By John Richardson THE lack of depth and thought behind “analysis” of the economic challenges facing developing economies has worried the blog for some time. It is undoubtedly the case that as hundreds of millions more people in countries such as India and China emerge from poverty, the opportunities for the chemicals industry are enormous. […]
Asian Chemical Connections
India Polymers Shine But Questions Persist
By Malini Hariharan Optimism has returned to the Indian polymer market fuelled by a sharp recovery in prices and buying sentiment over the last few weeks across Asia. The talk these days is mainly about tightness in availability of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) and when producers will announce the next price hike. Supply is […]
23 Mentions Of China Downturn At APIC
By John Richardson THE blog attended the Asia Pacific Petrochemical Conference (APIC) in Fukuoka, Japan, today during which it heard mention of the phrase “China downturn” on 23 occasions from different contacts. Confidence is clearly at a lower than last year than at APIC in Mumbai, when all the talk was about delayed introduction of […]
Asian Inflation And Vietnam Polyolefins
Guess who’s coming to Christmas dinner Source of picture: biology.ucf.edu By John Richardson THE widespread problem of surging inflation in Asia ex-Japan is a major threat to petrochemicals demand growth in 2011. Governments need to put the brakes on to prevent economies from overheating. But the problem is that raising interest rates could […]
No Going Back, But Don’t Expect Smooth Ride
Cloth nappies?….you have to be kidding Source of picture: babygavin.com By John Richardson IT IS the biggest transformation that the global economy has probably ever undergone, resulting in numerous opportunities and challenges for the chemicals industry as emerging markets continue to boom. The obvious opportunity is for those who can meet […]
Distorting The Outlook For 2011
Source of picture: http://www.intentblog.com By John Richardson and Malini Hariharan THE view from a particular geography, grade of polyolefin or end-use application might be distorting the outlook for 2011. In China and India and other emerging markets demand growth continues to astound and even though the rates of expansion might have slowed down […]
Was The Chinaplas Optimism Justified?
Too good to be true?,.,,,,, Source of picture: http://www.arico.tw/en/index.php By John Richardson I VISITED the Chinaplas plastics exhibition in Shanghai late last month and was greeted with a wall of unremitting optimism. Here are a few samples of the incredibly bullish comments from senior industry executives (a fuller version of what was said […]
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