Follow us on Twitter By John Richardson CHINA’s polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) demand growth is set for a dramatic decline in 2010-12, according to the latest estimates from Shanghai-based commodities information service CBI (see table at the end of this blog post). This year was probably never going to be as good as 2009 […]
Asian Chemical Connections
Commodity Stockpiles A Risky Bet
By John Richardson Inventories of copper, aluminium, lead and nickel have risen as prices for all these commodities have also surged, says this article in The Economist. Source of graph: The Economists Copper stocks total half a million tonnes in metals-exchanges warehouses in what HSBC analyst Andrew Keen describes as a market […]
Polyolefins: A view from the ground
By Malini Hariharan H2 is just two months away but one China-based market participant says that there is still a total lack of clarity on price direction for the rest of the year. Buying activity picked up last week but he is not confident that this can be sustained. And he is certainly not expecting […]
China Chemicals Review And Outlook
Source of picture: www.destination360.com Dear Reader Please click here – ChinaChems2009AndOutlook.doc for my review of what happened in China last year and Q1 2010 and for some pointers for the rest of this year. All the best John Richardson
No More Gas For Saudi Private Cos – Industry Source
Ras Tanura in Saudi – private companies bunkered by feedstock shortage? By John Richardson The gas feedstock shortages in Saudi Arabia – which we have commented on before – are such that no private company will receive any allocations in the future, claimed an industry source. “It’s only going to be for Saudi Aramco and […]
China Polyolefin Buyers Smell Blood……
…..but time to party for some thanks to re-exports to Brazil Source of picture: edgsgonesouth.com By John Richardson It’s a funny old world – or so it seems in poylolefins at the moment as traders re-export resin from China to Latin America and elsewhere. “I phoned up a trader in China the other day […]
China Labour Shortage Threat To Chem Demand Grows
“Sorry, but there’s more to life – I really don’t want to do this anymore…” Source of picture: China Daily By John Richardson The labour shortage crisis in southern China – which one trader had claimed would last exactly ten days beyond the end of a recent polyolefins conference – is proving to be […]
Western Chems: Exporting Into More Domestic Trouble?
China’s migrant workers – a risky game… Source of picture: China Daily By John Richardson THIS very disturbing Op-Ed piece by Paul Krugman in the New York Times argues that the US needs to impose a 25% tariff on Chinese imports in response to the value of the Yuan being held at […]
China Re-exports Large Volumes Of PE To Latin America
Heading for the high jump Source of picture: www.commons.wikemedia.,org By John Richardson CHINA’S polyethylene (PE) market looks as if it has gone a little pear-shaped as a result of high inventory levels and buyers anticipating the long-awaited flood of new supplies. Further factors are labour shortages affecting processors and manufacturers and anxiety over […]
Asian propylene pricing heading for “a crash”
By John Richardson PROPYLENE pricing is heading for “a crash” in Asia as a result of spot supply increasing by around 20,000 tonne/month, a senior industry source has told the blog. Shell Chemicals will have a surplus 440,000 tonne/year of C3s from its Singapore cracker – in the process of starting up right now – […]
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