Entries from Asian Chemical Connections tagged with 'China rebalancing'

Get Behind China

By John Richardson THE blog is often accused of being pessimistic. We are not. We are just realistic. It was realistic last November to anticipate that China's new leaders would be dedicated to major economic reform. In fact, this was...

China Hints At Yuan Depreciation

By John Richardson LABOUR markets are tight in China and so on the surface there appears to be no great pressure on Beijing to attempt to export its way out of an unemployment crisis. But what happens if, as we...

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's "Overwhelming" Overcapacity

By John Richardson A HOPE being expressed by chemicals and polymer traders and producers the blog has spoken to this week is that the surge in lending in China during the first quarter will result in stronger GDP growth...

We Told You So

By John Richardson POLYETHYLENE (PE) prices in China fell by $5-10/tonne for the week ending 1 March, according to ICIS pricing. "It is increasingly clear that Chinese growth will slow from the second quarter onwards and this will limit potential...

China Coal Cap: What It Means For Chems

By John Richardson IF China's decade-long focus on coal-fuelled heavy industry is really coming to an end, as this article in The Sydney Morning Herald suggests, then the prospects for further approvals of coal-to-olefins (CTO) projects seem very bleak indeed....

Sinopec A Litmus Test For Reform

By John Richardson CHINA's new leaders are under increasing pressure to do something about the dreadful pollution that blights the lives of hundreds of millions of people. One Shanghai resident told the blog, "The air quality is so bad here...

Beneath the China PMI Hype

By John Richardson A LOT of stock market excitement, and perhaps a recovery in petrochemicals prices (more next week when everyone is back in action), has greeted the release of China's purchasing managers' indices for December. The official PMI held steady...

China's Risky New Lending Surge

By John Richardson BANK lending is once again surging in China as politicians try to shore up their support ahead of the leadership transition. "The central government has approved up to 7 trillion yuan ($1.2bn) for infrastructure investments since May...

The Worst Things Get The Better They Are

By John Richardson THE more that China's economy weakens, the greater the hope of a recovery in the second half of this year. This type of thinking was in evidence last week. The release of a raft of disappointing economic...

Anxiety Builds Over China Growth

Will growth spread quickly enough? Source of picture: www.oraclemarketplace.co.uk       By John Richardson Global chemicals production had returned to 2006 levels by October of this year, according to this slide ACCProduction09Versus06.ppt from the American Chemistry Council (ACC). Worldwide chemicals...