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, […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Growing Uncertainties Cloud Chemicals Outlook
By John Richardson THE global growth outlook grows ever murkier as a result of credit tightening in China (or is the problem instead continued strong growth in lending?), inflation problems throughout Asia, possible monetary tightening in the West, the direction of oil prices and the Japanese tsunami-earthquake. We feel that this is making the rest […]
Japan Disaster 4 – The Impact On Paraxylene
By John Richardson ASIAN paraxylene (PX) and styrene markets look set to be the most affected by the loss of Japanese exports as the slide below from Bob Townsend at the UK-based consultancy, International eChem (Iec) illustrates. Japanese Exports.ppt My fellow blogger Paul Hodges, also of IeC has analysed the data behind the charts to […]
Japan More Competitive Than You Might Think
Tokyo at nightSource of picture: liveworldtours.com By Malini Hariharan it is easy to write off the Japanese petrochemicals industry which has for long struggled to find a solution to the dual pressure of rising global competition and an anaemic home market. Japanese companies, once at the forefront of the Asian industry, have […]