SUPPLY-CHAIN problems continue to disrupt the global chemicals and polymer industries more than two years since the pandemic began.
Right now, the centre of attention of supply-chain anxiety is China.
Asian Chemical Connections
China polyethylene: latest scenarios for 2022 demand and net imports
China’s polyethylene (PE) demand in 2022 could fall by 3% over last year. Net imports may be as much as 3.9m tonnes lower
US domestic PE logistics challenges may create bigger opportunity for other producers in Europe
US PE exports could be restricted in 2022 by local logistics challenges as China’s imports decline as its economy suffers a recession. The centre of attention for Asian and Middle exporters may therefore be Europe.
Europe HDPE: why net imports could be 3m tonnes higher this year
EUROPE’S NET HDPE imports could be as high as 4.1m tonnes in 2022 versus last year’s 1.1m tonnes.
Europe PE and PP imports: How, with the right analysis, you could more than make up for China weakness
IT WILL NOT be easy to estimate what could be higher-than-expected levels of European petrochemicals imports during the rest of 2022. But in the context of a China that might even be in recession, the extra effort necessary to figure calculate shifts in European trade flows is very, very worthwhile.
Europe petrochemicals demand weakness may have bigger impact than any production cuts
Lower refinery operating rates on a lack of Russian oil and naphtha -– and reduced electricity supply to refineries and petrochemicals plants -– may be more than offset by weaker European petrochemicals demand.
Ukraine-Russia: how the crisis could reshape petrochemicals demand
I hope what follows helps as a first pass at describing the new environment in which our industry is operating as a result of the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Ukraine, the global food crisis and implications for polyethylene
THE GLOBAL FOOD crisis is first and foremost a potential humanitarian disaster that must be avoided. But “must” doesn’t mean “will”, of course. Nobody should underestimate the scale of the challenges in front of us.
Geopolitics have always shaped the petrochemicals industry
THE HEADLINE IN the above slide has always been the case. But why it was forgotten could be because many of us spent most, if not all, of our professional careers in the benign period between the end of the Cold War in 1991 and the pivot in the US approach to China, which happened some four years ago.
European polyethylene and Ukraine: a new set of challenges
A NEW NORMAL for European (PE) markets could be underway, replacing the divided world of the last 10 months, as the chart below suggests.