The Weekly Catalyst

The Weekly Catalyst

Global Chemical Update – Limit to Your Love

Key Points:

• Global polymer values have broadly increased since 2Q23 closed, with most of the improvement resulting from tighter upstream energy markets, reflecting more benefits for some chains over others.
• Absent energy market strength or unplanned outages, we expect most polymer prices (and margins) to turn lower in late 3Q and 4Q23 – US PVC margins reflect less downside risk than PP per our model.
• Other items in this report include a view of Western methanol prices compared to Asia, unchanged global ammonia values despite corn price weakness, and broader commodity price and margin trends.