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. 316

General Thoughts: Energy retracement and post-storm natural gas normalization begin to restore relative cost balance, enabling advantaged producers to outperform, while persistent oversupply constrains pricing power.

Feedstocks & Energy: Brent crude oil retreated but remains range-bound, likely reducing further naphtha cost creep, and US natural gas retraces more quickly than

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Global Weekly Catalyst No. 315

General Thoughts: Energy volatility and weather shocks are shifting margins across chemicals and fuels, as producers with cost advantages and logistics strength outperform. Execution will matter more through 2026.

Feedstocks & Energy: Freeze-driven natural gas price spikes are lifting global cost floors, as crude remains broadly range-bound, with petrochemical margins

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Global Weekly Catalyst No. 314

General Thoughts: Energy volatility, logistics, and policy shape margins across chemicals, agriculture, and fuels, favoring low-cost, disciplined operators as global markets transition toward execution-driven balance through 2026.

Feedstocks & Energy: Weather-driven gas volatility lifts gas-linked feedstocks, crude stays range-bound, chemical margins tighten, and low-cost, capital-disciplined operators outperform amid dispersion in

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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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