CHINA’S approach to its challenging demographics are in complete contrast to the Russian approach, which we outlined yesterday. In the case of China, its strategy involves: Providing manufacturers with strong incentives to relocate from high labour cost coastal provinces to low labour cost inland provinces. These incentives include discounted land and paying all of a company’s […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Russian Sanctions Too Little, Too Late
By John Richardson “A common orthodoxy in Western thought – the notion of a globalising world in which greater prosperity was ultimately analogous to stability – has been again thrown into contention,” wrote the Financial Times, in an article worth very close reading, headlined Russia’s New Art of War. The problem with this common orthodoxy […]
Germany Needs To Follow The Example Of Its Footballers
By John Richardson WHAT a fantastic World Cup and Germany were deserved winners. Their flair, dedication, organisation, attention to detail and team spirit were great to see. But in Gideon Rachman’s very thoughtful piece in Tuesday’s Financial Times, he highlights some of the points we’ve been making over Germany and its economy over the last […]
LNG As Geopolitical Tool: US Would Need To Turn Communist
By John Richardson OVER the last couple of weeks, ever since Russia effectively annexed the Crimea, it has been argued that the US can use LNG as geopolitical weapon. By making the approvals process easier for LNG export terminals, this would make Europe less dependent on Russian gas – and thus make the Russians pause […]
Xi Jingping’s Challenges
By John Richardson XI Jinping, who formally became China’s president last week during the National People’s Congress meeting, faces enormous challenges. Life is, for example, pretty grim for hundreds of millions of people in China. Many have lost out on the country’s “economic miracle” because a hugely disproportionate share of the country’s wealth has ended […]
The Challenges For 2013
By John Richardson WE wish our readers a great festive season and wish them all the best for the New Year. We will take a break and resume the blog on 28 December. We really do wish we could be a great deal more optimistic, particularly at this time of year. 2012 has been a […]
US Oil: Nothing Is Uncertain As Certainty
By John Richardson ALL of yesterday’s excitement about the US overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia by 2017 to become the world’s biggest oil producer – and exceeding Russia to become the world’s biggest gas producer by 2015 – needs to be taken with a very large pinch of salt. The release of the International Energy […]
Real Demand In The Real Economy
By John Richardson THE FED’S decision to launch quantitative easing 3 (QE3), a series of open-ended steps more radical than anything it has attempted before, is bound to drive petrochemicals pricing higher, in response to the surging cost of crude. But as a corporate planner with a US polyolefins producer told us yesterday, before the […]
Food Prices And Chemicals
Graph prepared by the http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Personal/2012-Annual-Letter By John Richardson RISING food prices resulting from adverse weather conditions in the US, South America and Russia represent yet another threat to global economic growth. Grain prices could, for instance, increase by as much as 25 percent this year, warns Danske Bank. Dry weather in the US has […]
Greek Election Results Change Nothing
By John Richardson HOW long will the relief rally last in oil and equity markets following the Greek election results? Sadly, the answer is not long, because difficult discussions lay ahead for the New Democracy party as it tries to form a government. Greece, also, remains broke and so the Euro crisis is far from […]