The blog is delighted to be able to congratulate Indian Oil (IOC) on becoming the first company to commit to building toilets in India. In response to Premier Modi’s appeal, the chairman of India’s bggest refiner, B. Ashok, last week personally began to build toilets at a school near its refinery in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh state. IOC have […]
Chemicals and the Economy
Turkish plastics markets see imports fall for first time since 2008
Turkey is the blog’s “go-to” market when it wants to confirm trends in global markets. The reason is that Turkey has a very successful downstream industry, but has failed to invest in upstream capacity. This means it is essentially an opportunistic market from a sellers’ viewpoint. During good times, exporters will only divert product from […]
Polymer markets at risk if China’s ‘collateral trade’ unwinds
Global metal markets are at growing risk from developments in China’s ‘collateral trade’, as yesterday’s post highlighted. Worryingly, so are products such as polyethylene and ethylene glycol, as it seems likely these have also been used as collateral more recently. This will be bad news for producers already suffering from slowing demand: China’s economy continues to weaken as the […]
China’s $10bn trade deal fraud hits iron ore and copper markets
Iron ore prices on China’s futures market were at 5-year lows yesterday. Copper prices also weakened in Australia. This adds to the blog’s concern that China’s ‘collateral trade’ market is getting closer and closer to its ‘moment of truth’. This will come as an awful shock to most outside observers, who have been led to believe China’s vast imports […]
India’s $10bn polymer opportunity in toilet provision
There is never a shortage of growth opportunities. But too often companies choose not to access them. Hopefully that won’t happen with the opportunity to supply millions of tonnes of polymer to meet India’s desperate need for toilets. As the blog wrote recently, 600 million Indians currently defecate in fields – as shown above in the photo – […]
UK plans switch to polymer banknotes
The UK plans to join Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Singapore in switching to polymer banknotes. On Tuesday, the Bank of England announced a public consultation on the issue. It gives 3 main reasons for the change: The new notes will be more secure, as they will have advanced features making them more difficult to […]
Demand growth stalls as stimulus effects prove temporary
As executives return to their desks this week, they face some difficult judgement calls. As the chart shows, markets have been worryingly quiet over the summer. Most products in the IeC benchmark portfolio are unchanged. Only Brent crude oil and naphtha have moved higher – due to Syria concerns – whilst benzene has moved lower. But even these are relatively minor movements. This […]
Bio-based chemicals take another step forward
Novozymes, the bio-innovation company, have kindly sent the blog news of their new fungus. They believe it can potentially lead the way to the development of bio-based petrochemical products. Novozymes chosen route is to develop products based on malic acid. This occurs naturally in fruit and many vegetables. It also belongs to the group of […]
Russia’s chemical production continues to grow
Russia has been the great exception in regional chemical markets. Normally, production growth starts at a high level, often 15% a year or more, and then slows as markets become more mature. But in Russia, output collapsed with the Berlin Wall after 1989, and growth was actually negative until the mid-2000s. Since then, there has […]
Home appliance and furnishings demand declines, as home ownership rates fall
Western banks now demand higher deposits when lending to first time buyers. The Bank of England expects this to increase the average age at which first-time buyers buy a home, and reduce home ownership. This will hit demand for home furnishings and appliances, unless companies change their approach to the market. The Bank’s conclusions apply […]
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