“They are so cheap, I might even buy one as a hedge against global warming”
Source of picture: www.formalwilderness.blogspot.com
This blog has spent a lot of time tormenting itself over the sustainability of China’s extraordinary economic rebound during 2009.
“Just where are all those imports of chemicals and polymers (polymers up 50% year-to-date) going?” we keep on asking.
Perhaps we’ve got completely the wrong end of the stick, a source politely suggests.
“There’s no real need to worry about where this stuff goes because as long as the government is solvent – and it still has massive cash reserves – it will keep GDP (gross domestic product) growth at a minimum of 8-9% per year. The reason is the need to create enough jobs to maintain social stability.
“Quite frankly, if they had to they had to bury polymers and unsold washing machines, fridges and autos etc in landfills, they would do it to keep industrial production moving along at the right level.
“And quicker than you imagine, they will wean the country off too much depedence on industrial production and exports towards better local consumption.”
But in the meantime, he has heard of Chinese refrigerators, which contain polymers including polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polypropylene (PP), flooding export markets.
“It seems that some refrigerators were manufactured for domestic sales and so benefited from government subsidies – but still found their way on to container ships.”