Daily Chemical Reaction
Hold On – Current Conditions Bias Commodity Market Outlooks, Specialties A Bit More Cautious
Key Points:
- We use Braskem and Lanxess 2021 outlooks as examples of optimistic commodity chemical market views biased by current price strength, while specialty views for 2021 may overly consider 1H21 raw material headwinds.
- We flag pertinent chemical sector corporate items (e.g., LyondellBasell, BASF, Covestro, & Kuraray production updates; Braskem & Lanxess 4Q postings; price hike announcements & chemical sector Capex views)
- This report’s other relevant items include continued strength in China’s chemical market prices, the uptick in US exports of paper and plastic waste YoY in January, the record import traffic to the Port of Longbeach, and the uptick in US chemical rail traffic WoW as post-storm US production restarts.
See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams