China's markets for obscure commodities point to a sluggish economy and a weak rebound

A woman shops at a supermarket in Beijing, China, October 15, 2015.

REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

• China's economy isn't bouncing back as expected, and it's showing up in diverse corners of its markets.
• Commodities like glass, styrene, and corn starch show the rebound remains sluggish, per Bloomberg data.
• Trucked LNG prices have dropped to their lowest level in nearly two years as demand falters.

China's economic rebound isn't panning out as well as expected, and weak demand is showing up across obscure corners of its commodities market, according to Bloomberg data. 

For example, glass futures on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange have declined almost 20% in the past month. 

China accounts for over half of the world's plate glass production, which has declined over recent months amid low margins, oversupply, and a faltering property market.

Styrene, a material used for the plastics in home appliances, has also suffered from a weak housing market and retail sales of appliances. China has offered the world's fastest growing styrene market over the last decade.

And pulp has seen prices decline. The packaging commodity, for which China is the biggest producer and consumer, saw futures plunge in February after a sharp recovery in production that domestic demand couldn't match.

Meanwhile, prices on trucked liquefied natural gas — which covers the last few miles of consumer delivery for the key fuel — have tumbled to their lowest mark in nearly two years. Demand has weakened to such an extent that top importers for seaborne LNG have started to offer to resell shipments overseas, Bloomberg reported.

And corn starch, too, has faced headwinds. China produces almost 50 million tons of the commodity per year. Since it's used in baby food, falling demographic numbers have weighed on corn starch demand and prices. 

High expectations for a robust post-COVID rebound have largely failed to materialize, and financial markets have been raising red flags in the stock, currency and metals markets.

Yet, analysts have cautioned that Wall Street shouldn't be too near-sighted about the world's second-largest economy.

The growing pessimism on China, according to Nicholas Lardy of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, stems from Wall Street's tendency to prioritize immediate metrics over long-term outcomes.

"I feel sorry for these people in some ways, because every time the Chinese release some data, they have to say something about it," Lardy told Insider.

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