By John Richardson CHINA’S polyethylene (PE) market sentiment rebounded in mid-December on greater confidence that the country’s new leaders meant business on economic reform. And since then, commodity prices in general, including those for iron ore have rebounded thanks to a slew of data that indicates a recovery in growth. Some of the renewed confidence in […]
Asian Chemical Connections
China’s Two-Speed Recovery
By John Richardson CHINA appears to be in the midst of a two-speed recovery as a result of stronger domestic growth, while the export environment remains very bleak. “Our polyethylene (PE) sales to converters who sell into the domestic market have picked up very well in Q4,” said a source with a global polyolefins producer. […]
China Polyethylene Sentiment Recovers
By John Richardson CHINA’S polyethylene (PE) market is enjoying a mini-rebound on improved confidence in the ability of politicians to turn the economy around, the blog has been told. There seems to be a feeling out there that more help is on the way for the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The SMEs, which make […]
China PE Growth At Only 4%
By John Richardson CHINA’s polyethylene (PE) demand growth was up just 4% in January-October of this year compared with the same period in 2010, as the chart above from Global Trade Information Services (GTIS) indicates. And yet in January, many of the people the blog spoke to were confidently predicting double-digit demand growth for 2012. […]
China “Recovers”
By John Richardson ONE interpretation of the rise in the HSBC China Purchasing Managers Index to a 13-month high in November is that next year promises a strong recovery in the world’s most-important chemicals market. “People have taken considerable cheer from not only the HSBC report, but also other data points that might be interpreted […]
Asian PE Recovery On “China Turning Point”
By John Richardson ASIAN polyethylene (PE) prices rose by $10-30/tonne for the week ending 9 November in response to reports of low inventories, according to ICIS. A further improvement in the market is anticipated by one trader, as a result of the release of raft of positive Chinese economic data last Friday. This is based on the […]
China PE Imports Rise On Recovery Theory
By John Richardson A SURGE in polyethylene (PE) shipments to China has exerted further stress on a market that continues to perform exceptionally badly. Total PE imports in August (the latest figures availabe) rose to 817,277 tonnes from 681,100 tonnes in July. Low-density PE (LDPE) shipments rose by 27%, high-density (HDPE) by 21% and linear low-density […]
China PE Growth Disappoints Again
By John Richardson CHINA’S polyethylene (PE) market, along with probably most of the rest of petrochemicals, continues to disappoint as the above chart illustrates. Overall demand in 2012 (red column) was up by just 1 percent in January-August 2012 compared with the same period in 2010. One, or perhaps a combination of both of the […]
China PE Demand Weakness Continues
By John Richardson LET’S put this into context: China’s polyethylene (PE) demand grew by 53 percent in 2008-2010. Growth during the first seven months of this year was just 1.7 percent over Januuary-July 2011, according to Global Trade Information Services (GTIS). And when compared with the same seven months in 2010 growth was flat, as the […]
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. […]
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