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Asian Chemical Connections

Middle East-China MEG Exports Surge

By John Richardson MONO-ETHYLENE glycol (MEG) exports to China rose to 4.12m tonnes in the first half of this year from 3.38m tonnes during the same period in 2011, according to data from Global Trade Information Services (GTIS). The main beneficiary of the export surge was the Middle East as H1 2012 exports from Kuwait […]

“The Worse Things Get…..”

  Chart sourced from: http://www.financialsense.com/   By John Richardson “THE worse things get the better they are,” continues to be the mantra in financial and commodity markets these days. For example, China’s inflation slowed to 1.8 percent in July compared with 2.2 percent in June. This is likely to spur expectations of more economic stimulus. The […]

Dow: China GDP Growth 3-5 Percent

  By John Richardson DOW Chemical’s Andrew Liveris has changed his views on China as a result of an economic slowdown that seems to have taken many people by surprise. “China’s economy has continued to decelerate as European exports suffered,” said Liveris, as the company last week announced a 34 percent fall in profits year-on-year […]

South Korea “Denial” Continues

  By John Richardson EARNINGS estimates for South Korean petrochemicals companies for the full-year 2012 remain around 30 percent above where they should be because “most financial analysts remain in denial“, said an industry source. A sign of how bad the times have become was that LG Chem’s Q2 results, which were released last week, […]

Polyolefin Demand Remains “Very Weak”

  By John Richardson DEMAND remains “very weak” in China’s polyolefins markets, said a sales and marketing executive with a major Western producer. “I am having real trouble justifying higher prices to my customers, which are partly the result of naphtha having risen in line with stronger crude. What they cannot understand is why crude […]

China Bad Debts

In the first of a series of blog posts on the major challenges facing China’s economy over the next 12-18 months, we look at bad debts.   High stakes in Hangzhou. Source of picture: Wikimedia     By John Richardson A fascinating blog post by Patrick Chovanec makes this very worrying observation about China’s bad debt […]

KPMG Warns Of US Overcapacity

  By John Richardson A management consultancy has gone on the record to warn about what the blog has been warning about for months: That the US petrochemicals industry is in danger of pushing itself into oversupply. KPMG, in a report released late last month, said that the success of planned US expansions, including as […]

June China Lending Disappoints

  By John Richardson POLYETHYLENE (PE) and polypropylene (PP) offer prices were reportedly on the rise across Asia earlier this week on increasing geopolitical tensions over Iran that led to a hike in crude prices. “Butene-grade linear-low density (LLDPE) offers have increased by $40-50/tonne,” said a source with a major producer. September LLDPE futures contract […]

China Still Destocking

  By John Richardson A NEW report from HSBC supports our argument that China’s synthetic resin market has yet to bottom out. Big structural changes in China’s economy are an additional factor, in our view, to the slowdown in China not covered in the comments below. The bank highlights, of course, the weak business environment […]

Not “Business As Usual”

  By John Richardson THE notion that Asian polyethylene (PE) markets would soon bottom out, which was widely expressed at the Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference (APIC) last month, seems to have been discredited. There was a slight recovery for the week ending 1 June, when prices had crept up by $10-20/tonne on improved confidence amongst […]

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