food and energy costs

Syngenta aims to gow more food with less fertiliser, pesticides

One of the key chapters in ‘Boom, Gloom and the New Normal’ is titled ‘Doing More with Less’. It argues that the key need is to be practical.  Companies should focus: In the fields of water/food, on reducing the amount of waste, and the output that is lost when product is moving to market In developing […]

Markets in wait-and-see mode as holiday season arrives

Markets have moved into summer holiday mode in recent weeks whilst they wait for a new direction, as the chart shows.  It is therefore timely to look back over developments since the start of the year:

The S&P 500 (purple) …

Water, Food and Ageing top global societal risks

The latest Global Risks report from the World Economic Forum warns that its highlighted “societal risks all have a relatively high likelihood of occurring in the next 10 years”.

As the chart above shows, the top 3 risks are those also highlighted in ‘…

China’s slowdown continues

Today’s purchasing manager index shows China’s manufacturing is now contracting across the country.

As always, petchem markets have been leading indicators of this slowdown. And worrying, China’s polyethylene (PE) markets are showing no sign of any i…