garment exports fell by 0.2 percent in the first seven months of this year, compared with a 24 percent increase in January-July 2011, says the Association of Chinese […]