Its not just the World Bank that is concerned about the outlook for East Asia. Today, Moody’s (the ratings agency) says it has a negative outlook for the petrochemical sector over the next 12-18 months. It concludes:
• “In response to weakening global demand, Asia Pacific’s petrochemical companies are rapidly shedding inventory and delaying their procurement of feedstock, which has amplified the sector’s current down-cycle.
• “The negative outlook in the Asia-Pacific petrochemical sector reflects petrochemical manufacturers’ deteriorating margins, which in turn result from weak demand, a slowing economic environment, and new capacity coming online in the Middle East and China in 2009 and beyond.”