Given how slow H1 2020 has been from an M&A perspective, it is easy to welcome the $5bn INEOS/BP petrochemicals deal announced on 29 June as some sort of harbinger of a deal-ridden, pent-up demand driven summer. However, let us be clear about this – the INEOS/BP deal has nothing to do with today’s market, […]
Chemical Connections
Data drives home life changes for Americans amid pandemic
Apparently, right now is a good time to take a walk or drive around that new house you’ve bought. Well, maybe not you or I, but a lot of Americans seem to be doing that according to the data. CNBC compiled into a short post five charts that tell a fascinating story about our behaviours […]
Remote-working growth yields food for thought for supply chain
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 […]
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 […]
For FMCGs and retail procurers, window of opportunity is now
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 […]
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