Home Blogs Chemicals and the Economy

Chemicals and the Economy

Auto companies face Japan supply chain problems

EU auto sales remained weak in February, and dependent on just 4 countries. As the chart shows (red line), they followed January in being at the bottom of historical monthly sales. Overall, January and February were down 0.3% versus 2010, with 2 million autos sold: • German sales were up 16% at 435K; France was […]

China has “60% risk of banking crisis by 2013”

China’s housing market seems to be facing the threat of a major downturn. That is the only conclusion to be drawn from the rising sense of concern being expressed by policymakers and the official media. Last year, China’s Academy of Social Sciences estimated that “there are 64.5 million empty apartments and houses in China’s urban […]

Japan – the Fukushima nuclear problem explained

It is nearly a week since the Japanese earthquake/tsunami which led to the nuclear emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi complex. Yet information on the actual nature of the problems has been very difficult to obtain. In case readers have experienced the same issue, the blog is reprinting in full the article below from today’s Wall […]

The Potential Impact of the Japan Disaster

Japan’s prime minister has described the current situation as “the country’s worst tragedy since World War 2”, whilst the emperor has said he is “deeply worried“. Certainly, never in our working lives have we faced the combination of an earthquake, a tsunami and a potential nuclear meltdown – all taking place in the world’s 3rd […]

ExxonMobil sees Integration as key strength

The blog is a great believer is learning from the secrets of the world’s most successful chemical companies. Thus it was fascinated to read a report by ICIS’s Stephen Burns of a major speech by ExxonMobil (EM) president Stephen Pryor. Pryor warned that “capturing the benefits of downstream integration requires more than simply co-locating petrochemical […]

US households cut debt to 6 year low

The US economy is worth $15trn, 24% of the global economy. Domestic consumption, accounts for 70% of the US total. This means the US consumer represents 17% of the global economy. China’s economy, although the 2nd largest in the world, is just $5.7trn. And its domestic consumption is much smaller, representing only 3% of the […]

Global financial markets at important crossroads

Stock markets around the world are at an important crossroads. The blog’s regular <a href="https://www.icis.com/chemicals-and-the-economy/2010/09/global-markets-decoupled-over.6 monthly review compares today’s market levels with their 2007/8 pre-Crisis peaks. And as can be seen, none have yet hit a new high. This is quite surprising, given the scale of the G20 and central bank stimulus/liquidity packages over the […]

Michelin Guide to good food highlights austerity

The Michelin Guide is the original good food guide. For over a century, chefs have competed for its coveted 1, 2 and 3 star classification. But for the first time since 1991’s major downturn, the latest edition for France contains not a single new entry at 3 star level, . Instead, and for the first […]

P&G’s ‘New Normal’ offer leads to record US sales week

Procter & Gamble (P&G) is the world’s largest consumer products company, with sales of $80bn. Its Pur water purification product highlights how Prof Michael Porter’s ‘Shared Value’ concept, highlighted in the blog in January, has the potential to unleash the next wave of global growth. Pur helps to reduce deaths from diarrhoea in developing countries. […]

Jump to page: