By John Richardson LAST week’s $5-15/tonne decline in polyethylene (PE) pricing in China (see the above chart) is partly the result of negative sentiment created by the start-up of new domestic capacities. In July, Shaanxi Yanchang China Coal Yulin Energy and Chemical brought on-stream high-density PE and linear low-density (LLDPE) plants, each of which have […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Asia Chemicals Face Another Disorderly Destocking Process
By John Richardson ASIAN chemicals markets have gone through another sequence of inventory building that will once again be followed by a period of disorderly de-stocking, warns Paul Satchell, UK-based chemicals analyst with investment and investor services firm, Cannacord Genuity. “The gradual demand improvement through 1H14, followed by another decline looks to be simply the […]
China’s July Lending Underlines The Real Direction
By John Richardson WHEN there was a big year-on-year surge in China’s lending in June some commentators took this is an indication that Beijing was going soft on its economic reform programme. Instead it seemed more likely at that time that, as the whack-a-mole game continued, another few moles had popped up via the shadow […]
China Polyethylene: Unreal Growth Numbers
By John Richardson One of the explanations we have heard for the 20% increase in China’s polyethylene (PE) imports in H1 2014 over the same period last year (see the chart below) is, as we discussed last week, a surge in demand for pipe grade high-density polyethylene (HDPE). But, as we pointed out in the […]
China PTA Imports Halve As Exports Surge
By John Richardson CHINA’S purified terepthalic acid (PTA) imports fell to just 751,000 tonnes in the first half of this year compared with 1.56m tonnes in H1 2013. Meanwhile, exports increased to 232,000 tonnes from only 27,000 tonnes. The sad thing is that whilst, of course, the data was impossible to predict with such a […]
China: The Hammer Falls On BOPP
By John Richardson Biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) films capacity in China has risen to three times the country’s annual demand, said a source with a global polyolefins producer. Watch this space for the actual data as this is still work in progress. But suffice to say here, the initial numbers we have been given would […]
China MEG: Understanding A Doubling Of Inventories
By John Richardson THE chart above shows how mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) coastal inventory levels in China have more than doubled since 2010. One explanation might be that the substantial increase in MEG demand since 2010 means that inventories, as a proportion of this total demand, haven’t increased that dramatically. Real consumption of all the three […]
China Polyethylene ‘Real” H1 Demand Growth At 4-5%
By John Richardson CHINA’s polyethylene (PE) real demand growth – i.e. resin that has actually gone into the manufacture of finished goods – rose by 4-5% in the first half of 2014 over the same period last year, said sources with several overseas producers. And yet: Imports were up by 20% in H1 2014 over […]
Demographics And “The Internet Of Things”
A DECADE from now, you might wake up in the morning and: Step on scales that quickly shoot data to a service provider that helps you decide how long and hard to exercise on the treadmill that day. Brush your teeth with a toothbrush that sends data to a local dentist. This will give early […]
The Philippines: What A Fantastic Opportunity
By John Richardson The Philippines is in a demographic sweet spot, according to the CIA factbook. In 2013, for instance, 34% of the population was aged between 0-14 and 19.1 was aged between 15-24. This is potentially fantastic news if the Philippines can do something about its dreadful infrastructure. As the New York Times points out in […]
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