By John Richardson FURTHER relief rallies in petrochemical markets that occur over the next few weeks and months will not change the overall direction. Buyers will inevitably run short of stocks down all the value chains and we thus will see some more brief flurries of price rises. Another driver of inventory rebuilding will be recoveries […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Yuan Devaluation Needs To Be Considered
By John Richardson The “beggar my neighbour” trade wars that many economists feared would erupt after the global financial crisis were delayed thanks to fiscal stimulus. But now politicians will be under increasing pressure to erect trade barriers. “We are seeing a rise in antidumping cases involving chemicals,” a trade lawyer who specialises in the […]
Everywhere You Turn…..
By John Richardson It really is unrelentingly depressing, even though we hear that a few investors in chemicals stocks are clinging-on to the hope that provided everyone maintains tight production, demand will recover very strongly in Q1 of next year. We wish they were right, but sadly they are not. Everywhere you turn it looks […]
US Chemicals See End Of Profit Boost
By John Richardson THE extent to which the US economy has become distorted in favour of the corporate sector was thrown into sharp relief by this article in the New York Times (the financial sector is another separate, but equally disturbing story). Whether the US can tackle the longer-term factors behind the distortions in favour […]
Investment Theories Don’t Need To Be True
By John Richardson DEVELOPED market plastics demand is currently 15 per cent below 2007 levels, despite a modest recovery in 2010, because of two successive years of double-digit declines in 2008 and 2009, according to a new HSBC report. Some estimates suggest that developed-market demand will return to pre-crisis levels by 2015, adds HSBC. However, the […]
It’s Always Helpful To Have A Plan
By John Richardson THERE are four major reasons why the first three quarters of 2011 have been excellent for chemicals companies, which are: 1.) Strong co-product credits have supported what have been weak commodity-grade polyolefin markets since March of this year (higher-value grades, such as co-polymer grade polypropylene for auto applications, have been better) 2.) […]
Restocking lifts polyolefins prices
By Malini Hariharan Polyolefins prices in the key China markets inched up last week thanks to an uptick in buying activity. Prices of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) blow moulding and film grades moved up $20/tonne while linear-low density PE prices were up $30/tonne, reports ICIS pricing. Polypropylene prices were also up $10-20/tonne However, opinion continues to […]
US And Europe Polyolefins Raise Exports
By John Richardson in Houston, Texas DESPERATELY weak polyolefin demand in both the US and Europe is resulting in an increased focus on export markets. The US market appears to be in particularly severe distress with, as we discussed last week, large polyethylene (PE) volumes already on the water heading to China. More evidence of […]
European Petchems: A Great Year For Some
By John Richardsn A brilliant seven months or a collapse in average profitability to its lowest level since end-2009 are two radically different takes on the fortunes of European petrochemicals so far this year. The description of a brilliant January-to-August was given to my colleague Nel Weddle, European olefins editor for ICIS pricing, by a […]
China H2 GDP Growth Only 5%
By John Richardson CHINA’S economy would only expand by 5% in H2 of this year and in the first half of 2012 on an annualised basis, said Diana Choyleva, a Hong Kong-based economist for Lombard Street Research. This was the result of credit tightening as China continued to battle inflation and a slump in export orders for manufactured goods on […]
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