US chem stocks rise with oil, general market

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Most US-listed shares of chemical companies rose on Tuesday along with oil futures and the general stock market.

The table below shows the performance of the major indices.

	5-May	Change	%
Dow Jones Industrial Average	23,883.09	133.33	0.56
S&P 500	2,868.44	25.70	0.9
Dow Jones US Chemicals Index	523.36	3.81	0.73
S&P 500 Chemicals Industry Index	528.15	3.26	0.62

The table below shows the US-listed chemical companies followed by ICIS.

	$ Current Price	$ Change	% Change
AdvanSix	12.29	0.84	7.34
Axalta Coating Systems	19.33	0.20	1.02
Braskem	7.45	-0.29	-3.75
Celanese	78.27	0.43	0.55
Dow	33.49	0.43	1.29
DuPont	44.80	0.08	0.18
Eastman	60.37	-0.28	-0.46
HB Fuller	34.63	-0.16	-0.46
Huntsman	15.45	0.28	1.81
Ingevity	46.87	-0.87	-1.82
Kraton	14.63	0.23	1.60
Kronos Worldwide	9.20	0.24	2.68
LyondellBasell	55.15	0.80	1.47
Methanex	14.80	0.36	2.49
NewMarket	419.76	5.28	1.27
Olin	11.69	-0.31	-2.54
PolyOne	22.24	0.23	1.02
PPG	88.46	1.63	1.87
RPM International	67.01	2.24	3.46
Sherwin-Williams	533.34	4.50	0.85
Stepan	92.45	1.35	1.48
Chemours	12.22	1.31	12.01
Trinseo	18.40	0.35	1.94
Tronox	6.85	0.48	7.46
Univar	13.70	0.22	1.60
Venator Materials	1.26	0.06	5.00
Westlake Chemical	42.92	1.39	3.35

Chemours rose sharply following comments from its former parent company, DuPont.

During an earnings conference call, DuPont said that the two companies could renegotiate their separation agreement, which was the subject of a lawsuit filed by Chemours.

DuPont’s shares fell slightly after the company reported a decline in Q1 earnings.

Coatings and sealants producer RPM International expects a 10-15% year on year sales decline in its fiscal 2020 fourth quarter ending 31 May, it said.

Its share price rose.

In oil markets, prices rose sharply, as shown in the following table.

	5-May	4-May	%
Brent	30.97	27.20	13.9
WTI	24.56	20.39	20.5

For the chemical industry in general, prices for their products tend to rise and fall with those for oil. For US chemical companies, they enjoy a cost advantage when oil prices rise in relation to ethane and other gas feedstock. The US overwhelmingly relies on gas-based feedstocks.

In Europe, the easing of lock-downs in the region and in the US prompted investors’ optimism on Tuesday, with the index for major chemicals firms up nearly 2% approaching close of business.

In Asia, chemical shares rose as more countries ease lockdown measures to restart their economies.

Additional reporting by Jonathan Lopez and Nurluqman Suratman

Visit the ICIS coronavirus topic page for analysis of the impact on chemical markets and links to latest news.