The Blog
Ageing Perennials set to negate central bank stimulus as recession approaches
The world’s best leading indicator for the global economy is still firmly signalling recession. That’s the key conclusion from the chart above, showing latest data on global chemical industry Capacity Utilisation (CU%) from the American Chemistry Council. The logic behind the indicator is compelling: Chemicals are one of the world’s largest industries, and also one
read more
Déjà vu all over again for oil markets as recession risks rise
Back in 2015, veteran Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi was very clear about Saudi’s need to adopt a market share-based pricing policy: “Saudi Arabia cut output in 1980s to support prices. I was responsible for production at Aramco at that time, and I saw how prices fell, so we lost on output and on prices
read more
BASF prepares its UK supply chain for Brexit
BASF has been working with Ready for Brexit (the online platform I co-founded last year) as part of its programme to prepare its UK supply chain for Brexit. Here, Ready for Brexit’s editor, Anna Tobin, reports on the workshops that BASF has been running this month for SMEs. The world’s largest chemical business, BASF, has
read more
Companies and investors have just 30 working days left to prepare for a No Deal Brexit
Companies across the UK and EU27 are realising there are now just 30 working days until the UK leaves the EU on 29 March, and starts to trade on WTO terms. If this happens, every supply chain involving a movement between the UK and EU27 will change. And many supply chains involving movements outside the
read more
The BoE’s pre-emptive strike is not without risk
The Financial Times has kindly printed my letter below, arguing that it seems the default answer to almost any economic question has now become “more stimulus” from the central bank. After 15 years of subprime lending and then quantitative easing, last week’s warning from the Bank of England suggests there are fewer and fewer economic
read more
IKEA heads into the circular world with furniture subscription trial
“Once upon a time, Granny and Grandad used to go to a large shop on the motorway to buy their furniture. They used to stagger around carrying Billy bookshelves and Dombas wardrobes, before treating themselves to Swedish meatballs in the canteen. And then Grandad would spend the rest of the weekend trying to assemble the
read more