Chinese Economics Thread

[tphuang]

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Japan's imports of high-density polyethylene -- used to make plastic bags and

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and detergent -- from China swelled roughly 170% on the year in March and were 20% above last year's monthly average, based on Japanese trade data and Chinese customs data.
Polystyrene, with applications including food trays and parts for home appliances, jumped 76% on the year. Overall imports of major plastic feedstocks from China grew 27%.

The Middle East turmoil has also spurred renewed imports of products that had not been sourced from China for years.
After importing no butadiene from China since 2021, Japan brought in 1.97 million kilograms in March. Used in tire production, butadiene is a basic chemical for which it is especially difficult to find alternative sources.
Chinese trade data also showed the first exports to Japan in six and a half years of mixed xylene, a key ingredient in paint thinner, which has been

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in Japan.

China seems to be faring better. In addition to its more diversified supply chain for crude oil, it has more facilities that can produce chemical feedstocks from coal or from ethane derived from natural gas. The country is making full use of its

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, tapping into abundant domestic coal reserves.
China Shenhua Energy, one of China's top coal companies, saw polyethylene sales grow 10% on the year in March.
At China Petroleum & Chemical, better known as Sinopec, the group's coal-to-chemicals operations are "running at full blast" and it has pushed back plans for major renovations, Vice Chairman Zhao Dong said at a news conference late last month.

essentially, China is making good use here of its coal to chemical & ethane to chemical processes to produce intermediate chemical products.

 

[Wrought]

Both official and private PMI readings for April came in positive, i.e. above 50.

BEIJING, April 30 (Reuters) - China's factory activity expanded for a second straight month in April, as manufacturers cranked up production to ship goods early to buyers worried the Iran war will further inflate costs, sending new export orders to their strongest level in two years.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) dipped to 50.3 from 50.4 in March, but held above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction, according to a survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). It beat a median forecast of 50.1 in a Reuters poll.

The RatingDog China General Manufacturing PMI, a private survey compiled by S&P Global, came in at 52.2 in April compared with 50.8 in March. The NBS focuses more on state-owned and large and medium-sized, domestic-facing enterprises, while the private poll is more sensitive to external demand, profiling producers around Shanghai and in China's southern provinces, analysts say.

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[siegecrossbow]

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essentially, China is making good use here of its coal to chemical & ethane to chemical processes to produce intermediate chemical products.

I think it is possible to make plastic out of soy byproducts? For single use bags this should be not only sufficient but desirable since soy plastic breaks down naturally overtime. Due to the fertilizer shortage from the war, a lot of farmers will probably be switching to planting soy since they can fix nitrogen (urea fertilizer) naturally provided they have been prepped with the proper microbes.

 

[tphuang]

I think it is possible to make plastic out of soy byproducts? For single use bags this should be not only sufficient but desirable since soy plastic breaks down naturally overtime. Due to the fertilizer shortage from the war, a lot of farmers will probably be switching to planting soy since they can fix nitrogen (urea fertilizer) naturally provided they have been prepped with the proper microbes.

in the future, a lot of this will come from green hydrogen, same with fertilizers.

 

[tphuang]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2049965416500318216

China's Tungsten export controls are really hitting hard globally.

 

[tphuang]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2050704008088559867

I wrote about Hengli group and its entire size and scope in Northeastern China. So, my point is that this is too big of an enterprise for China not to fight back on.

 

[Michael90]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/2050704008088559867

I wrote about Hengli group and its entire size and scope in Northeastern China. So, my point is that this is too big of an enterprise for China not to fight back on.

Will be interesting to see how this plays out

 

[magmunta]

Will be interesting to see how this plays out

Unless the USA mobilize all of its allies/satellites and distribute potential losses amongst many countries, china should have an upper hand in this sanctions, economic warfare, game.

 

[manqiangrexue]

Unless the USA mobilize all of its allies/satellites and distribute potential losses amongst many countries, china should have an upper hand in this sanctions, economic warfare, game.

They've already tried that under Biden, when Europe was still willing to cooperate. Then they tried to go solo and that was impossible. Now they're cursing all the allies/satellites for not being more powerful and willing to sacrifice for America. America's strategy to beating China is basically trying to fit a round peg into a square hole, then trying to fit it into a trangular hole, then going back to the square hole to try again, then throwing a tantrum at why everything's not just easier. Let me fix your post for you:

Even if the USA mobilize all of its allies/satellites and distribute potential losses amongst many countries, china should have an upper hand in this sanctions, economic warfare, game.

 

[Wrought]

Will be interesting to see how this plays out

Most likely result is US simply declining to enforce sanctions on Hengli. It would hardly be the first time they look the other way on enforcement whenever it becomes politically inconvenient. Tiktok is the obvious example, but w.r.t. energy imports specifically there's also Russian LNG.

So far, however, Washington has not moved to punish Chinese entities involved in the Arctic LNG 2 purchases. “They are pressuring their allies to stop importing Russian gas or LNG. But they are not implementing their own sanctions on Arctic LNG 2,” said Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a researcher at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.

The White House did not respond to a Reuters request for comment, asking if the administration was concerned by the LNG purchases and if there were any efforts under way to discourage or prevent the transactions.

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