I could easily be accused of ceaseless pessimism, but growth in China is moderating – regardless of what your view is of the extended article below on the impact of the bad-weather crisis. Slowing exports were already eating into estimates of GDP growth, and these estimates surely what companies can expect in chemical export volumes […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Life gets more complicated for methanol
In the good or maybe the bad old days depending on your standpoint, methanol was a fairly straightforward product. You had chemicals demand and that was more or less it. But as the extended analysis below explains, chemical producers who use methanol as feedstock have to factor in direct blending of gasoline into methanol, DME, […]
Here we go again – 1997 is back…..
I sincerely hope not, but all the signs are there because of: *A financial crisis which nobody again saw coming, this time with global implications *What could prove to be too much spending on new equipment and capacity. This time high equity prices have paid for these investments rather than US dollar-denominated bank loans, as […]
China coal to benzene threatens
With naphtha prices so high, heavy aromatics and pygas feedstock for producing benzene are not only expensive but are also in tight supply due to operating rate cutbacks. Longer term also, as we’ve already discussed here, there are major doubts over whether China will produce enough naphtha to operate all the petrochemical projects it is […]
Will Dow ever crack India?
The two big gaps in the US major’s Asian presence (and gaping gaps they indeed are) are cracker complexes in India and China. China could be fixed through the alliance with PIC – meaning, Dow has leverage to get a license to build a naphtha cracker complex by offering crude supply through its new jv. […]
How dependent is Chinese growth on the US?
According to this article from The Economist, total China exports account for less than 10% of China’s GDP when “value add” is stripped out – much less than the headline 40% figure for 2007, which includes imported and domestic inputs. Good news as we enter the New Year, given that a US recession now appears […]
Can India compete with China?
India is already being held back in mass manufacturing by restrictive labour practices and poor infrastructure – meaning the answer to the above question is already a resounding no in some sectors. The rise of the rupee is also a concern, as this article from The Economist highlights . The problem for India is because […]
Where does Dow/PIC go from here in Asia?
What Andrew Liveris didn’t address when interviewed over the Dow/PIC deal is what the $19bn olefins and polymers deal could mean for Asia, the Middle East and commodities. All the talk was of specialities with speculation sure to be rife over the next few months over how the US major will use its now substantial […]
More talk of credit tightening in China
Call me a bitter old cynic, but some of the talk in this ICIS news article about a government lending crackdown might be from a few traders taking positions. But still, it does seem as if the government is taking some measures to restrict loan growth. Earlier, it appeared unclear as to whether the restrictions […]
China inflation to threaten growth?
Yes, if it persists despite the best efforts of the government to cool down the economy. The point is that this is not just crude oil and food prices, but the pace of underlying inflation is picking. As the Financial Times reports, inflation is now at an 11-year-high
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