Browse by Tags

ICIS Blogs

Home

Syndication

Archives

World Bank sees deeper recession

The chemical industry is always a leading indicator of the global economy. One of the blog's oldest friends used to be a central banker, and he made no secret of the fact that our discussions about demand levels were often an important factor in his...

Published 23 Jun 2009 10:57 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: China, India, Economic growth, Oil markets, Financial Events, M & A, Leverage, recession, IMF, World Bank
China aims to reduce imports

China has been a major beneficiary of the globalisation movement in recent years. In turn, it has become a tremendous importer of most chemicals. It accounts for up to 50% of total demand for many Asian chemical producers, and is a critical factor in...

Published 18 Jun 2009 21:16 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: USA, China, Canada, Economic growth, Financial Events, polymers, chemical sales
Stimulus planned for textiles

India's synthetic fibre and fibre intermediate produces will be happy to know that the textile industry is likely to soon receive a number of incentives from the government. A stimulus package, due to be announced next month, would include subsidies...

Published 11 Jun 2009 12:09 by India Chemicals Blog

Filed under: China, exports, Petrochemicals, Government Policy, Fibre Intermediates, economy, Demand Drivers, textile, synthetic fibre
Raining on the Optimists' Parade

Source: The Guardian newspaper Apologies for letting this bog slip again. I am on leave, but still pondering where on earth we are heading. This makes a welcome relief from staring up at the grey skies and thinking "summer? What summer?" Yes...

Published 11 Jun 2009 10:09 by Asian Chemical Connections

Filed under: Economics, China, Oil & Gas, Naphtha & other feedstocks, The Economist, Knowledge management, Company Strategy, tennis, boom and bust cycles, ol prices, Wimbledon, foul British weather
China borrowing from the future?

It's easy to get caught up in the excitement over the rebound in the Chinese economy and miss underlying weaknesses which point to some major problems ahead. To some extent, in a desperate effort to compensate for collapsing export trade, China might...

Published 3 Jun 2009 13:16 by Asian Chemical Connections

Filed under: US, China, Europe, Polyolefins, Business, Deutsche Bank, Company Strategy, China Economic Quarterly, commodity chemicals, iron ore, copper, China economic stimulus, non-performing loans crisis
China's plastic bag use down after ban

ICIS co-blogger Paul Hodges of the Chemicals & The Economy blog reported about this article from China Daily stating that after a year of plastic bag ban in China (which started on June 1, 2008), supermarkets cut their plastic bag use by 66%. Statistics...

Published 2 Jun 2009 18:11 by Green Chemicals

Filed under: China, Regulation, Government, plastic bag, ban
An Affair To Remember

Source:Amazon.com I remain perplexed by the direction of chemicals, oil and commodity markets over the last few months - and now I understand the reason why. It's not about feedstock, it's not about inventory levels or what end-use demand is really...

Published 1 Jun 2009 13:42 by Asian Chemical Connections

Filed under: China, oil prices, Business, Oil & Gas, Naphtha & other feedstocks, Financial Times, International eChem, market sentiment, illlicit encounters, paralysis by analysis
China's plastic bag ban cuts usage by 66%

A year ago today, China banned the issue of free plastic bags from supermarkets, shops and open markets. And it seems the ban has had considerable success. Supermarkets have used 66% fewer bags, according to government figures . The ban has saved 1.6m...

Published 1 Jun 2009 6:33 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: China, Wal-Mart, polyethylene, polymers
Be very careful what you wish for...

Source of picture: The Nymex To continue the same theme of earlier this week, I agree with my fellow blogger Paul Hodges when he warns that OPEC's price target for $75-80/bbl could nip the nascent economic recovery in the bud. As he quite rightly...

Published 29 May 2009 7:17 by Asian Chemical Connections

Filed under: Economics, China, oil prices, OPEC, Business, Oil & Gas, Financial Times, Company Strategy, financial crisis, Schork Report, history repeats itself
China and US house prices

The Financial Times highlights the overwhelming importance of falling US house prices to the outlook for the global economy. It notes that prices are now falling by 2.2%/month, causing a $380bn wealth loss in March alone. It adds that if prices continue...

Published 27 May 2009 21:39 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: China, Economic growth, Financial Events, housing, Leverage
The next oil shock and petrochemicals

Apologies for letting this blog slip again, but have been busy trying to make a crust presenting ICIS training courses. And so as a bonus for our army of avid readers, here are my extended thoughts on the above: In the midst of the economic crisis it...

Published 24 May 2009 15:23 by Asian Chemical Connections

Filed under: China, BASF, OPEC, Olefins, Business, Oil & Gas, Markets, Methanol & Derivatives, Naphtha & other feedstocks, International eChem, Company Strategy, LyondellBasell, ICIS Training, financial crisis, International Energy Agency, crude-oil prices
Hopes of China recovery "premature" - World Bank

The high level of speculation accompanying China's apparent economic revival worries the World Bank. "Until we see a recovery in private investment, it's hard to get too excited about the future," according to David Dollar, the Bank's...

Published 20 May 2009 14:03 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: China, Economic growth, Financial Events, Futures trading, Leverage, polyethylene, polymers, Dalian Futures Exchange
Maybe it's not as bleak as I've made out...

Consensus opinion tends to swing firmly in one direction and then the other. For example, in the good old days of 2007 you would have been pretty hard-pressed to find many in the chemicals industry who saw anything but a mildly cyclical downturn. But...

Published 18 May 2009 9:07 by Asian Chemical Connections

Filed under: Economics, China, BASF, Dow Chemical, Polyolefins, Business, Markets, Company Strategy, financial meltdown, financial crisis, capacity shutdowns, Bayer Material Science, doom-mongers
China's exports fall 23% in April

China's exports continue to disappoint. They fell 18% in January and 26% in February . March showed a slightly better performance, with a 17% fall. But April was weak again, with a 23% decline in exports and imports. China's problem today is based...

Published 12 May 2009 12:05 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: China, exports
Net lending declines by 70-80% in Q2 in China

This very interesting note from Jun Ma, chief economist for Greater China at Deutsche Bank (see the end of this post) offers evidence to support what this blog has been worried about for some time - the quality of China's economic rebound. The government...

Published 12 May 2009 6:42 by Asian Chemical Connections

Filed under: Economics, China, Olefins, Polyolefins, Business, Markets, Deutsche Bank, inventory management, China's economy, China's false recovery, China's economic recovery. China's bank lending

1 2 3 4 5 Next > ... Last »

Browse by Tags

Syndication

Recent Posts

Tags

Archives