Daily Chemical Reaction
More Than A Feeling – Supply Chains Reeling, Prices Squealing & Profit Healing In Quarantine
Key Points:
- Our takeaways from news flow overnight is that global commodity supply chains are broadly “out of balance” in a period where demand is facing stiffer than expected recovery conditions in many areas – we take a cautious view of margin trends (especially, relative to expectations set mid-July) into year-end.
- We discuss takeaways from 2Q reports (e.g. Lanxess, Indorama Ventures, Mitsui Chemicals, & Intertape Polymers), and highlight the push among some to shift their portfolios from “mass to class” (Lanxess, Momentive).
- Other items worth note today range from our discussion of the US refining sector that is under intense restructuring, to evidence of more Asian supply ahead and US gov’t stimulus likely ringing favorably for plastics demand.
See PDF below for all charts