…global risks remain elevated and so beware of complacency By John Richardson THE conventional view is that China has stimulated its economy to perfection ahead of the important 19th National Party Congress which begins in Beijing on 18 October. The theory goes that President Xi Jinping has kept the lending spigot firmly open in order […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Four Billion Tonnes of Plastic Waste And Counting: The Threat To Petchems Growth
By John Richardson THE world will have produced a total of 6.9bn tonnes of the 11 synthetic polymers I’ve detailed in the above chart between 1978, when our data begins, and the end of 2017. Using the assumptions behind an important new study that was launched in July this year, let’s assume that 76% of […]
China Accelerates Chemicals Plant Relocations As Supply Disruptions Build
By John Richardson THE RELOCATION of all chemicals plants classified as producing toxic products from China’s big towns and cities to chemicals-industry parks is being speeded-up. Relocation work first began in 2014. But earlier this month, a new directive from the State Council stipulated that: All of the country’s small- to mid-sized chemicals plants that […]
Three Scenarios For 2018-2025 China Polyethylene Demand Growth
By John Richardson CHINA leads the world in many aspects of renewable energy and has an electric vehicle industry that is receiving the kind of state support that is very probably making foreign competitors green with envy. The explosion of commerce via the mobile internet takes your breath away. Average per person spending on mobile […]
Why China Is Becoming More Innovative Than The West
By John Richardson THE data is quite staggering. Last year, mobile payments in China totalled $5.5 trillion versus compared with just a $112 billion. This means that on a per capita or person basis, mobile internet payments totalled $3,900 in China in 2016 versus just $345 in the US. In the space of just a few […]
China To Raise Ethylene Capacity By 71% In Major Self-Sufficiency Drive
By John Richardson CHINA could raise its ethylene capacity by as much as 71% and its propylene capacity by at least 21%, according to my latest analysis of a major new wave of naphtha, ethane and LPG crackers. The above chart is an update of the chart I first published back in June. In detail: […]
China PP Market Outlook for H2 And 2018
By John Richardson AS IS the case with polyethylene (PE), China’s polypropylene (PP) market continues to catch up with the underlying realities of demand growth. If you recall, in Q1 of this year PP net imports (imports minus exports) grew by no less than 36% over the same period last year to 1.3m tonnes. The […]
China’s Soil Pollution: The $1,000 Trillion Problem
By John Richardson THE ESTABLISHED approach to dealing with soil polluted by chemicals waste involves washing the soil and treating it with bacteria. These were the methods used ahead of the 2012 London Olympic Games, reports The Economist. The cost was £3,000 ($3,900) per cubic metre, reaching a total of £12.7m to decontaminate some 250 hectares. […]
China’s Polyethylene Market Faces Long Destocking Process
China’s polyethylene (PE) imports surged and domestic production saw strong growth in Q1. This occurred as the economy slowed down on reduced availability of credit and the pollution clean-up. Even if global producers saw this coming, they had no other choice but to raise exports to China late last year for arrival in Q1. This once again […]
China’s Lock-Step Moves On Credit, Pollution Threaten Global Economy
China’s renewed efforts to tackle excessive lending and pollution are closely linked as progress on deflating the 2016 credit bubble will also see progress towards cleaning-up the environment. This will lead to quite a sharp slowdown in GDP growth during the rest of this year which China is in a good position to weather because of strong growth in Q1. But globally, […]
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