Overall, de-stocking has not even started, said Barclays analysts led by Yiping Huang out of Hong Kong.

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In essence, this means that any de-stocking phase in China started from a higher level than previously thought.

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It helps explain why China has been in a de-stocking phase, but the country is likely to remain price-sensitive in its purchases, Virga said.

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Much of that feeble growth will come from a turnaround in the inventory cycle as companies stop de-stocking at the scary rate that exacerbated the recession in 2009.

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