KUALA LUMPUR: The escalating trade war between the United States of America and China will potentially benefit regional chemical producers, MIDF Research said.
The research firm said this is because the trade war could cause price increase with Malaysia’s chemical and chemical products being the third major export (about eight per cent) for the Malaysia, after electrical and electronic products and petroleum products.
Exports of chemical and chemical products constitute between 15-20 per cent of total exports to China alone, MIDF Research added.
MIDF Research said the additional tariff on US chemical and chemical products is positive for Petronas Chemicals Bhd.
“Other than price increase, it would also provide opportunities for Petronas Chemicals to increase product exports to China,” it said.
The trade war provides opportunities for Petronas Chemicals to produce new products for the Chinese market, it added.
China on April 4, 2018 has announced a list of products from US that could be subjected to additional tariff increase by 25 per cent - more than 40 of which constitute chemical-based products or chemical raw materials.