Daily Chemical Reaction
Thunder – Commodity Market Rumblings Pick Up, Indicators Suggest 4Q Holds The Most 2H21 Risk
Key Points:
- Despite rising evidence of improved production, an abrupt loosening of US markets appears unlikely to occur at a sector level in 3Q21. We view 4Q21 as holding most 2H21 risk as a greater than seasonal profit drop could occur.
- We revisit US polymer grade propylene (PGP) markets as an example commodity product seeing strong demand but also improved availability.
- We highlight pertinent chemical sector corporate items (e.g., IFF, Haldor Topsoe, Basic Chemical Industries, WV Methanol & other producer news).
- Carbon prices in Europe have fallen MTD but remain notably higher YTD – we highlight a few CO2 market drivers & other relevant ESG news items.
- Global container freight rates moderated a bit WoW, but remain near record levels. We also flag the US PPI news following the recent CPI posting.
See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams