Each year, there has been only one possible candidate for Chart of the Year. Last year it was the collapse of China’s shadow banking bubble; 2017 was Bitcoin’s stratospheric rise; 2016 the near-doubling in US 10-year interest rates; and 2015 the oil price fall. This year, the ‘Chart of the Decade’ is in a league […]
Chemicals and the Economy
Boris Johnson will have to disappoint someone in 2020 as the UK finally leaves the EU
Finally, after three and a half years, the UK has reached “the end of the beginning” with Brexit, in Winston Churchill’s famous phrase. Since the referendum, its leaders have consistently refused to confront the real choices that have to be made over what type of Brexit it wants to have: In June 2016, then premier […]
ACS Chemistry & the Economy webinar on Thursday
Please join me for the next ACS Chemicals & Economy webinar on Thursday, at 2pm Eastern Standard Time, USA, when we will discuss: The contrast between the downbeat outlook for the chemical market and the upbeat stock market The challenges facing US shale gas polyethylene exports due to the US-China trade war and concerns over […]
Polyethylene’s crisis will create Winners and Losers
Polyethylene markets (PE) are moving into a crisis, with margins in NE Asia already negative, as I have been forecasting. Scenario planning is now a matter of potential life or death for companies likely to be impacted over the next 12-18 months. The collapse in margins is already quite dramatic as the chart based on […]
What’s next for Brexit and chemicals?
The UK is about to go to the polls again to try and decide the Brexit issue. Chemicals will be one of the industries most affected by the decision, as it depends on cross-border supply chains. As the UK Chemical Industries Association has warned: “The chemical industry in the UK and in Europe needs a […]
Global economy hits stall speed, whilst US S&P 500 sets new records
Whisper it not to your friends in financial markets, but the global economy is moving into recession. The US stock markets keep making new highs, thanks to the support from the major western central banks. But in the real world, where the rest of us live, the best leading indicator for the global economy is […]
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