1st Topic of the Week: With scrap still dominant and China’s costs falling, Western battery recyclers are forced to secure contracts, utilization, and pricing power
Global Market Analysis There Will Be Blood, Closures: Global Return Hurdles Further Harden Into 2026 Key Findings Exhibit 1: Real rates strengthen globally in late
US-China inflation divergence realigns capital flows, currency dynamics, and trade competitiveness across services, manufacturing, and energy-linked exports spanning petrochemicals, agriculture, and industrial inputs.
US chemical
1st Topic of the Week: Despite lingering public pledges, 2Q25 delivered no major PCR target updates, let alone upgrades, as ambitions have visibly faded with
General Thoughts: In a world of tariffs, overcapacity, and policy shocks, global trade advances where structural cost leadership flows to relieve pressures on strained producers
1st Topic of the Week: Control of materials is increasingly defining geopolitical leverage and industrial dominance, with MP Materials leading America’s strategic race for rare
General Thoughts: Global industry is quietly breaking apart, as climate shocks, political pressure, and new rules reshape supply chains, rewarding those ready for volatility, imbalance,
General Thoughts: The US dollar posted its worst first-half performance since 1973 in 1H25, and this decline lacks proper attention, as it increasingly favors US
China is executing a long-cycle, state-aligned petrochemical strategy built on flexible feedstocks, converting refining into chemical scale and pricing advantage, while others contract under short-term
1st Topic of the Week: In circular plastics, the emerging power dynamic favors those controlling both waste inputs and brand offtake, with those controlling neither
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