Base Chemical Global Analysis

Weekly, Data-Centric Intelligence on Core Chemical Market

Our Base Chemical & Polymer Analysis reports offer a comprehensive, data-rich snapshot of global market dynamics every week. Each edition delivers actionable insights backed by curated charts and margin models to help you stay ahead of market movements, arbitrage trends, and structural shifts.

Reports

Global Weekly Catalyst No. 313

General Thoughts: Across markets, tighter conditions are mainly driven by higher costs and lingering curtailments, not by demand, as US propylene firms WoW, while early-year consumption growth remains generally tepid globally.

Feedstocks & Energy: Expectations for global feedstock-level petrochemical cost curves to remain relatively flat and oversupplied markets to persist

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Global Weekly Catalyst No. 312

General Thoughts: Early-year chemical spot prices and relative feedstock cost movements suggest that the pace of restructuring and regional return-enhancement efforts will be more decisive than demand recovery in 1H26.

Feedstocks & Energy: Feedstock cost relief caps prices but quietly sets asymmetric upside, because depressed expectations, fragile oil discipline, and

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Global Weekly Catalyst No. 311

General Thoughts: Depressed global chemical sector growth expectations, co-product erosion, and flattened cost curves make restructuring pace and margin resilience more decisive than demand recovery in 1H26.

Feedstocks & Energy: Flattening cost curves and sustained oil-gas divergence pressure margins, but upside risk for chemical prices appears biased relative to already

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Global Weekly Catalyst No. 310

General Thoughts: Feedstock convergence is eroding regional cost advantages amid weak demand, leaving supply discipline, not demand recovery, as the clearing mechanism into 2026, keeping restructurings in focus.

Feedstocks & Energy: US natural gas and NGL values retreated relative to crude, compressing feedstock dispersion and reinforcing restructuring pressure as chemical

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Global Weekly Catalyst No. 309

General Thoughts: Chemical feedstock movements drive greater sector margin compression WoW than price shifts, as late 2025 supply adjustments and flatter global cost curves shape competitive dynamics in favor of restructurings.

Feedstocks & Energy: US natural gas and NGL values climbed relative to crude oil and ex-US naphtha and

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Global Weekly Catalyst No. 308

General Thoughts: Chemical feedstock movements impact producer margins WoW more than price movements, as chemical supply shifts in October and November have helped balance most markets into the final month of 2025.

Feedstocks & Energy: US natural gas and NGL values increased last week relative to crude oil and

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Global Weekly Catalyst No. 307

General Thoughts: Exporting the advantaged US ethane cost position and surplus ethylene amid low oil prices and downstream market oversupply will likely be a bumpy ride into 2026, despite ongoing global restructuring.

Feedstocks & Energy: Upstream chemical feedstock cost compression across markets squeezed global average producer margins last week, likely

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Global Weekly Catalyst No. 306

General Thoughts: Sector momentum in late 2025 reflects commodity divergence, with easing crude and Ex-US natural gas prices, firm US gas, and mixed demand exposing those best positioned for improvement in 1Q26.

Feedstocks & Energy: Feedstock curves mostly flattened further last week, pushing petrochemical chains lower and rewarding regions and

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Global Weekly Catalyst No. 305

General Thoughts: Global chemical profit improvement in the near term depends less on cyclical recovery and more on rationalized capacity, cost integration, and policy agility as volatility erodes scale-driven advantage.

Feedstocks & Energy: Flattening feedstock curves and collapsing oil-to-gas ratios intensify margin compression, with oversupplied product chains resulting in petrochemical

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