By John Richardson CHINA’S steel production is expected to decline for the first time in 31 years during 2012. Yes, 31 years. “The end of three decades of growth in a key industry will add to hand-wringing over China’s economy,” wrote Chuin-We Yap in this Wall Street Journal blog post. “China makes half the world’s […]
Asian Chemical Connections
“The Worse Things Get…..”
Chart sourced from: http://www.financialsense.com/ By John Richardson “THE worse things get the better they are,” continues to be the mantra in financial and commodity markets these days. For example, China’s inflation slowed to 1.8 percent in July compared with 2.2 percent in June. This is likely to spur expectations of more economic stimulus. The […]
What India Power Cuts Indicate
By John Richardson India, along with China, seems unlikely to deliver the contribution to global economic growth expected by the International Monetary Fund as late as April of this year (see above chart). In the case of India, last week’s power cuts that affected more than 600 million people, point to deep structural problems that […]
No Relief For China SMEs
By John Richardson THE consensus view is that China’s economy bottomed out in H1 and will see a recovery in GDP growth during the second half. Much hope has been attached to more government stimulus delivering a short-term boost to growth, even if there are concerns over the long-term damage that further investment-driven GDP could cause. […]
PVC’s Unsustainable China Growth
By John Richardson POLYMER markets continue to tell us that China’s 2009-2010 economic stimulus programme delivered unsustainable demand growth. China’s demand for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) surged from 10.9m tonnes in 2009 to 13.2m tonnes in 2010, according to Global Trade Information Services (GTIS). Demand then reached 14.1m tonnes in 2011. The slowdown in growth reflected government […]
China Coal-to-Olefins Ambitions
By John Richardson SOME 10-15m tonne/year of coal-to-olefins (CTO) capacity in China is being considered, has already received approval or is in the planning stage, according to a report by Woori. “Major coal companies, petrochemical companies and foreign petrochemical players are all known to be planning CTO plant construction in China’s north western regions,” says the South […]
Chemicals Demand Shift Will Not Be Smooth
By John Richardson ADIDAS recently announced that it is to close its only directly-owned sportwear factory in China. Many other similar factories could shut if Beijing sticks to its 12th Five-Year-Plan (2011-2015) promise to move up the industrial value chain. The Adidas decision is driven by rising labour costs, which are partly government policy designed to […]
China PE Demand Down 3 Percent
By John Richardson GROUND level economic conditions in China are still a lot weaker than headline GDP (gross domestic product) numbers suggest. For example, a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sales and marketing executive said: “PVC demand growth is going to be in minus territory this year. Carbide-based producers are likely to continue to have to run […]
Global Polyethylene Margin Picture
By John Richardson ASIAN high-density polyethylene (HDPE) margins have improved in June and July compared with the rest of the year, according to the above chart from the ICIS Weekly PE Margin Report. But the overall year-to-date trend illustrates how the industry has lacked pricing power as a result of persistently weak Chinese demand. August […]
Dow: China GDP Growth 3-5 Percent
By John Richardson DOW Chemical’s Andrew Liveris has changed his views on China as a result of an economic slowdown that seems to have taken many people by surprise. “China’s economy has continued to decelerate as European exports suffered,” said Liveris, as the company last week announced a 34 percent fall in profits year-on-year […]
Jump to page: