Home Blogs Asian Chemical Connections

Asian Chemical Connections

China Synthetic Fibres Recovery Questionable

By John Richardson THERE has been a strong recovery in China’s synthetic fibres value chain since May of this year, according to Becky Zhang, our excellent ICIS pricing Asian fibre intermediates and synthetic fibres editor, who keeps her finger firmly on the pulse of the market. Becky attributes the rebound to: Reports of stronger textile […]

Germany’s Skills Shortage

By John Richardson GERMANY’S engineering and chemicals companies are the envy of the world as a result of their ability to find perfect niches in the global value chain. The sophisticated machinery and chemicals needed by China to fulfil its role as the cheap workshop of the world are often provided by Germany, for example. […]

Oil Prices Fall, As We Warned

Source: Daily Forex   By John Richardson WE warned on 4 April that real economics threatened a sharp correction in crude-oil prices and it now appears to be happening. “New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for May delivery, closed at $US88.71 a barrel on Monday [15 April], down a hefty $US2.58 from Friday,” wrote The […]

The Real Economies Set To Dominate Q2

By John Richardson Sometimes a picture is worth many thousands of words. The above chart, supplied by one of the blog’s resources analyst contacts in Perth, Western Australia, neatly illustrates the dangerous divergence between real ecoomies and financial markets. As the Nikkei 225 has surged, Arabian Gulf very large crude carrier (VLCC) freight rates to […]

Innovation: No More Time Left To Lose

   Source of picture: http://whyfiles.org/    By John Richardson MY colleague Nigel Davis has written an excellent Insight article which highlights how some chemicals companies are seeking to respond to changing patterns. As we have discussed before, Bayer Material Science is adapting its portfolio of products in response to the megatrends – demographics, energy conservation, […]

HSBC: China 2013 Polyethylene Market Has Peaked

By John Richardson A NEW report from HSBC backs up our concerns that the post-Chinese New Year polyethylene (PE) will be weaker than in December-January. The bank is with us in thinking that the stronger markets over the last two months have been driven by: *Lagging indicators such as strong export and import data and […]

China SMEs Under More Strain

Source of picture: Rex Features   By John Richardson WE are worried that the recovery in Asia’s chemicals and polymer markets may not be sustained. One of our biggest concerns is that China’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which make up 60% of the economy and are responsible for 80% of employment, are under more […]

China SMEs Under More Strain

Source of picture: Rex Features   By John Richardson WE are worried that the recovery in Asia’s chemicals and polymer markets may not be sustained. One of our biggest concerns is that China’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which make up 60% of the economy and are responsible for 80% of employment, are under more […]

China Credit, Commodities Bubble

By John Richardson China announced last week that its state-owned banks had lent Rmb1.07 trillion ($172m) in January, which was more than double the amount in December. Financial markets have taken as evidence that the economic recovery has gained momentum. But when you combine January-February lending for 2012 in order to get rid of the […]

Nothing Has Changed In Japan

By John Richardson THE Nikkei Index has risen by more than 30% since November (see the chart below). Earlier this week, the Nikkei was at its highest level since September 2008.   Global stock markets are, in general, of course, on a roll. This is fantastic news for the day traders and the electronic traders, […]

Jump to page: