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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 SMEs Continue To Struggle

By John Richardson ONE of the reasons why China’s polyethylene (PE) demand growth has been below the increase in overall GDP for most of the years since 2006 has been the relatively weak performance of the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). As the state has advanced, the private sector has retreated because most of […]

China Polyethylene Sentiment Recovers

By John Richardson CHINA’S polyethylene (PE) market is enjoying a mini-rebound on improved confidence in the ability of politicians to turn the economy around, the blog has been told. There seems to be a feeling out there that more help is on the way for the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The SMEs, which make […]

No Relief For China SMEs

By John Richardson THE consensus view is that China’s economy bottomed out in H1 and will see a recovery in GDP growth during the second half. Much hope has been attached to more government stimulus delivering a short-term boost to growth, even if there are concerns over the long-term damage that further investment-driven GDP could cause. […]

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 […]

Wen’s Last Reform Push

By John Richardson Wen Jiabao has been at it again. His extraordinarily strong comments on Tuesday follow those he made last month about the risks of a return to the economic chaos of the Cultural Revolution. On this latest occasion, he has taken aim at the state-owned banks. China’s premier, who is to relinquish power […]

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 […]

Limited Help For China’s SMEs

By John Richardson THE credit crisis that is limiting chemicals and polymer trade in China is continuing, even though local initiatives have been launched to help small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) with the central government indicating that more help could be on the way. As we have discussed before on the blog, the trade finance crisis […]

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 […]

More On China And Stimulus Hopes

By John Richardson THE fact that the focus has turned to what China might be able to do to once again rescue the global economy reinforces just how important it has become for global growth prospects. For the chemicals industry it seems as if it is one of the few good news stories around. Other […]

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