Manmohan Singh compromises to the point where “policy has no direction” Source of picture: Wikipedia By John Richardson IN A week during which the Eurozone could quite easily break-up, the influence that individual political leaders will have on shaping our economic future has been thrown in to further stark relief. And in some countries it […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Innovating Down The Value Chain
By John Richardson THE lack of depth and thought behind “analysis” of the economic challenges facing developing economies has worried the blog for some time. It is undoubtedly the case that as hundreds of millions more people in countries such as India and China emerge from poverty, the opportunities for the chemicals industry are enormous. […]
China’s Leaders Are Boxed In
By John Richardson IT seems inevitable that petrochemical markets will respond positively to the Chinese government’s decision to reduce bank-reserve requirements by 50 basis points. There will quite likely be a relief rally in the Dalian Commodity Exchange’s futures contract in linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and a recovery in physical prices. But lost demand is […]
Investment Theories Don’t Need To Be True
By John Richardson DEVELOPED market plastics demand is currently 15 per cent below 2007 levels, despite a modest recovery in 2010, because of two successive years of double-digit declines in 2008 and 2009, according to a new HSBC report. Some estimates suggest that developed-market demand will return to pre-crisis levels by 2015, adds HSBC. However, the […]
China’s Debt Problems
By John Richardson Fellow blogger Paul Hodges made a convincing case in a post on Tuesday that China’s economic model faces some major challengs. “It seems increasingly clear that China‘s economic policy took a wrong turn 10 years ago, when it joined the World Trade Organisation,” wrote Hodges. From 2001 onwards, China transformed itself into the […]
Dalian Reflects China-EU Risks
By John Richardson AT first glance it might seem strange that the Dalian Commodity Exchange’s linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) futures contract has fluctuated so dramatically on news emanating from the Eurozone. The May 2012 contract – the one most actively traded at the moment and therefore the one most closely watched by the market – fell […]
China’s Precarious Balancing Act
Him again…..Jim Chanos Source of picture. www.marketfolly.com By John Richardson THE Chinese government is playing a perilous game at the moment as it tries to undo damage caused by economic stimulus. As it grapples with attempting to lower property prices, while not causing a real-estate market collapse, this once again brings to mind famous […]
It’s Always Helpful To Have A Plan
By John Richardson THERE are four major reasons why the first three quarters of 2011 have been excellent for chemicals companies, which are: 1.) Strong co-product credits have supported what have been weak commodity-grade polyolefin markets since March of this year (higher-value grades, such as co-polymer grade polypropylene for auto applications, have been better) 2.) […]
Chem Q3 Results Show Flat Growth
By John Richardson CHEMICAL company third quarter financial results point to what has been apparent at ground level for some time now – a struggle to achieve volume growth over 2010. My colleague Nigel Davis, who edits in the Insight section of ICIS news, wrote in this article last week: “In the fourth quarter of 2011, […]
Not All Plastics Are Born Equal
DSM’s Dyneema replaces steel in offshore ropes Source of picture: offshore-technology.com By John Richardson THE polyethylene (PE) shopping bags that get thrown away in their millions every day are some considerable distance down the value chain from DSM’s Dyneema ultra-high molecular weight PE (UHMWPE for short). Applications for Dyneema® include stopping bullets (it is […]
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