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World Bank warns on China growth

The World Bank has cut its growth forecast for China's GDP to just 7.5% next year. Only 3 months ago, it was expecting 9.2%. And the Bank warns that the economy is dependent on "higher public spending" for more than half its forecast growth next year. Chemical companies will also be alarmed...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-25-2008
G-20 tries to support growth

The G-20 was created in 1999, after the financial crises that had hit emerging countries from 1997 onwards. It includes the G7 group of major industrial companies, plus the main emerging economies, including the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China). Its ministerial meeting this weekend became...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-10-2008
TOTAL focus on lower debt, higher oil prices

TOTAL have adopted a very clear strategy for surviving the downturn. The results statement today particularly highlights their success in strengthening their balance sheet. Net debt to equity now stands at just 15.4%, whilst they are "maintaining a high-level of liquidity and divesting non-strategic...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-05-2008
Oil producers at a crossroads

The blog has been thinking about last week's leaked report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). This said that the world needs "to invest $360bn each year until 2030 to replace falling oil production and increase supply". The IEA based this sum on a new analysis of 500 oilfields...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-02-2008
China's Pearl River Delta slows

The Pearl River Delta is the original heart of China's industrialisation process. The blog first visited 20 years ago, as China slowly opened up to the West, and was amazed to discover that cities such as Guangdong were already as large as Hong Kong. Today, along with Shanghai, the region is the...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 11-02-2008
The global stock market decline

Alan Greenspan's comments ( below ), led the blog to investigate how the world's major stock markets had moved since their recent peaks. All, as shown in the chart, are now in bear markets. Stock markets often forecast economic developments 6 - 12 months ahead, and so this represents a negative...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 09-18-2008
'A very, very serious global economic slowdown'

A trend seems to be developing amongst the world's policy makers. Last month saw China and the UK's finance ministries warning of bad times to come. Yesterday, France's finance minister joined the chorus, saying that she had 'underestimated the spillover from the US financial and housing...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 09-02-2008
Current shipping costs = 9% trade tariff

I noted in June that P&G were reviewing their global supply chain strategy , as a result of higher oil prices. Now a study by Canadian Bank CIBC suggests the rise in shipping costs equals a ' 9% tariff on trade' , adding that 'the cost of moving goods, not the cost of tariffs' is...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-04-2008
The end of 'stretch targets'

There is little doubt that chemical growth is weakening. The above chart, taken from Kevin Swift's excellent weekly report for the American Chemistry Council, indicates that a serious downturn is underway. Since January, world production growth (the solid green line) has halved - from 4.1%, to 1...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-27-2008
The blog's first birthday

Its now a year since the blog started. Since then, 213 postings have appeared. It is now read in 72 countries and 620 cities (shown above). Most encouragingly, readership continues to steadily increase. Since January, it has risen a further 301%. The blog's aim is to identify 'the influences...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-05-2008

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