Who’s Gonna Pay For You? Green Efforts Sound Serene, But Troubled, As Lower Priced Alternatives Remain On The Scene

Daily Chemical Reaction

Who’s Gonna Pay For You? Green Efforts Sound Serene, But Troubled, As Lower Priced Alternatives Remain On The Scene

Key Points:

• NW Europe and US electricity price strength relative to natural gas supports our view that higher prices are needed to spur green product growth compared to gray (and blue) alternatives.
• Shell announces cutbacks in its low-carbon solutions unit, stressing the stronger-for-longer role of fossil fuels, and efforts to put run-of-river hydropower at one of its sites on the MS River.
• The AkzoNobel 3Q23 business update highlights the easing of raw material prices as a primary driver of margin expansion and benefits in 4Q – its input costs have notably risen from 2H23 lows.
• We discuss the build-out of clean methanol production, challenges facing Sumitomo’s efforts to produce ethylene and propylene from ethanol, and the US Navigator CO2 pipeline project halt.
• Global interest rates have risen, but the effective rate on outstanding debt is only limping higher from multi-year lows, suggesting financial headwinds are lagging and set to rise in 2024.

See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams