Daily Chemical Reactions

Handle On You – Demand Concerns Keep Some From Lifting US Production Rates Despite Margin Strength
March 31, 2023
Commodities Mentioned:
Plastics (PVC, PP, PE, PU, PC, PET, etc.), Clean Energy Minerals, Carbon Dioxide, Hydrogen, Natural Gas/NGLs, Crude/Naphtha
Companies Mentioned:
Yara, Enbridge, Yulong Petrochemical, ADM, Clariant, Shell, Toyobo, BASF, Arianne Phosphate, PetroChina, Jera, TPC Group, Venture Global, Freeport LNG, Lonza, Umicore, Vitol, OCI, ArcelorMittal, Pupuk Indonesia, Svante, SABIC, Honeywell, Advent Technologies, Enviva, Rio Tinto, First Quantum Minerals, Lithium Americas, DRAX, GE, Siemens Gamesa, Nordex, Vestas, Valero, Chesapeake, Lummus, Westinghouse

Daily Chemical Reaction

Handle On You – Demand Concerns Keep Some From Lifting US Production Rates Despite Margin Strength

Key Points:

  • Brent Crude and Ex-US naphtha prices increased compared to US natural gas and USGC ethane this week, steepening the global petrochemical production cost curve in favor of US producers.
  • Despite a significant uptick in regional spot margins, chemical sector indicators suggest that producers are far from full run rates amid ample global inventory levels and demand concerns.
  • We highlight recent weakness in China lithium values and a Lithium Americas business update, show US spot ethylene, propylene, and benzene price trends, and domestic ammonia margins.
  • We discuss some notable news at Shell, highlight a Yara and Enbridge blue ammonia project, and provide links to several news reports in the global clean energy and ESG arena.
  • US durable goods spending fell MoM in February, and we highlight movements in consumer spending categories, along with showing current US mortgage rate and currency trends.

See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams


Contact us to subscribe to our services and gain access to full content.

Request A Free Trial