Stay cool and don’t panic! Source of picture: www.wired.com By John Richardson THE growth of the carry trade US dollars – leading to a sharp depreciation of the greenback and possibly of many other unintended consequences – represents a major threat to the chemicals industry in 2010. Any corporate planner with her or […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Naphtha Highest Level For More Than A Year
Shelf-space to be in short supply again? Source of picture: www.zrdata.com ASIAN naphtha prices hit their highest level for more than a year yesterday – reaching $701/tonne CFR Japan for second-half December open-spec material on “improved market conditions”. Earlier this week we picked up more reports of bleak demand in styrenics and fibre intermediates that […]
More Questionable Chinese Data Clouds The Picture
It seems as if Lex of the Financial Times is finally catching up with this blog by questioning the validity of some of the official data coming out of China. We take this as a compliment. In today’s column it talks about how the total for first-half Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth numbers for China’s 31 provinces […]
For Hands That Don’t Want To Do Dishes
Buy now, pay later…. Source: www.examiner.com Note: There is a special prize for the first blog reader who can explain the above headline. In the 2001 recession, US consumer spending slowed but did not fall, and picked up again very quickly. In the early 1990s, it dipped a bit but returned to pre-recession […]
Some Very Crude Perceptions
Source of picture: www.prisonplanet.com Misleading perceptions can be very dangerous – especially when they apply to the crude-oil futures markets. “The price has more than doubled this year partly because of the belief that the recovery in Chinese oil-import demand is all about booming local consumption” said a source on the sidelines of […]
More Muddle And Confusion
By John Richardson Manufacturers yesterday reported rising output and improved employment prospects in the US, Europe and Asia. China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), involving a survey of more than 700 manufacturers, increased for the eighth straight month in a row – and is now back to where it was in May 2008. This is exactly […]
To Cut Rates Or Not To Cut…
A Famous Ditherer Source of picture: sarafinewordpress.com Chasing higher oil prices and/or a response to the now long-running recovery in Chinese demand that’s become sustainable? Not wanting to sound too much like the start of a famous Shakespeare soliloquy, these are the questions that should be wracking everyone’s brains as they try to figure […]
More evidence of China’s export rebound
Source of picture: Businesweek More evidence is emerging of the big rebound in Chinese exports resulting from government subsidies, including a Yuan now pegged to the dollar, soft and plentiful bank loans and export-tax rebates. More than 9,000 quality control inspections of goods set for overseas shipment took place in Q3 this year – […]
China Sept chemical import-surge data
More of the cheap stuff? Source of picture: www.thelocal.de Some of the China import data for September is now available – showing record-high imports of monoethylene glycol (MEG), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polyacetal, polycarbonate (PC). “I have given up trying to figure this out. There is not sufficient accurate information anywhere to read a […]
China Export Gains Raise Sustainability Fears
Source of picture: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23512037/ CHINA is making export gains at the expense of other higher-cost competitors that might not be sustainable because of reasons including rising trade protectionism and economic rebalancing. Chemical companies need to factor in this risk – and take into account how overall demand might merely be shifting location […]
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