….In A Tale Of Three Markets. By John Richardson AS China introduces more measures to clamp down on an overheated property sector and the shadow-banking system, polyethylene (PE) traders regard this latest news cycle as yet another opportunity to go short. “It used to be that the trading business was about supply and demand fundamentals […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Damage Limitation
By John Richardson POLYETHYLENE (PE) prices crept up by $10-50/tonne for the week ending 22 February, according to ICIS pricing. But, as the above chart shows, integrated high-density PE variable cost margins in Southeast and Northeast Asia remained very weak, and were way below all the other regions – again, up until the week ending […]
China’s Numbers Game
By John Richardson YET more problems with Chinese economic statistics have emerged, casting doubt over the idea that an economic hard landing was avoided in 2012 – and that there was a strong rebound in the fourth quarter. “Official data on China’s gross domestic product show the slowdown in growth in the last two years […]
China’s New Credit Clampdown
By John Richardson BEIJING is clearly getting worried that its politically motivated 2012 economic stimulus programme has damaged the economy. “Just when the world had bought into a Chinese economic recovery, along comes the government throwing proverbial spanners in the works,” writes James Gruber, former fund manager and journalist in his latest Asia Confidential weekly […]
China Coal-To-Olefins Storm In A Teacup?
: Source: NRELC, China Coal Research Institute, HSBC estimates By John Richardson THERE has been a lot of interest in China’s coals-to-olefins (CTO) industry, with arguments that it is a very economically viable method of production. On paper, there is even more capacity due on-stream than in the US as it forges ahead with […]
US Housing Recovery 74% Below The Peak
By John Richardson “People are tired of being depressed and looking for any little source of light to feel positive. Even companies are resorting to this and forecasting margin and earnings recovery though there is no strong data to show this is going to happen,” said a chemicals industry source. Take the US housing market […]
HSBC: China 2013 Polyethylene Market Has Peaked
By John Richardson A NEW report from HSBC backs up our concerns that the post-Chinese New Year polyethylene (PE) will be weaker than in December-January. The bank is with us in thinking that the stronger markets over the last two months have been driven by: *Lagging indicators such as strong export and import data and […]
Filtering Out The Noise
By John Richardson ONE should be careful about reading too much into the above margins for February as, of course, there was very little trading activity because of Chinese New Year (CNY), whilst oil and therefore naphtha prices increased. But the poor performances in December and January in Southeast and Northeast Asia, despite the rally […]
Sinopec A Litmus Test For Reform
By John Richardson CHINA’s new leaders are under increasing pressure to do something about the dreadful pollution that blights the lives of hundreds of millions of people. One Shanghai resident told the blog, “The air quality is so bad here I have taken up smoking again. I figured that as my health was already in […]
US Housing Market – Real Recovery?
Source of picture: Rex Features Today, we are running a guest blog post from Brian Spero,who is a financial contributor for the online resource, Money Crashers Personal Finance, where he writes about economic policy, real estate, and home improvement. As the chemical industry keeps a watchful eye out for tangible proof of an improving […]
Jump to page: