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Asian Chemical Connections

Divergent China PMIs Tell Clear Story

By John Richardson CONFUSED? You shouldn’t be. Yesterday’s announcement of two Chinese purchasing managers’ indices for July, which had moved in opposite directions, merely underlines the imbalances in China’s economy. The final HSBC/Markit PMI for July came in at 47.7 – an 11-month-low and the same as the flash forecast released a couple of weeks […]

China’s Lending Problems

By John Richardson CHINA’s bank lending slumped by 41.3 percent in July from the previous month, the country’s central bank announced last Friday. This was well below the median forecast of 14 economists polled by Dow Jones newswire, and added to the gloom created by the earlier release of disappointing trade, output and retail sales […]

China Bad Debts

In the first of a series of blog posts on the major challenges facing China’s economy over the next 12-18 months, we look at bad debts.   High stakes in Hangzhou. Source of picture: Wikimedia     By John Richardson A fascinating blog post by Patrick Chovanec makes this very worrying observation about China’s bad debt […]

Chems Trade Finance Threat

By John Richardson NEW banking regulations could severely restrict the ability of small and medium-sized (SMEs) companies to access trade finance. This would hit Asia particularly hard, as the majority of chemicals and polymer business involves SMEs. Under the Basel III regulations, due to be phased in from next year, a three-month trade finance loan will […]

China’s Precarious Balancing Act

Him again…..Jim Chanos Source of picture. www.marketfolly.com   By John Richardson THE Chinese government is playing a perilous game at the moment as it tries to undo damage caused by economic stimulus. As it grapples with attempting to lower property prices, while not causing a real-estate market collapse, this once again brings to mind famous […]

Demand Weakness Dominates

By John Richardson A CAREFUL reading of all the major ICIS pricing reports covering olefins, polyolefins, aromatics and their derivatives over the last few weeks reveals very few mentions of the phrase “peak demand season”. This time last year, the reports were full of references to the seasonal surge in production of finished goods in […]

China Inflation Pressure Mounts

By Malini Hariharan The Chinese government’s efforts to control inflation are showing no signs of yielding results. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) admitted yesterday that the government was finding it difficult to achieve its full-year inflation target of below 4%. It cited high global commodity prices as a major factor driving up local production […]

China And Bouncing Dead Cats

By John Richardson Fifty per cent of the blog (John Richardson) is on leave for the next two weeks. Next week Paul Hodges will be posting on Asian Chemical Connections. Paul runs the ICIS Chemicals & Economy blog.Then from the week starting 22 August my fellow ACC blogger, Malini Hariharan, returns from her leave and […]

Place Your Bets – Who Is Right?

By John Richardson DOW Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris said in a 27 July conference call that China’s industrial economy was still doing very well. “They’re managing themselves down very nicely,” he added, pointing to official GDP growth numbers of 8-9%, which translate into chemicals and plastics growth of 12-13%. “We’re not seeing any issue here […]

China Chemical Imports Fall On Affordability

By John Richardson China’s petrochemical imports continued to decline in June on tight credit conditions and price rises that deterred consumers, according to our colleagues at ICIS news. Linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) imports fell by 18% month-on-month and 3% year-on-year, for example. High-density PE (HDPE) shipments slipped by 4% month-on-month and 8% year-on-year. Benzene shipments halved […]

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