THIS IS A POLYPROYPENE ((PP) world being turned upside down. China has entered a period of lower growth with capacity additions so big that imports are collapsing as China also starts to substantially increase exports.
Asian Chemical Connections
China goes global in PP perhaps quicker than had been expected, badly disrupting the global industry
CHINA’S polypropylene (PP) industry is in the short- to medium- term is being pushed into going global perhaps quicker than it had intended. This is because of the collapse of local demand and the resulting all-time weak netbacks in China versus most of the other regions.
China threatens to shift global petrochemicals from inflation to deflation as self-sufficiency increases
By John Richardson POLYPROPYLENE (PP) producers in Europe and the US are making very good money as the slide below shows, detailing LPG-based variable cost margins. In Asia, where margins have long lagged behind the other two regions, profitability has also picked up. Demand isn’t going to be the problem Part of the explanation is […]
Coronavirus may have made China province-level petchems data even more important
By John Richardson WHEN THE coronavirus crisis first hit China most of the focus was of course on Hubei province – the epicentre of the outbreak. One of the immediate effects was the collapse of petrochemical, automobile, steel, food processing and textiles production – the province’s biggest industries. Wind the clock forward to last week […]
China Doubles Down On Pollution Clean-up: Consequences For Chemicals
By John Richardson ECONOMIC GROWTH for the sake of economic growth was for so many years the No1 priority in China. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that there is a legacy of major environmental problems. These include some 1.6m premature deaths a year from air pollution alone, according to an independent study in 2015. A […]
China And Xi Jinping: The Five Big Challenges You Must Understand
By John Richardson THE above slide, from my speech at this year’s Gulf Petrochemical Association Forum, is a summary of much of the analysis on this blog over the past 12 months. This is another of my print-out-and-keep guides. Please pin to your chemicals company boardroom wall as you plan your scenarios for China. In […]
China Accelerates Chemicals Plant Relocations As Supply Disruptions Build
By John Richardson THE RELOCATION of all chemicals plants classified as producing toxic products from China’s big towns and cities to chemicals-industry parks is being speeded-up. Relocation work first began in 2014. But earlier this month, a new directive from the State Council stipulated that: All of the country’s small- to mid-sized chemicals plants that […]
China Puts Environment Ahead Of GDP As Chemicals Shortages Build
By John Richardson FURTHER evidence has emerged of the Chinese government’s determination to deal with an air pollution crisis that a new study says shortens life spans in China by three years . Local government officials have long been measured by how rapidly they expand GDP growth. But in a quite stunning reversal of policy, Beijing has […]
China’s War On Air Pollution Causes Major Chemicals Shortages
By John Richardson CHINA is quite literally going to war against air pollution as tries to tackle a health crisis that causes some 1.6m deaths every year. The end-result is major shortages up and down many chemicals value chains. The environmental campaign is in lock-step with wider economic reforms. Economically inefficient low value manufacturers that […]
Shift In Lending Patterns Indicate Slower 2017 China Growth
By John Richardson WE HAVE now seen two months of a very important shift in the pattern of credit growth in China: In January, new local-currency bank loans were Rmb2.13 trillion ($310bn).. This was far above December’s Rmb994bn, but there is always a big seasonal surge in lending every January. Crucially, this January’s figure was below the Rmb2.54 trillion during the […]
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