Year 2012 is the year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar. The Dragon symbolizes courage, strength and success. However, we entered 2012 with a plenty of uncertainty on both the economic and pet- rochemical fronts. With the fnancial turmoil in Europe and the slow growth in the U.S., the Chinese economic growth rate has also slowed down recently. Finished goods exports to these countries have declined since the third quarter last year. In the meantime, a fnancial control measure put into effect in December 2010 has restricted the domestic demand growth. As a result, the demand for petrochemicals grew more slowly than in previous years. The industry has suffered a weak margin period since mid 2011.
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