By Malini Hariharan China’s status as factory for the world is under threat as rising costs of operating are startingto bite. Estimates of wage cost hike this year range from 10% to 20%. And if higher prices of raw material such as cotton and plastics plus the appreciation of the yuan are factoried in, then […]
Asian Chemical Connections
The Chemicals Party Is Over
By John Richardson IT has been a fantastic party. Nobody expected that the drinks would last for so long, thanks to Wen Jiabao and Ben Bernanke working overtime to man the 24/7 off-licence (it is called “liquor store” in the States and a “bottle shop” in Australia). But now the market has clearly reached the top with […]
China Inflation Impact On Chemicals
By John Richardson POLYETHYLENE (PE) prices were assessed stable-to-weaker by my colleagues at ICIS pricing late last week as Sinopec was reported to be evaluating a 10% reduction in operating rates. Sinopec hardly ever cuts production on market conditions as its main objective is not to make a profit, but rather serve local manufacturing industry […]
China’s Inflation Struggle
By John Richardson LIKE the boy who cried Wolf the blog might not be believed as we once again warn about the risks ahead for China’s economy. We have been worried for a long time that eventually China’s huge economic stimulus package, in response to the threat of social unrest, would cause some major problems. […]
China outlines shale gas ambitions
By Malini Hariharan With all the buzz around shale gas in the US the blog is not surprised to read that China is also turning to this unconventional source of gas. The country is looking to start shale gas production within the next five years, said a senior government official. It has drilled more than […]
Broad Commodities Sell-off Beckons
By John Richardson THE blog remains extremely worried that there is about to be a major sell-off of commodities in general, including petrochemicals, as conditions right now feel very similar to those in 2008. Whether we will face a systemic shock to the system, a black swan, on the scale of Lehman Bros is of […]
China market problems persist
By John Richardson WHILE ethylene prices rose to a 14-month high last week on very expensive oil and the Shell Chemicals outage in Singapore, the ICIS pricing C2 margin report calculated a staggering $134/tonne fall in Northeast Asian margins. Rising naphtha is clearly not being passed on down the chain. Meanwhile, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) margins […]
Chinese PVC demand set to reach 13m
By Malini Hariharan The blog was at the Vinyls India – 2011 conference in Mumbai which has attracted over 400 delegates interested in hearing about the Indian market. The country has emerged as a major importer of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with nearly 650,000 tonnes of suspension grade imported in 2009-10. But no PVC conference can […]
Huntsman to scale up India capacities
By Malini Hariharan US chemical producer Huntsman plans to rapidly expand capacities and sales in India, a country that has caught the attention of global majors. The blog caught up with the company’s President and CEO Peter Huntsman in Mumbai yesterday. “In every one of our businesses, except titanium dioxide, we will be spending money […]
Chemicals And The Removal Of The Punch Bowl
By John Richardson LUNCH with a chemicals analyst yesterday, during the blog’s latest trip to Singapore, gave an intriguing glimpse into the world of those who invest in the chemicals industry. “The Morgan Stanely “Supercycle” report (which the blog wrote about late last year) seems to be on every fund managers desks,” he said. “These […]
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