By John Richardson MUCH OF the debate about plastics and the environment is, I fear, missing the bigger picture. The focus is heavily on what some of those in the industry say is the debatable science behind studies into the harmful effects of plastics. Polymer executives argue that questionable science doesn’t take account the carbon […]
Asian Chemical Connections
China Lending Bubble Adds 4.7m Tonnes To Polyethylene Consumption
By John Richardson THE IMF produced a very interesting study earlier this month, in which it estimated that if it had not been for China’s giant economic stimulus programme the country’s real GDP growth would have averaged only 5.3% per annum during the five years to 2016. Instead, however, the IMF estimates that China’s economy […]
“Out Of The Box” Solutions Can Prevent Global Trade Tensions
By John Richardson IF you are a politician in the West, one approach to today’s crisis of global industrial overcapacity is heap most of the blame on China and threaten China with trade barriers. But if China doesn’t respond to your rhetoric, the problem is that you might be forced to follow through by actually […]
China Iron Ore Stocks Can Build 1,200 Empire State Buildings
By John Richardson CHINA’S commodity imports boom was, of course, mainly down to the rise its middle class as hundreds of millions more of its citizens became rich enough to buy a refrigerator, a TV and a car for the first time. Or was it? Daniel De Blocq van Schetlinga, the Hong Kong-based head of […]
China’s Polypropylene Imports: The Balance Of Probabilities
CHINA’S polypropylene (PP) imports increased by 11.3% in January-April of this year compared with the same period in 2013, according to the latest available China customs data. There could be lots of reasons for this. One reason might be that the fairly subdued tone of just about everybody you speak to in markets is wrong […]