By John Richardson and Malini Hariharan in Shanghai A TWO-TIER China polyolefin market had developed in China over the last couple of years – but the $64,000 question right now is: At which of these two levels will most business be settled during December? The ever-volatile Dalian Commodity Exchange determines the day-by-day sentiment, while overseas […]
Asian Chemical Connections
No Going Back, But Don’t Expect Smooth Ride
Cloth nappies?….you have to be kidding Source of picture: babygavin.com By John Richardson IT IS the biggest transformation that the global economy has probably ever undergone, resulting in numerous opportunities and challenges for the chemicals industry as emerging markets continue to boom. The obvious opportunity is for those who can meet […]
Asian Ethylene, PE Declines Continue
By John Richardson ASIAN ethylene and polyethylene (PE) margins both fell last week – a further indication that the Chinese market remains weak. Bonded warehouses are still full of PE as a result of high imports in March at a time when local production was being ramped up, the blog was told this morning. But […]
End-users Acting As Traders Influence China PE Price Correction
By John Richardson LAST week’s sharp decline in polyethylene (PE) pricing in China is being partly blamed on converters who occasionally act as traders liquidating their raw-material inventories. Trading activity by end-users can account for more than 10% of total sales activity in the Chinese market in any one week, the blog has previously been […]
China’s GDP Growth Out Of Official Comfort Zone
By John Richardson China’s first-quarter GDP (gross domestic product) growth of 11.9% – the number released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics – is way above the 9.5% that the chairman of a major local bank has reportedly said is the maximum the economy can sustain for the full year. “It (too-rapid growth) will […]
China Re-exports Large Volumes Of PE To Latin America
Heading for the high jump Source of picture: www.commons.wikemedia.,org By John Richardson CHINA’S polyethylene (PE) market looks as if it has gone a little pear-shaped as a result of high inventory levels and buyers anticipating the long-awaited flood of new supplies. Further factors are labour shortages affecting processors and manufacturers and anxiety over […]
Corrected:Asian Naphtha-Ethylene Spreads Touch 2007 Levels
We should have originally written ‘integrated low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in paragraphsix, but instead wrote linear-low density PE (LLDPE). It’s now been corrected and apologies for the error – we will be buying some better glasses (less of this “we” – it’s actually “me”!) By John Richardson The rise in ethylene prices to what ICIS pricing says is […]
What’s China’s real consumption growth?
Source of picture: millermmccune.com How quickly is China shifting its economy away from exports towards stronger domestic consumption? The answer to this question is, of course, critical to the global chemicals industry. On the surface it looks good: Retail sales grew by 16.6% in the first half of 2009 and by a slightly more modest […]
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