By John Richardson THE total value of export orders at the latest Canton Trade Fair, which finished this weekend, declined by 4.8% compared with the previous event in October last year. This is the first decline in the value of orders at the bi-annual fair since May 2009, when the world was in the […]
Asian Chemical Connections
North America Manufacturing Rebound
By John Richardson THIS fascinating slide from Accenture, in a new study that the consultancy is about to release on the rebound in North American manufacturing competitiveness, quantifies the steep rise in relative labour costs in China between 2001 and 2011. And this process is likely to accelerate as China attempts to narrow the […]
China PE Demand Down 4 Percent
By John Richardson CHEMICALS analysts, and some senior company executives, are telling us that growth in China will bounce back in the second half of 2012. To give these forecasts some historical context, the recovery was supposed to happen in January, then February, then March, then April and now at some point in the […]
A Road Map For Success
The new chapter of our free ‘Boom, Gloom and the New Normal’ ebook sets out a road map to success for companies in the New Normal. It also identifies 5 key areas where major change is already underway. Demand-driven. Markets have essentially been supply-driven in recent decades, with growth being forecast on the basis of […]
The China Shale Gas Risk
By John Richardson FIVE years ago everybody had written-off the US petrochemicals industry, but now the industry is incredibly gung-ho, thanks to shale gas – even if the issue of demand is somewhat more problematic. In five years time, might the world once again look a very different place as a result of shale gas […]
A Polyolefin Trader’s Perspective
By John Richardson Word for word, see below what an Asian polyolefins trader told us yesterday: “This year has been absolutely terrible, the worst I can remember in eight years in this business, and even worse than 2008. There is just no demand out there. “There was supposed to be a recovery after the Chinese […]
Costly Oil Hurts US Industry
By John Richardson THE higher that oil prices go the more the US petrochemical industry’s margins have expanded. Petrochemical prices are oil-driven and, therefore, have to go higher as crude becomes more expensive, whereas the cost of shale gas-based ethane keeps on falling due to rising supply. US petrochemical producers are cracking increasing amounts of […]
US Euphoria
By John Richardson THE shale gas advantage, along with the revival of the US economy, made for a euphoric atmosphere at last week’s International Petrochemicals Conference (IPC)* in San Antonio, Texas. China was only a blip on the corner of the radar screen because the talk was so domestic-focused. The only doubts expressed were over […]
Foxconn And Chemicals
By John Richardson THE recent investigation by the US-based Fair Labor Association into Foxconn is a further indication of how China is transforming its economic model. It was found that Foxconn breached several Chinese regulations, including a maximum working week of 49 hours. The company is China’s biggest private-sector employer and manufactures 40 percent of […]
Confidence And Petrochemicals
By John Richardson CONFIDENCE is a strange thing. It can be derived from solid reasons for optimism over the future or from temporary factors that can rapidly disappear. And what is the value of publicly-expressed confidence? Is it often politically motivated rather than being based on the genuine belief that the future holds tremendous promise? […]
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