Daily Chemical Reaction
Hitching Up – North American Methanol Producer Benefits To Grow Beyond Regional Cost Advantages
Key Points:
- We hold a long-term constructive view of North American methanol. Like ammonia, regional cost advantages will enable exports as global demand sources broaden faster than supply.
- US natural gas prices remain under pressure while support signals in oil markets emerge mid-week despite demand concerns. This setting is a plus for North American chemical producers
- We highlight continued weakness in Chinese spot lithium prices, which are considerably lower than four months ago, and the relative movements in US, Asia, and Europe butadiene spot prices.
- We flag the ability to source waste as a limitation to the growth in advanced recycling, discuss blue hydrogen government funding skepticism, and generally highlight the geothermal market.
- An era of “free money” is over, although Apple will still give you credit. Significant inflation that preceded higher interest rates will keep global economic growth in check for some time.
See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams