James P. Wickstrom
5/26/2004
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AWAKENING GIANT Need a new car? The Houston Chronicle reports that Solo, Deer, Leopard, Safe, Geely, Great Wall, and Sing will soon be in a Texas showroom. Don't recognize any of the brands? Four Houston partners will be exclusive dealers for very low-priced Chinese cars, trucks and SUVs which are scheduled to be marketed in Houston this summer, and there are plans for other China Motors dealers in 13 states. The cars will be priced in the range of $7,000 to $11,000. The growth of China's economy has been explosive, with industrial products supplying their domestic market and plenty left over for exports. That means that they must have more oil. Russia's second-largest oil company, Yukos, signed an agreement in late March with Russian Railways to more than double the railway delivery of oil exports to China this year and increase the amount FIVE TIMES by 2006. The Business Report quotes the Xinhua News Agency: "The two Russian companies agreed to raise oil exports by rail to 6.4 million tons this year from 3 million tons last year." A pipeline would be better, but the proposed US $2.5 billion Sino-Russian oil pipeline negotiations are deadlocked. The Russian government is trying to decide whether its crude oil pipeline should end in China or in Russia's East Pacific port. The latter terminal would be more favorable to Japan's interests. Late word is that Russia may build the trunk line to Nakhodka, (a container port in the Russian Far East on the Sea of Japan) and build a branch line to Daqing (a major oil and petrochemical center in northern China) as a compromise. While pipeline deals simmer, China is prospecting and developing new oil finds within their country, but to date there have been no significant discoveries. China is now the world's second largest importer of oil, and rapidly gaining on the world's biggest consumer, the United States. Bloombereg News reports BP and Royal Dutch/Shell Group plan to spend more than $1 billion to build petrochemical plants and gasoline stations in China. "BP plans $1 billion of investment in China, including a 500,000 metric ton-a-year acetic acid plant in Jiangsu province, eastern China, with China Petroleum &Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec. Shell and Sinopec. .....BP's new petrochemical factory will make acetic acid for use in paint, adhesives and printing inks in eastern China. The company has invested more than $3 billion in China since it started operating there in the 1970s....BP also agreed to consider expanding a petrochemical plant at Zhuhai in the Pearl River Delta from 350,000 tons a year to 1.2 million annually, and signed joint venture contracts over its plan to build gasoline stations with Sinopec and PetroChina Co. " China is not the only country with a thirst for oil. Demand is increasing world-wide. As demand climbs there are signs of depletion in many of the oil producing regions. The decision of the Bush Administration to fill the US strategic reserve to capacity seems at this time to have been prudent. Barring unexpected developments, the price of crude is likely to continue to rise. Sources: http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=613&fArticleId=394464 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-03/29/content_318780.htm http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&ArticleId=510167 http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&ArticleId=124235 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3541520&thesection=news&thesubsection=world http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2571896 SEND US E-MAIL ADDRESSES It is our hope that the information in this newsletter will be copied and distributed widely. Topics covered are those which are not adequately treated on TV or in the press. The Fax edition of AUDREYS MISSILES is distributed only in the 209 calling area, but the e-mail edition is published world-wide on the internet. Both editions are free. Fax 209 847-7588 or write audreymlj@bigvalley.net to comment, or to join or leave the lists.(5/20/04) China |
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