By John Richardson THE nature of demand in China is changing, despite the belief among some chemicals analysts, and companies, that everything will soon return to normal. Here is a summary of our key arguments. Please print off and pin to your office, or boardroom, wall for discussion – and let us know if you […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Depressed China Demand Continues
By John Richardson ANOTHER week and sadly a repeat of the same old story: Depressed polyolefins demand in China. Pricing did, however, increase – by $10-50/tonne in the case of polyethylene (PE) and $10-40/tonne for polypropylene (PP), according to assessments by ICIS pricing for the week ending 16 March. But our colleagues at ICIS […]
PE Margins Lowest On Record
By John Richardson ANOTHER week has gone by with no evidence of significantly stronger polyethylene (PE) volumes in China. Rising labour costs, because of mandated government increases in minimum wages, and the shortages of labour post-Lunar New Year, are still making it difficult for plastic converters to run at full capacity. The recovery in pricing […]
Pricing To Struggle For The Rest of 2012
By John Richardson Further confirmation of the themes we raised yesterday emerged from an interview with a senior polyolefin industry source, with some important new analysis. Profitability in Asia is the worst of any of the three regions, he told us, although volumes remain good. In the US, he characterised demand as “pretty reasonable”, but […]
A Palpable Sense Of Panic
By John Richardson THE blog has sought to add to the debate during the four years it has been operating by thinking around the big macro-economic issues, and constantly keeping in touch with our market contacts at “ground level” in the petrochemicals industry, in an attempt to assess where markets might be heading. We haven’t […]
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