Browse by Tags

ICIS Blogs

Home

Syndication

Archives

US plastics firms switch from auto parts

Employment in the US auto industry has already halved since 2000, to less than 500,000. Now, with major restructuring underway, suppliers of plastics components are looking around for other markets. One current success story, identified by the Wall Street...

Published 15 Jun 2009 10:33 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Financial Events, auto sales, polymers
Difficult decisions loom on future US auto demand

By the end of May last year, 6.2m autos had been sold in the US market, each containing $2700 of chemicals (according to the ACC). The total sales value to the chemical industry was $16.8bn. So far this year, just 3.9m autos have been sold, with a value...

Published 3 Jun 2009 13:54 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Oil markets, Financial Events, M & A, Leverage, bankruptcy, auto sales, polymers, chemical demand
EU GDP falls 2.5%, auto sales down 12%

Continental Europe is now in its worst recession since World War 2. GDP fell 2.5% in Q1, following a 1.6% fall in Q4. Germany, often viewed as the 'motor' of the eurozone, saw its GDP fall a shocking 3.8% as markets for its export-driven economy...

Published 16 May 2009 10:13 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: EU, Economic growth, recession, GDP, auto sales
GM bankruptcy threatens auto supply chain

It seems highly likely that GM, the largest US car manufacturer, will enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the next few weeks. Chrysler, the 4th largest US company, may well follow them. This raises a number of serious issues for chemical companies...

Published 27 Apr 2009 15:28 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Financial Events, Leverage, bankruptcy, auto sales, Chrysler, GM, Chapter 11
GM plans 2 month summer shutdown

The prospect of bankruptcy is finally sharpening the knife at GM. As the blog noted last month , inventories are at astronomical levels. 781000 vehicles were in stock at the end of February, and this figure had only dropped by 15000 vehicles during March...

Published 23 Apr 2009 12:17 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Financial Events, Leverage, bankruptcy, auto sales, GM
US auto sales start to bottom

The blog may be over-optimistic, but as with US house markets , it is hopeful that US auto market may have hit at least a temporary bottom. Spring should be a good period for sales, and March saw auto volumes down 37% versus 2008. This was a relatively...

Published 4 Apr 2009 21:00 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Financial Events, auto sales, Toyota, Chrysler, GM, Ford, unemployment
Auto suppliers face difficult time as bankruptcies rise

The decline in auto sales is now threatening many industry suppliers around the world: • Today , the main Japanese car parts group has warned that "Toyota's production cuts will cause bankruptcies among suppliers if the government restricts aid...

Published 6 Mar 2009 15:31 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: USA, Europe, Economic growth, Japan, Financial Events, Leverage, Asia, bankruptcy, auto sales, Germany, polymers, chemical sales
US auto sales remain depressed

February brought no relief for the troubled US auto industry, so critical to chemical sales. Sales were down 41% versus 2008. Even more worryingly, sales over the past quarter, and last 6 months, averaged under 10 million/year. Chrysler's results...

Published 5 Mar 2009 6:27 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Oil markets, Financial Events, auto sales, Toyota, Chrysler, GM, Ford, polymers, inventory
European auto sales slide continues

European auto sales fell 25% in January, according to JD Power . This equals an annualised rate of just 11m cars, the lowest since the early 1990's. 13.6m were sold in 2008. And although the forecaster hopes for some improvement later in the year...

Published 9 Feb 2009 19:24 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Oil markets, Financial Events, Leverage, auto sales, GM, Ford, polymers, Fiat, Renault, Peugeot
GM, Chrysler's US sales collapse

January's US auto sales figures gave no hope that demand is yet bottoming out. Volumes were down 41% versus 2008. As the chart shows, the main pain was felt by GM and Chrysler, who saw sales down 49% and 55% respectively. A key factor in the downturn...

Published 4 Feb 2009 10:12 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Oil markets, Financial Events, auto sales, Toyota, Chrysler, GM, Ford, polymers, chemical demand
Global chemical production down 4.4% in November

Global chemical production is now falling at an alarming rate, down over 4% in November, as core demand from housing/construction and auto markets collapses. Only the Middle East is now seeing positive growth year-on-year. As the chart shows (using ACC...

Published 25 Jan 2009 17:43 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: construction, Economic growth, housing, Petrochemicals, auto sales, polymers, consumer spending, chemical sales
INEOS announce €1bn inventory loss in Q4

In early October , I forecast that we were about to revisit "the scariest moment of my 30 year chemical career", adding that: "The moment the blog has long feared, and warned about , may be about to arrive. It appears that we may be about...

Published 25 Jan 2009 17:14 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Oil markets, Financial Events, housing, credit crunch, Futures trading, Leverage, recession, crude oil prices, Ineos, auto sales, polymers, LyondellBasell
European auto sales to fall 16% in 2009

European auto sales fell 8.4% in 2008, versus 2007. Sales of 13.56m autos were just ahead of the USA's 13.2m . European volumes continue on a worsening trend, with December down 19% versus last year: • Spanish sales were down 50% • Sweden was down...

Published 12 Jan 2009 11:13 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Oil markets, Financial Events, auto sales, Ford, General Motors, Fiat, Renault, Volkswagen
US auto sales at 1992 levels

December was another bad month for US auto sales, with volumes down 36% versus 2007. Total 2008 sales of 13.2 million were the lowest since 1992, when the economy bottomed in the 1990-4 recession. As the chart shows, sales volumes dropped continuously...

Published 6 Jan 2009 12:20 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Oil markets, Japan, Financial Events, credit crunch, Leverage, auto sales, Toyota, Chrysler, GM, Ford
The blog in 2008

The blog is now 18 months old. It has a truly global readership, and as shown in the above map, is now read in 1244 cities and 89 countries. Its aim has always been to identify 'the influences that may shape the chemical industry over the next 12...

Published 3 Jan 2009 10:37 by Chemicals & The Economy

Filed under: Economic growth, Oil markets, Currencies, central banks, Financial Events, housing, Futures trading, M & A, Leverage, recession, crude oil prices, auto sales, feedstock pricing, Dow Jones Index

1 2 Next >

Browse by Tags

Syndication

Recent Posts

Tags

Archives