Commodity Chemical Production & Logistic Issues Vary 1Q24 Derivative Profit By Region & Value Chain

Companies Mentioned: Shell, LyondellBasell, TPC Group, Aramco, Asian Paints, Meghmani Organics, Linde, Maire Tecnimont, Pilbara Minerals, Solvay, Carester, Sumitomo, Syensqo, Toray, Cepsa, Cheniere, EQT, Equitrans, NET Power, Petrobras, Tallgrass Energy, Fuel Tech, Air Liquide, Vopak, Adani Green Energy, Amazon, Avangrid, BrightNight, Xiaomi, Delta Lithium, EMstor, Excelsior Energy, HD Hyundai Chemical, Scatec, Equinor, Li-Cycle, Tesla, Volvo, Uniper, Zeon
Commodities Mentioned: Acetic Acid, Naphtha, Butadiene, Propylene, Ethylene, Hydrochloric Acid, Cobalt, Titanium Dioxide, Polyol, Crude Oil, WTI, Natural Gas, Hydrogen, Carbon, Helium, Ammonia

Key Findings

General Thoughts: Regional production outages and logistic issues are causing significant commodity chemical supply imbalances in some regions, putting their non-integrated buyers at risk in oversupplied derivative markets
Supply Chain/Commodities: The global Butadiene market has significantly tightened YTD amid global production issues that have spurred Asia prices to a significant premium relative to European and North American spot levels.
Energy/Upstream: We offer a few updated views on global feedstock trends ahead of our webcast tomorrow on the ethylene market – details in LINK – and flag higher YTD US refinery margins and USGC propane exports.
Sustainability/Energy Transition: We highlight recent news from Issaquena Green Power – details in LINK – as it advances run-of-river power solutions for industry and discuss other relevant sustainability updates in the news.
Downstream/Other Chemicals: We highlight recent weakness in China auto sales, the latest US CPI posting, continued logistic disruptions, and elevated freight rates between China and portions of the West.