ASIAN PE and PP spreads turned negative in October this year for the first time since the same month five years earlier. As spreads turned negative it seems certain that margins would have been in deeper negative territory as spreads don’t account for the full costs of production. Back in October 2014 the sharp fall […]
Asian Chemical Connections
President Trump’s “very good” call with President Xi: Nothing changes
PRESIDENT TRUMP said yesterday that his discussions with President Xi Jinping were “moving along nicely” following a “very good” telephone call ahead of their critical G20 meeting at the end of November. But on the same day that the US president made his comment, the US Justice Department issued indictments against Chinese and Taiwanese semiconductor companies over […]
US LLDPE exports to Europe to increase by at least 70% in 2019
By John Richardson ON MONDAY I took the percentage shares of total US linear-low density polyethylene (LLDPE) exports in 2017 country by country and on this basis modelled what could happen in 2019. We are next year due to see US PE production jump to 6.5m tonnes from this year’s 5.7m tonnes and 5.1m tonnes […]
US LLDPE needs 68% export growth next year to top five markets…..
…..and that’s assuming there is no trade war with China! By John Richardson THE MORE you dig into the data the more it seems that the US might struggle to find a comfortable home for all of its new polyethylene (PE) production, even without a trade war with China. Using linear low-density PE (LLDPE) as […]
US and China heading towards a new Cold War
That didn’t last long – , in fact, less than 24 hours,, when, as far stock markets were concerned, it felt as if US/China trade tensions had eased. In a tweet, President Trump has now raised questions about whether any new trade talks between the US and China will go ahead. And even if the […]
US/China trade war will escalate even if new tariffs are delayed
By John Richardson BY LATER today we may or may not know whether President Trump will proceed with threats to impose a further $200bn worth of tariffs against Chinese imports. This decision is of critical importance to the global chemicals and polymers industries. The go-ahead would mark a major acceleration in the trade war – […]
US ethylene glycols: The Cost Of Exclusion From China
By John Richardson IF THE US were unable to export ethylene glycols (EG) to China the economic logic of US capacity expansions would face major challenges. Between 2018 and 2025, China will account for no less than 84% of global net imports (imports minus exports) amongst the major importing regions and countries. (For those who […]
US Economic Strength Of Little Benefit To Global Polyolefins
By John Richardson THE BETTER that things get in the US (provided you own equities and are not on a zero-hours contract) the worse things become in emerging markets. Despite a weaker greenback on a trade-weighted basis, the investor sell-off in emerging markets continued last Thursday, wrote Bloomberg in this article. The Lira was for […]
Why Trade War Will Continue Throughout 2019 And Impact On Polyethylene
By John Richardson A MISCALCULATION by the White House could be one of several reasons why the US/China trade war continues throughout 2019 – and possibly even beyond that. This is the idea that China is losing the trade war and so will soon be forced to the negotiating table with compromises that meet American […]
Chinese PE Tariffs Come Into Effect: The Impact On The Global Business
By John Richardson CHINA’S 25% import tariffs on all grades of US high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and 93% of the grades of linear-low density (LLDPE), which came into effect yesterday, look set to cause major damage to the global PE business. One of the biggest casualties could be the earnings of US PE producers. We shouldn’t […]