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Water/Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Insights
No. 16 December 2013

WELCOME

This bi-weekly Water/Wastewater Treatment Chemicals Insight provides excerpts from the McIlvaine Water/Wastewater Treatment Chemicals World Markets. It also provides excerpts from related publications. The market report is conceived as the traffic control on a 4 Lane Knowledge Bridge to the purchasers and specifiers.

The boom in gas turbine power generation is spurring a market for treatment chemicals. McIlvaine has a whole program in this area to help the chemicals suppliers. Check it out at:

(1.) The U.S. probably expanded faster in the third quarter than initially estimated and weekly jobless claims likely rose a bit, according to economists polled by MarketWatch. Gross domestic product for the July-to-September period is forecast to be revised up to 3.2% from 2.8%, largely because inventories rose even faster than the preliminary report showed. Jobless claims, meanwhile, are predicted to increase to 325,000 in the week ended Nov. 30 from 316,000 in the prior week.

(2.) Austrian school economist Mark Skousen has labored mightily for a quarter of a century to persuade the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to publish a better measure of economic activity in the United States, and beginning in April, the BEA will start publishing the country’s Gross Output — the GO.

Said Skousen, “Starting [in] 1990, I have made the case that we needed a new statistic beyond GDP that measures spending throughout the entire production process, not just final output. GO is a move in that direction — a personal triumph 25 years in the making.”

Ever since the establishment of the international monetary system at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has informed and driven monetary policy, often with unintended and unhappy consequences. By misreading economic activity, interventionist politicians and economists have implemented policies that have later turned out to be too little too late or, more recently, way too much. The GO, on the other hand, measures intermediate economic activity at all stages of production, from raw materials to the retail outlet.

As Skousen explained, “While GDP is a good measure of national economic performance, it has a major flaw: in limiting itself to final output, GDP largely ignores or downplays the “make” economy — that is, the supply chain and intermediate stages of production needed to produce all those finished goods and services.

“This narrow focus of GDP has created much mischief in the media, government policy and boardroom decision-making….

“Since consumer spending [under GDP analysis] represents 70% or more of GDP … the media naively concludes that any slowdown in retail sales or government stimulus is necessarily bad for the economy….

“In short, by focusing only on final output, GDP underestimates the money spent and economic activity generated at earlier stages in the production process….

“Using GO as a more comprehensive measure of economic activity, spending by consumers turns out to represent around 40% of total year sales, not 70% as commonly reported.

“Spending by business … is substantially bigger, representing over 50% of economic activity.”

This aligns better with common-sense economic theory as well, that production precedes consumption, not the other way around. GO will also show that the real size of the U.S. economy isn't $16.8 trillion as is commonly acknowledged, but will come in at nearly twice that figure when it is released in April, according to Skousen.

Even so, with the update in place, GO will still leave out enormous parts of the economy, and will fail to measure the unmeasurables, such as quality of life, speed of information via the Internet, and caring for children at home by parents. It will fail to differentiate between “wasteful” spending — i.e., foreign wars and consequent loss of life and limb and destruction of property and war matériel — and “productive” spending. It will fail to measure the potential advantage of obtaining a college degree, or the disadvantage of taking up smoking.

It will count legal fees, repairing of property damage, and medical expenses as positives instead of negatives. It will allow for such silliness as counting the value of a new home being built, as well as the cost of razing it following a flood or a hurricane. It will count disasters as positives and imports of superior goods from abroad (instead of buying inferior ones locally) as negatives. It will continue to count borrowing as a good thing no matter how it is spent or by whom: individuals or governments. (The remaining text is not included in this sample.)

Japan's economy expanded at a slower pace than initially estimated in the third quarter of 2013, according to the government, sparking concern that the government's "Abenomics" policy mix may fail to help the nascent recovery gain momentum.

The world's third-biggest economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.1% in the three months through September in inflation-adjusted terms, downgraded from preliminary data against the backdrop of a downward revision to capital spending.

The July-September growth in real gross domestic product, the total value of goods and services produced at home, corresponded to a 0.3% gain from the previous quarter, posting the fourth straight quarter of increase, the Cabinet Office said.

The government said in the initial report, released Nov. 14, that the nation's economy expanded an annualized real 1.9% in the July-September period, following a revised 3.6% rise in the April-June period.

The latest figure suggested Japan's economy has been largely supported by public investment, not private sector growth, strengthening the view that the planned 3-percentage-point sales tax hike next April to 8% may weigh on consumer spending and investment, in turn dampening domestic demand. (The remaining text is not included in this sample.)

Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product grew 3.19% in the third quarter of 2013 in current prices compared with a 2.7% rise in the previous three months, the Central Department of Statistics reported.

The GDP value rose from SR675.19 billion in the third quarter of 2012 to SR696.7 billion. During the same period the GDP rose by 3.05% in real prices, the department said.

In the public sector the GDP fell by 18.52% to SR102.6 billion in current prices, compared to the same period in 2012. However, in real prices it showed a growth of 2.43%.

The private sector, on the other hand, achieved a growth of 6.53% in current prices in the third quarter of 2013 to reach SR244.08 billion compared to the figure of previous year, SR229.13 billion.

The construction and building sector and downstream industries showed big growth at the rate of 9.76% and 7.87% respectively. In stable prices, the sector’s growth rose by 3.31%. (The remaining text is not included in this sample.)

A complete analysis of GDP and monthly updates for individual countries are included as part of the Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals: World Market.

For more information on Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals: World Market

France’s ‘Fracking’ Ban to Remain for the Foreseeable Future (Article Dated: 12/13/2013)

BP Commits $4 Mln with UT on Shale, Offshore Oil and Gas Technology Solutions (Investment Dated: 12/13/2013)

Dart Energy Says Britain Should Consider Shale Gas Development (Article Dated: 12/13/2013)

Technip, Subsea 7 JV Awarded $1.23 Bln Contracts for TEN Project Offshore Ghana (Contract Dated: 12/13/2013)

Crosstex’s Cajun-Sibon Pipeline Expansion to Connect LA Fractionation Facility to East TX Supply Lines (Project Dated: 12/13/2013)

MarkWest Announces Completion of Antero Resources Agreements to Expand Sherwood Complex (Project Dated: 12/13/2013)

Phillips 66 to Expand Midstream Business with Proposed Freeport LPG Export Terminal (Project Dated: 12/12/2013)

Solvay Extends Product Range in Oil and Gas Stimulation Market with New TOLCIDE 4FRAC (Article Dated: 12/12/2013)

Richfield Oil & Gas Increases Production Potential with Addition of Two Submersible Pumps (Article Dated: 12/12/2013)

Canada Sets New Crude Oil Tests to Improve Rail Transport Safety (Article Dated: 12/12/2013)

Dresser-Rand's First Small-scale LNG Unit Successfully Produces LNG (Project Dated: 12/11/2013)

Foster Wheeler Awarded Feed Contract for Master Gas System Expansion Project in Saudi Arabia (Contract Dated: 12/11/2013)

Baker Hughes Awarded Long-term Contract with PETRONAS Carigali (Contract Dated: 12/11/2013)

China’s Sinopec to Acquire $3.1 Billion Stake in Apache Egypt Assets (Acquisition Dated: 12/11/2013)

ConocoPhillips Announces Production Startup and First Oil from Ekofisk South (Project Dated: 12/11/2013)

Keppel Shipyard, Golar LNG in Negotiations for a FSLV Conversion Project (Article Dated: 12/10/2013)

FortisBC Announces $400 Mln Delta LNG Plant Expansion to Power Transportation Sector (Project Dated: 12/10/2013)

Spectra Energy Signs Pipeline Services Contract for LNG Production inTexas and Louisiana (Contract Dated: 12/10/2013)

Shell, GE to Invest in First U.S. LNG Fueling Stations for Cargo Ships (Investment Dated: 12/10/2013)

Mitsui Says Long-term LNG Contracts Basic Structure Linked to Oil Prices to “remain standard” (Article Dated: 12/10/2013)

Shell, GDF Suez to be Part of FLNG Terminal Project at Kakinada Deepwater Port (Project Dated: 12/9/2013)

FLNG Conference to Highlight Spending that will Reach $70 Bln by 2020 (Conference Dated: 12/6/2013)

Sinopec, Apache in Talks to Invest in Canada LNG Project (Project Dated: 12/6/2013)

Gazprom Projects First LNG Terminal for Kaliningrad Region in Late 2017 (Project Dated: 12/6/2013)

Chevron Drilling Planned Carbon Dioxide Injection Wells for Gorgon-Jansz LNG Project (Project Dated: 12/6/2013)

Rosneft and ExxonMobil Award Contracts for Russian Far East LNG Project (Contract Dated: 12/6/2013)

QGC Awards Jacobs Contract for CSG to LNG Concept Study, Pre-FEED (Contract Dated: 12/6/2013)

Japan’s Top Shippers to Order Ninety New LNG Tankers Worth $17.6 Bln by 2020 (Order Dated: 12/5/2013)

Putin Approves Amendments to LNG Export Laws to Boost Russia's Global LNG Market Share (Article Dated: 12/5/2013)

Russian Energy Minister Says No Call to Break Gazprom's Monopoly on Pipeline Gas Exports (Article Dated: 12/5/2013)

Asia LNG Buyers Meet to Discuss Joint Procurement Deal (Article Dated: 12/5/2013)

Brazil's OGX Maranhao Changes Name to Parnaiba Gas Natural (Sale Dated: 12/5/2013)

Australia's Origin Energy Agrees to Sell Gas to BG Group in 2014 and 2015 (Project Dated: 12/5/2013)

France's Total Looks for Stake in Gazprom's Baltic LNG Project (Project Dated: 12/5/2013)

CNOOC Applies to Canada’s NEB for LNG Export License (Article Dated: 12/5/2013)

Honeywell UOP To Form Black & Veatch LNG Alliance for Off-Road and Transportation Fuel (Alliance Dated: 12/4/2013)

Total Seeking to Upsize Flagship Joslyn Oil Sands Mine in Alberta (Article Dated: 12/2/2013)

New Generation of Projects Shows Oil Sands Industry Resolve to Expand (Article Dated: 12/2/2013)

These sales leads are part of Oil, Gas, Shale and Refining Markets and Projects, and are issued bi-weekly. As a subscriber to Water and Wastewater Treatment Chemicals: World Markets you receive a 30 percent discount for this service.

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