China’s Scotch Indicator Is Signaling Disaster…(Get Ready For War?)
Linette Lopez
BusinessInsider.com
Sep. 22, 2014
The Scotch Whisky Association published its global figures for the first half of this year, and consumption is way down in China.
Exports to Singapore and China dropped 46%, according to the organization. They declined 19.2% in the second half of 2013.
This jibes with the bad news we’ve been getting from the China’s formal economic indicators. Earlier this month officials released the worst figures for industrial production since 2008. Retail, property, and a variety of other sectors of the economy also indicated a big slowdown was in the works.
The government responded with “targeted easing,” not the full-scale stimulus we’re used to seeing when Chinese growth slows.
That means industries including gambling — think Macau — and mining are preparing to take a hit as Chinese demand weakens. The market is already feeling it.
“A major contribution to the negative start to the week comes from mining sector under pressure overnight in Australia with names like BHP Billiton (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) down over 2% after a decline in commodity prices and iron ore hitting fresh 5-year low, and the smaller producers hit even harder — all hurt by concerns about Chinese growth,” Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, wrote on Monday.
It’s not every day that the whisky industry, the mining industry, and fixed-asset investment (which slowed to 16.5% growth from 17%) are all screaming the same thing.
The Rest…HERE
