Entries from Asian Chemical Connections tagged with 'China plastics industry'

China Petchems H2 Price Rally

By John Richardson CHINA'S petrochemical prices might rally in the second half of this year, along with local stock markets, in response to the delayed impact of the big surge in bank lending that took place in Q1. James Gruber,...

China Compensation

By John Richardson A MAJOR Southeast Asian polyethylene (PE) producer has reduced its percentage of exports to China from 30-40% in 2012 to just 10% so far this year, a source with the producer told the blog on the sidelines...

One In Three Chance Of 5% China GDP Growth

By John Richardson THERE is a one in three chance of China's real GDP growth averaging 5% or less over four consecutive quarters before the end of 2014, warns Nomura, said Bloomberg in this article. And the bank added that...

China To Take A Big Stick To Financial Crisis

By John Richardson CHINA is facing a financial crisis that could put US sub-prime into the shade. "Between 2007 and 2012, the ratio of credit to GDP climbed to more than 190%, an increase of 60 percentage points," said US...

Coal-To-Chemicals Funding Clampdown

By John Richardson Coal-to-chemicals is one of nine major industrial sectors that the China Banking Regulatory Commission has warned is blighted with overcapacity and other risks related to what it calls, rather disingenuously, "the economic cycle". Thus, the commission has...

China Economic Policies To Get Tougher

By John Richardson THERE will, of course, be bright spots in petrochemicals markets as a result of factors independent of China's new economic direction. For example, as an aromatics trader points out, there are huge paraxylene (PX) capacity additions in...

China Demand Worse Than Just Before CNY

By John Richardson CHINA'S demand for polyethylene (PE) is lower than immediately ahead of the February Chinese New Year (CNY) break, said a Singapore-based polyolefins trader. "For demand to be less than just before the New Year, when most traders...

China's New Credit Clampdown

By John Richardson BEIJING is clearly getting worried that its politically motivated 2012 economic stimulus programme has damaged the economy. "Just when the world had bought into a Chinese economic recovery, along comes the government throwing proverbial spanners in the...

HSBC: China 2013 Polyethylene Market Has Peaked

By John Richardson A NEW report from HSBC backs up our concerns that the post-Chinese New Year polyethylene (PE) will be weaker than in December-January. The bank is with us in thinking that the stronger markets over the last two...

Filtering Out The Noise

By John Richardson ONE should be careful about reading too much into the above margins for February as, of course, there was very little trading activity because of Chinese New Year (CNY), whilst oil and therefore naphtha prices increased....

China SMEs Under More Strain

Source of picture: Rex Features   By John Richardson WE are worried that the recovery in Asia's chemicals and polymer markets may not be sustained. One of our biggest concerns is that China's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which...

China's PE Cycle Repeats Itself

By John Richardson THE above chart shows that China's polyethylene (PE) demand growth has been well below that of overall GDP for most of the years between 2006 and 2012. This supports the argument that economic growth has been too...

Northeast Asian PE Margins Positive

By John Richardson THE latest Northeast Asian high-density polyethylene (HDPE) chart from ICIS (see above) hardly suggests a tremendous increase in profitability, despite the improvement in sales volumes and sentiment in China that we first highlighted in December, and provided more...

US Threat To Asian Polyolefins

So far so good...lack of arbitrage in 2012 By John Richardson Despite a strong recovery in China's polyethylene (PE) prices and sales over the last month-and-a-half, producers are viewing the coming year with great trepidation. One of the wild cards...

China Polyolefins Recovery Continues.....

.....For Now    By John Richardson RELATIVE to most of 2012 - when China's polyolefins market was in dire straits - November, December and early January have been excellent for traders who took the right positions. At least one producer...

China's Internet Decision

By John Richardson CHINA'S polyethylene (PE) market sentiment rebounded in mid-December on greater confidence that the country's new leaders meant business on economic reform. And since then, commodity prices in general, including those for iron ore  have rebounded thanks to a...

China's Two-Speed Recovery

By John Richardson CHINA appears to be in the midst of a two-speed recovery as a result of stronger domestic growth, while the export environment remains very bleak. "Our polyethylene (PE) sales to converters who sell into the domestic market...

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...

China PE Growth At Only 4%

By John Richardson CHINA's polyethylene (PE) demand growth was up just 4% in January-October of this year compared with the same period in 2010, as the chart above from Global Trade Information Services (GTIS) indicates. And yet in January,...

China "Recovers"

By John Richardson ONE interpretation of the rise in the HSBC China Purchasing Managers Index to a 13-month high in November is that next year promises a strong recovery in the world's most-important chemicals market. "People have taken considerable cheer...