What does the spring oil collapse mean for procurers at the end of the value chain? Welcome to June and the unofficial start to summer in the Northern Hemisphere. If you are a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, you have also entered the timeframe in which you and many of your peers should see the […]
Chemical Connections
Automobile demand woes taking polypropylene for ride
There are a few time-tested principles you take for granted when dealing with chemical data: Crude oil price movements will be a direct or indirect indicator of chemical price deltas. Upstream price rises, compared with upstream price falls, are more likely to cause downstream prices to change (in other words, suppliers tend to pass on […]
Disrupted marketplace requires active, informed negotiating stance
Five months into 2020, here’s where we are: Companies literally and figuratively have ripped up their plans and guidance on 2020 business expectations, as the coronavirus pandemic has made conditions unsettling in the near term and uncertain in the long term. The global economy’s descent continues, with the only question now being whether the bottom […]
Opportunity lies in recognising the next renaissance
Here’s a blasphemous statement: There really is no “new normal.” The only “new normal” is the “new normal” of calling current conditions the “new normal,” and today’s “new normal” is just replacing conditions that we had been calling the “new normal” since the US shale wave disrupted energy and chemical markets. Normalcy evolves with societal […]