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 […]
Asian Chemical Connections
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
More Indonesian consolidation on the way?
There are strong rumours circulating that the hopelessly fragmented Indonesian petrochemical industry might undergo some more restructuring. This would follow Titan Petrochemical’s purchase of troubled polyethylene producer PT Peni, now renamed PT Titan, for a bargain price. Common ownership between sole cracker operator Chandra Asri and its numerous downstream companies would go a long way […]
The Grim Reaper readies himself
See below for an extended analysis of why everything is about to go wrong. Looking forward to picking up some bargain chemical shares over the next two years and some cheap US and UK property! As the Asian head of M&A and acqusitions for a major bank told me this morning: “Wnen everyone tells me […]
China lending restrictions to hit petchems?
China annnounced on Wednesday that it had shifted its monetary policy stance to “tight” from “prudent” in response to food-price driven inflation, soaring real-estate prices, the surge in local stock markets and continued strong growth in industrial investment. How this policy shift will be implemented remains unclear, but media reports suggest that total bank-lending growth […]
Could China be the new Japan?
Quite possibly not, according to a Deutsche Bank report. However, as the report makes the clear, the same types of imbalances are building in the Chinese economy which led to Japan’s “Lost Decade” of the 1990s. Time to take stock and have a contingency plan?
Asia needs a recesssion
Asian industry leaders are playing lip service to the environmental crisis the world confronts . George Monbiot, the excellent author and journalist, argues that what the West needs is a recession to give the planet a breather.Asia also needs a substantial economic slowdown to give policymakers and technology developers more time.
The flawed “science” of forecasting
Maybe I’ve been to too many conferences this year, and indeed over the last decade, and have seen too many forecasts go wrong. Call me cynical, or plain wrong, but………..
Will the next World War be over water?
Please read this – http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/world/asia/28water.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin Don’t worry, just keep concentrating on the short term – after all, all you have to do is keep your boss happy and make it through to retirement with loads of money in the bank. Or let’s assume you are worried. What can the chemicals industry do to address this […]
Is your glass half empty of half full?
Hopefully, completely empty if you happen to live in China and can only afford to drink tap water. However, it’s not the environment that this is this week being viewed as the biggest threat to the economy, but rather inflation as this article from ICIS news explains.
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