Beijing’s massive Olympic shutdown began on Sunday, July 20. According to an article in The China Post, “Half of Beijing’s 3.3 million vehicles will be pulled off the roads and many polluting factories will be shuttered. Chemical plants, power stations and foundries left open have to cut emissions by 30 percent and dust spewing construction in the capital will be halted.” The moves are an effort to clean Beijing’s air prior to the Olympics.
As this blog previously reported, many of the measures related to the chemical industry have already been implemented, causing disruptions throughout the entire chemical supply chain. The Olympic situation injects an air of unpredictability into a market that is already extremely volatile due to crude oil prices. Expect things to get uglier still through Autumn.
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