If something seems to be too good to be true, then it generally is. That appears to be the learning from China’s auto market in recent months. February sales jumped, as the Lunar New Year holiday took place in January this year. But total sales in January/February were down 5% versus 2011 at 2.37m versus […]
Chemicals and the Economy
Time to stop making single-use plastic bags?
The past few years have seen an increasing number of countries and major companies moving to ban or reduce the use of plastic bags. Now Austin, state capital of Texas, and the 14th largest US city has voted to introduce criminal penalties for any retailer breaking its new law. ICIS’ Joe Kamalick notes that “the […]
China’s growth surge has ended
Last May, the blog raised major questions about the sustainability of China’s petchem demand growth surge in 2009-10. It suggested in an ICB article that “China’s 53% rise in PE demand is a warning sign in itself that its economy may be over-heating. Inflation is also rising – far too high for comfort“. Now new […]
5 Risks to China’s growth story
China’s economic growth has become more and more unbalanced over the past 10 years, as we discussed in chapter 6 of Boom, Gloom and the New Normal. Its domestic consumption is now only around a third of GDP, compared to 50% a decade ago. Instead, the leadership has focused on achieving growth via exports and […]
Auto sales have slow start in January
January was not a great month for auto sales in the 3 major markets of the USA, EU and China. These amount to over 50% of global auto sales, and are a key indicator of underlying consumer demand. As the chart shows, sales were just 3m (red square), down from 3.2m (green line) in 2011: […]
US PE exporters face more competition in Brazil
As promised, the blog looks today at the performance of US polyethylene (PE) exporters in Brazil. It was the fastest-growing of the major markets in 2011, as the wider economy benefitted from China’s demand. Since 2008, Brazil’s PE net imports have grown 78%, from 445KT to 793KT in 2011. But as the chart shows (based […]
US exports to China fall, as cost advantage grows
US petchem producers are planning a major boost to ethylene capacity. They now have the 2nd cheapest feedstock in the world, due to ethane from shale gas. The only question is, where will they sell their product? Ethylene, of course, is very expensive to export. So derivatives such as polyethylene (PE) are the main way […]
China focuses on wage increases, social stability
China’s bank lending fell 7% in 2011, following a 17% decline in 2010. As the chart shows (red column), the government is clearly trying to stabilise the position, after the panic increase in lending in 2008/2009. (January lending, impacted by Lunar New Year, was down 29% vs 2011). Electricity consumption growth (blue line) also seems […]
IEA forecasts show high oil prices destroy demand
Over the past 18 months, the main investment analysts have argued that high oil prices would have no impact on the global economy. Now, new forecasts suggest their optimism has been misplaced. The chart above gives the International Energy Agency’s latest forecast of likely oil demand growth this year: • It has been reduced by […]
Paraxylene starts to dominate the polyester chain
Last April, China’s polyester market provided an early warning signal that the current downturn was about to start. Now, it is flagging an important change in relative positions within the value chain. 9 months ago, the divergence between crude oil prices and those for the C8 chain highlighted slowing end-user demand. The chart above updates […]
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