China’s polyethylene (PE) demand in 2022 could fall by 3% over last year. Net imports may be as much as 3.9m tonnes lower
Asian Chemical Connections
China recovery appears to lose steam as PE and PP self-sufficiency increases
By John Richardson DON’T SAY I did not warn you. The post-coronavirus recovery in China is already losing steam in April after a rebound in activity in March, according to this Bloomberg article. Domestic consumer sentiment is weak and export orders have collapsed as a result of the global pandemic, according to the wire service, […]
More than 3m tonnes of Chinese polyethylene demand at risk from coronavirus
By John Richardson THE GOOD news is that medical experts believe the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak will follow the path of SARS and die down by April or May at the latest when warm weather usually arrives in China. Coronaviruses in general, and SARS is part of the same family as this latest […]
China’s Polyethylene Market: Three New Scenarios For 2018-2025
By John Richardson THE above slide underlines the growing complexity surrounding China’s economy, politics, society, environmental policies and trading relationship with the US. I’ve placed this complexity in the context of the implications for the polyethylene (PE) industry. The above slide, and the full explanation below, updates my three scenarios from last September. These new […]
Three Scenarios For 2018-2025 China Polyethylene Demand Growth
By John Richardson CHINA leads the world in many aspects of renewable energy and has an electric vehicle industry that is receiving the kind of state support that is very probably making foreign competitors green with envy. The explosion of commerce via the mobile internet takes your breath away. Average per person spending on mobile […]
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 […]
China’s PE Imports: Recycling Ban Adds To Uncertainty
By John Richardson FOR the time being at least, the year-on-year growth in China’s polyethylene (PE) net imports (imports minus exports) has fallen. In January-May 2017, net imports were up by no less than 19%. However, the January-June increase is down to 11% to total imports of around 5.2m tonnes, with the reduction in line […]
China Polyethylene Operating Rates To Rise On Govt Policies
By John Richardson EARLIER this month I reported on how China’s state-owned refineries faced increased competition from their domestic private competitors in 2016 in gasoline, diesel, kerosene and other refined-product markets. This forced Sinopec and PetroChina to reduce their overall refinery operating rates, which led to less availability of naphtha for their downstream steam crackers. […]
China Polyethylene: What To Tell Your Boss
By John Richardson YOU are a junior researcher working for a global polyethylene (PE) producer. This is your opportunity to help change “group thinking” and so greatly improve your career prospects. It is not going to be easy, especially if your boss tells you, “I’ve been here many times before. China is just […]
Jump to page: