Daily Chemical Reactions

Money, Money, Money – Energy May Be Unpopular, But Sure Is Profitable; Dilemma for LyondellBasell?
July 29, 2022
Commodities Mentioned:
Plastics (PVC, PP, PE, PU, PC, PET, etc.), Clean Energy Minerals, Carbon Dioxide, Hydrogen, Natural Gas/NGLs, Crude/Naphtha
Companies Mentioned:
Eastman, Borealis, Olin, Celanese, ExxonMobil, Phillips 66, Chevron, Air Liquide, Linde, Arkema, Coromandel Int., Nippon Sanso, Tronox, Venator, Wacker Chemie, Cariflex, Zeon, Chemours, Sibur, Honeywell, Shell, EQT, World Fuel Services, PetroChina, TotalEnergies, Hess, Wanhua Chemical, LyondellBasell, Braskem, Formosa Plastics, Dow, Milliken, Croda, Procter & Gamble, US Steel, Spearmint Energy

Daily Chemical Reaction

Money, Money, Money – Energy May Be Unpopular, But Sure Is Profitable; Dilemma for LyondellBasell?

Key Points:

  • Global energy markets favor producers and low-cost downstream manufacturers, such as US refiners and chemicals, creating significant strategic dilemmas for some in a setting of heightened political and investor pressure to boost clean resources.
  • NW Europe and Asia natural gas prices have notably increased since July, implying relative cost benefits for US chemical producers in 2H22 if conditions hold.
  • Commodity chemical profit concerns in 2H22 are broadly cautious, while Specialty producers are more optimistic due in part to anticipations of customer restocking.
  • We provide more commentary on the benefits of an emerging US climate bill, flag Air Liquide and Eastman initiatives, and discuss the Olin ESG quarterly scorecard.
  • We highlight North American rail traffic and relative US currency swings along with end-market producers, such as P&G, efforts to push prices to offset higher costs.

See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams

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