Sunday Thematic & Weekly Recap

The Demise Of Styrene (Again): Don’t Be Fooled By Current Noise
September 4, 2022
Commodities Mentioned:
PVC, Polypropylene, Polyethylene, Polyurethane, Polycarbonate, Polystyrene, PET, Clean Energy Minerals, Carbon Dioxide, Hydrogen, Natural Gas/NGLs, Crude/Naphtha, LNG, Ammonia, Nitrogen, Methanol, Solar, Wind, Hydro, Nuclear, Geothermal, Propane, Plastics, Virgin Polymer, R-PET, Battery, Carbon, Oxygen, Renewable Fuels, Waste
Companies Mentioned:
ExxonMobil, CP Chemical, LyondellBasell, Dow, Nova Chemicals, Westlake, Nutrien, CF Industries, LSB Industries, ADM, The Andersons, Reliance Industries, Sasol, Advario, PKN Orlen, Shell, Enterprise Products, Energy Transfer, Albemarle, Sinopec, Oxy, Chevron, Gazprom, Engie, Jera, Magellan, TotalEnergies, BP, Novatek, Basf, Honeywell, INEOS, Anellotech, Kraton, Lanxess, LG Chem, Mitsui Chemicals, Equinor, Syngenta, FREYR Battery, SolarEdge, REX American, Best Buy, Honda, Corteva, Clariant, Yara, Hyundai Chemical, Axens, Technip Energies, Commercial Metals, Source Rock Royalties, ABO Wind, Clearview Resources, Petronas, Woodside, Cheniere, Schlumberger, Subsea 7, Aker Solutions, AmmPower, Lion Elastomers, Versalis, Donaldson, Akaysha Energy, Toyota, Granite Construction, Tellurian, Blackrock, UBS, Amazon, Plug Power, Everwind Fuels, World Energy, First Solar, Borealis, SABIC, LINDE, Braskem, Pinnacle Polymers, Mitsui, Bharat Petroleum, Henkel, PT Freeport, QatarEnergy, Sumitomo Chemical, Berry Plastics, Nobian, LG Energy, Lenzing, OQ Chemicals, NextEra, DSM, Inpex, Repsol, Unilever, Worley, Mitsubishi, Lukoil, Shin-Etsu, Formosa Plastics, Olin, Covestro, Bayport Polymers, XTO Energy, Arkema, Air Liquide, Evonik, Adnoc, Aramco, Black & Veatch, Fengyuan Chemical, XPeng, Technip, Itochu, Topsoe, Sunnova, Neste, Schneider Electric, Everfuel, Sibur, Piedmont Lithium, Sunoco

C-MACC Sunday Thematic & Weekly Recap 133

The Demise Of Styrene (Again): Don’t Be Fooled By Current Noise

  • Styrene facilities in the US and elsewhere are being cut back because of weak demand and negative margins – but this is the same for many chemicals/polymers.
  • These are cyclical industries and the current swing is not unusual and driven by a significant negative swing in inventories – but styrene may not recover.
  • Design for recycling – a priority for packagers – should see polystyrene replaced by other polymers – especially polyolefins – good for ethylene, bad for styrene. 
  • September is likely to be a terrible month for chemicals in general, and we would anticipate a stream of negative guidance on both sides of the Atlantic.
  • Otherwise, we look at the anti-ESG movement, oil company ambitions in the chemical markets, and implications of the dreadful Chinese economy.

Last week we discussed 33 Chemicals and related products and 120 Companies.

See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams

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