By John Richardson POVERTY alleviation in low-income developing countries could be set back a decade by the pandemic, warns the IMF in a new study. Problems it highlights include the collapse of remittance payments from overseas, down by 18% year-on-year in Bangladesh in January-May, lockdowns that have left workers living on the margin unable to […]
Asian Chemical Connections
US Manufacturing Exam Question
A lot more than just the standard Model T.,,, Source of picture: cCSU Archv/Everett/Rex Features By John Richardson THE question on my exam paper this Monday morning is what this outstanding article by the author, Charles Fishman, in The Atlantic magazine, means for the petrochemical industry. We have all become used to the idea of the […]
Real Demand In The Real Economy
By John Richardson THE FED’S decision to launch quantitative easing 3 (QE3), a series of open-ended steps more radical than anything it has attempted before, is bound to drive petrochemicals pricing higher, in response to the surging cost of crude. But as a corporate planner with a US polyolefins producer told us yesterday, before the […]
KPMG Warns Of US Overcapacity
By John Richardson A management consultancy has gone on the record to warn about what the blog has been warning about for months: That the US petrochemicals industry is in danger of pushing itself into oversupply. KPMG, in a report released late last month, said that the success of planned US expansions, including as […]
Middle East-China PE Exports Up 60%
By John Richardson NORTHEAST Asian polyethylene (PE) exports to China fell by 34% in January-August this year compared with the same period in 2010 as Middle East shipments surged by 60%, according to Global Trade Information Services – click here for a graph: ChinaPEImportsJan-Aug2011.ppt Exports from the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) region, which […]
China Polyolefin Buyers Smell Blood……
…..but time to party for some thanks to re-exports to Brazil Source of picture: edgsgonesouth.com By John Richardson It’s a funny old world – or so it seems in poylolefins at the moment as traders re-export resin from China to Latin America and elsewhere. “I phoned up a trader in China the other day […]
China Re-exports Large Volumes Of PE To Latin America
Heading for the high jump Source of picture: www.commons.wikemedia.,org By John Richardson CHINA’S polyethylene (PE) market looks as if it has gone a little pear-shaped as a result of high inventory levels and buyers anticipating the long-awaited flood of new supplies. Further factors are labour shortages affecting processors and manufacturers and anxiety over […]
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