Everyone is now beginning to notice the change in economic policy in China. And concern is rising about the outlook for all those new petchem investments about to come online, whose rationale has been the need to supply ever-increasing growth in Chinese demand. The chart above highlights the reality behind this wishful thinking: Everyone “knew” […]
Chemicals and the Economy
“If the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold”: China’s New Normal policies require companies to undertake radical strategy reviews
Wishful thinking can be terribly dangerous for company profits. Taken to extremes, it can lead them into bankruptcy. Recent developments in China thus make it essential for every company to immediately review its strategy for doing business in/with the country, against a realistic outlook for 2016-2018 GDP growth will likely be zero, and could well […]
China’s collapsing stock market underlines need for New Normal reforms
My latest post for the Financial Times, published on the BeyondBrics blog is below | Jul 27 15:08 | Red is a lucky colour in China, which is why share price displays go red when prices are rising. A green display means prices are falling, the opposite to stock markets elsewhere. There is a similar discontinuity between the short-term impact […]
China’s new car market goes ex-growth as used car sales take off
My latest post for the Financial Times, published on the BeyondBrics blog is below |Jun 30 17:45 By Paul Hodges of International eChem Major structural change is under way in China’s passenger car market. New car sales grew just 1.2 per cent in May, as the country develops a used car market for the first time in its history. […]
China’s lending, electricity consumption continues to slow
‘Bad news’ seems to have become ‘good news’ as far as China’s economy is concerned. In the past, most analysts simply ignored the possibility of a major slowdown. Now that the slowdown is underway, they still ignore it – this time, because they are sure further stimulus is just around the corner. But time passes, […]
China auto sales rise just 1% as New Normal slowdown bites
The above chart was my Chart of the Year last December, under the title “China’s auto sales bubble begins to burst‘. So it seems only sensible to update developments 6 months later. The key question, of course, is whether my headline was right? Could it be that China was not going to deliver endless growth […]
Sinopec confirms move into China’s New Normal economy
Sinopec, China’s largest chemical company, has just published its operating results for 2014. We don’t yet have all the details, but the chart above highlights the key points of its cumulative performance since it first filed public accounts in 1998: It has invested Rmb 288bn ($41bn) in capital expenditure for refining, and Rmb 239bn ($33bn) for chemicals (blue columns) […]
The great ‘Deflation Shock’ is coming closer
The world is about to be hit by a demand shock equivalent to 1973’s supply shock. Yet, astonishingly, most commentators remain so focused on central bank activity, that they have completely missed what is happening. Here’s how it is playing out. You may remember the ‘The pH Report‘ forecast in early December that: “Oil prices […]
Budgeting for the Cycle of Deflation
There is no “business as usual” scenario possible for the 2015-2017 Budget period. Over the past 15 years (since the “dotcom bubble” burst in 2000), policymakers have provided increasing amounts of stimulus to support the economy. Now, finally, we are in the endgame, as the Great Unwinding takes place. This presents us all with major challenges: Most executives and investors under […]
The Great Unwinding of policymaker stimulus is under way
The blog’s latest post for the Financial Times, published on the BeyondBrics blog is below.Oct 20, 2014 10:48am By Paul Hodges of International eChem Two months ago, very few people believed that markets were about to tumble. But on 18 August we published our Great Unwinding analysis. Since then, its forecasts have begun to come true, […]
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