Daily Chemical Reaction
Give It To Me Baby – Can Recycled Resin Producers Capitalize On the Current Situation? We Doubt It!
Key Points:
- The PPI for plastic resin & materials rose MoM in March on an absolute basis and relative to the recyclable resin index – more of a positive trend for substitution than virgin producer profit.
- We flag the Biden push to spur electric vehicle demand, noting EV market growth is a plus for chemical demand given their higher chemical content than internal combustion engine vehicles.
- We discuss North American chemical rail traffic weakness YTD, implying US producers remain at sub-optimal rates, which has supported US polymer prices, despite an improved cost position.
- We discuss the US natural gas market today, providing a view of export capacity growth, global demand, and the increasing need for producers to show carbon footprint reductions over time.
- We discuss movements in the US CPI relative to the PPI, highlight movements in China export products by destination, and show strength in the Euro compared to the USD since its 2H22 lows.
See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams