By John Richardson THE more that things change in China’s property markets the more they stay the same, according to Deutsche Bank and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service. First of all, here are the Deutsche Bank arguments why all remains well in the sector, courtesy of this FT Alphaville blog post: The current decline in […]
Asian Chemical Connections
China’s Methanol Industry: Through The Looking Glass
By John Richardson AT first glance, some of the facts relating to China’s methanol sector sound like Jabberwocky sounded to Alice when she firs discovered the language of that name in the marvellous Lewis Carroll novel, Alice Through The Looking Glass. Here are some examples of what we are talking about, from our colleagues at […]
China Iron Ore Stocks Can Build 1,200 Empire State Buildings
By John Richardson CHINA’S commodity imports boom was, of course, mainly down to the rise its middle class as hundreds of millions more of its citizens became rich enough to buy a refrigerator, a TV and a car for the first time. Or was it? Daniel De Blocq van Schetlinga, the Hong Kong-based head of […]
The New “China Price” Threatens Metallocene LLDPE
By John Richardson THE great advantage of moving up the value chain to metallocene-grade linear low-density polyethylene (mLLDPE) in Asia is that every time converters upgrade their equipment, they tend to switch to machinery that can process the resin. “In Europe and the US, the problem is that far more converters have already invested in […]
China Polypropylene “Demand” Surges
By John Richardson CHINA’s polypropylene (PP) market has been consistently described as subdued throughout this year. End-users in China have persistently complained, throughout the year, of credit shortages as a result of China’s economic reforms and so their resin buying patterns have been sporadic and hand-to-mouth. How do we therefore explain the above chart, which shows a […]
China To Keep Polyolefins Imports Out
By John Richardson THERE has been a lot of talk about how fully integrated coal-to-polyolefins plants in China will compete exceptionally well with naphtha crackers on a variable cost basis. OK, in terms of capital costs, the whole coal-to-polyolefins chain is some 2-3 times more expensive than building a naphtha cracker complex. You have to, […]
China’s Polypropylene Imports: The Balance Of Probabilities
CHINA’S polypropylene (PP) imports increased by 11.3% in January-April of this year compared with the same period in 2013, according to the latest available China customs data. There could be lots of reasons for this. One reason might be that the fairly subdued tone of just about everybody you speak to in markets is wrong […]
Butadiene: Only The Supply Side Logic Adds Up
By John Richardson LOGICALLY, yes, if you look at the supply side only, there seems to be a strong case for on-purpose butadiene production. Here is why: US cracker operators have substantially lightened their existing cracker feedstock slate and, of course, all of the country’s new crackers that are due on-stream over the next 5-10 […]
How China’s “Social Contract” Is Changing
By John Richardson ON this particular day, it is worth thinking some more about how the social contract between China’s leaders and its people is evolving. Much of the commentary focusing on 4 June 1989 has described how China’s leaders have maintained social stability ever since, partly through rapid economic growth. But too many […]
China’s “Whack-A-Mole” Game Continues
By John Richardson THE blog loves playing the the “whack-a-mole game” in our local arcade. How it works is that every time a plastic mole pops up, you have to try and whack it back down with a hammer in order to win points. Moles just keep popping up, no matter how frantically you deploy […]
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