By John Richardson JIM Gallogly, the former CEO of LyondellBasell, has advised US petrochemicals companies to “think very, very hard” about new investments. “Some of you simply are going to be too late. And you need to recognise where you are at,” he told delegates that this week’s 40th American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers […]
Asian Chemical Connections
China Jan-Feb Polyethylene Imports Fall 22%
By John Richardson CHINA’S polyethylene (PE) imports declined again in February, and are down by an average of 22% over both January and February of this year compared with the same period in 2014. SOME people will tell you that this is nothing to be seriously worried about. They will argue that January-February 2014, imports reached […]
Sinopec’s Role In China’s New Normal
By John Richardson SINOPEC has published its first-ever environmental report, as fellow blogger Paul Hodges points out in this blog post. What an amazing turnaround. Before the pivotal November 2012 Third Plenum meeting, there was little pressure on Sinopec or any other Chinese company to improve its environmental performance. Instead, the focus was on growth […]
The US Must Wise-Up And Back China
By John Richardson AUSTRALIA has very sensibly reversed its decision not to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). This is the first good policy move I can think of since Tony Abbott became Australia’s prime minister. And with the UK, France, Germany and Italy also now on-board with the AIIB, and with South […]
PetroChina and Sinopec Will Never Be The Same Again
By John Richardson CHINA’S two giant state-owned oil, gas, refining and petrochemicals companies have enjoyed many fantastic years during which they could do just about what they liked, according to an increasing number of critics. “You can’t control them,” an official from China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is quoting as saying in the […]
China’s Polyolefins Recovery On Shaky Ground
By John Richardson CHINA’S polyolefins markets were in a muddle last week as a result of resilient offer prices for imported material versus a fall in pricing for domestic cargoes. Domestic polyethylene (PE) prices were largely softer, but local distributors were unwilling to significantly cut their offer prices for imported because of tight supply across […]
China’s Li Keqiang Pulls No Punches On The Challenges Ahead
By John Richardson Li Keqiang was short on detail during a major speech last week, said some analysts. This was taken as a sign that Beijing has become nervous about the pace of the economic slowdown, a theory supported by “policy backtracks” – for example, last month’s decision to lower interest rates for the second […]
China’s Polyolefins Price Recovery: The Role Of Crude
By John Richardson THE above chart is a useful reminder of the role that crude prices has played in influencing the pricing of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in Asia since January of last year (I have picked just two grades of PE and PP, but the story is similar across the other grades). You […]
China Peak Steel And Chemicals Demand May Have Arrived
By John Richardson EVERYONE involved in the iron ore business must be very worried about the recent speech by the new chairman of the China Iron & Steel Association. “Under the ‘new normal’ China’s iron and steel consumption has already entered into the peak zone,” he told his audience. China’s steel consumption will peak at […]
Where Have All The Jobs Gone?
By John Richardson POLITICIANS everywhere know that their chances of staying in office depend on how many jobs they can at the very least prevent from disappearing down the economic plughole. Ideally, they also want to be able to lay credible claims that their “long term vision” has created lots of new employment across the […]
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