Daily Chemical Reaction
Enough! The World Appears Awash With Chemical, Suggesting Some Earnings May Become Simply Red
Key Points:
- We discuss the China polypropylene price decline MTD, highlighting more production, demand concerns, and its ability to source discounted Russian crude/feedstocks – a problem for the West.
- The severe US propylene price decline from outage-driven 1H23 highs pushed its PDH margins lower, despite weakness in domestic propane, while Asia PDH margins have moved higher MTD.
- Ford announces multiple partners to supply it with lithium amid a push to ramp EV production and following the lithium spot market collapse relative to 2022 highs to lessen supply chain risk.
- We discuss the Neom Green Hydrogen Company project reaching FID, displaying its planned green power sources and production chain that face more challenges than likely meet the eye.
- We discuss the unlikely rebound in global freight rates and shift gears to flag tepid near-term views from Lowe’s on the housing and construction market and mortgage rate strength WoW.
See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams