By John Richardson HISTORY has a tendency to move very slowly, inching forward incrementally, and then all of a sudden a flurry of events over an incredibly short space of time can change everything. This is where we are today. Oil prices had been creeping up long before the 4 November launch of the anti-corruption […]
Asian Chemical Connections
China’s Petchem Markets Contradict Latest PMI
By John Richardson IF you study China’s petrochemicals markets on a regular basis they tell you something very important: That despite persistent efforts to tighten-up supply across several sectors in order to entice end-users into stock building, “hand-to-mouth” purchasing remains their policy. For example, polypropylene (PP) import prices firmed on a heavy turnaround season in […]
The fallout for petrochemicals from Iraq
As everyone focuses on when the next downturn might arrive, macro issues such as the implications of a likely US withdrawal from Iraq are rarely publicly discussed. But if I were on the board of any company making investment decisions, I’d be worried. If the US withdrawal from Iraq is well managed then fears such […]
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