WITH PRICES AT THE PUMP KEPT ARTIFICIALLY LOW, SPECIALITY CHEMICALS SEEMS TO BE THE WAY TO MAKE IT IN CHINA’S PETROLEUM MARKET
September 1st, 2008
BY MARK GODFREY
IT has been a bad year to be a fuel retailer in China. Local retailing leader Sinopec has had its profits squeezed by government price controls on petrol prices. Prices at Chinese pumps have risen by 9% in the last 12 months, even though the cost of crude has jumped 40% in the same time span.
The price ceilings - a nervous government's efforts to avoid the protests provoked by fuel price hikes in Malaysia and Indonesia - have also hurt foreign companies operations here:
"Foreign companies are not making a profit on their Chinese petrol ...
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