What opportunities and challenges does sustained growth in remote working present to FMCGs and retailers? With economies in the throes of various stages of reopening, debate has begun surrounding when businesses dominated by white-collar workers bring their employees back into an office setting. Even in states such as Texas where I am located, many companies […]
Chemical Connections
Narrow benzene spread displays level of downstream woes
What should purchasing managers of benzene derivatives look for when analysing its spread with crude oil? An argument can be made that no monomer chain has been thrust into the doldrums from the pandemic more than the benzene chain. Yes, there are pockets of demand for polycarbonate (PC) for use as a clear barrier and […]
Is your chemical market three-dimensional?
How can an understanding beyond the linear chemical chain bring value to sourcing teams? Back in the time when companies visited clients in person at their offices (i.e. the first week of March), I presented on market trends to a sourcing team that purchases a wide assortment of the raw materials ICIS covers. What made […]
Consumers’ desire for sustainable packaging has not been shelved by pandemic
What does the current downturn in demand for recycled plastics mean for the packaging value chain? Coming into 2020, recycled polymers were the most sought-after dance partner at the ball, increasingly demanded for by a consumer class focused on undoing the environmental damage wrought by plastic waste. That pushed the plastics value chain from bottom […]
ICIS Chemical Investor: What does the calming of chemical price volatility mean for M&A practitioners?
2019 was a slow year for chemicals M&A deals, although this was largely the result of intense activity in the preceding three years. Furthermore, against a backdrop of chemical price erosion and continued capacity expansions, buyer/seller assessments of earnings and thus earnings multiples differed more than usual. According to White and Case, the total number […]
Amid information madness, it’s the methods that matter
It’s getting harder to know what to believe. That statement doesn’t come as a revelation to many reading this blog, as the constant inundation of information makes distillation into beliefs, assertions and forecasts extremely challenging. Just as you’re trying to wrap your head around a set of data, another comes out that contradicts it or […]
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 […]
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