-
Categories
-
Pharmaceutical Intermediates
-
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
-
Food Additives
- Industrial Coatings
- Agrochemicals
- Dyes and Pigments
- Surfactant
- Flavors and Fragrances
- Chemical Reagents
- Catalyst and Auxiliary
- Natural Products
- Inorganic Chemistry
-
Organic Chemistry
-
Biochemical Engineering
- Analytical Chemistry
- Cosmetic Ingredient
-
Pharmaceutical Intermediates
Promotion
ECHEMI Mall
Wholesale
Weekly Price
Exhibition
News
-
Trade Service
Global Chemicals Quick Review
U.
S.
chemical production will plummet 9.
3 percent this year
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) said in its latest 2020 Mid-2020 Chemical Industry Status and Outlook report that U.
S.
chemical production will decline by nearly 10% in 2020, but U.
S.
chemical production should rebound strongly in 2021, and U.
S.
chemical production will return to pre-pandemic levels
in the second half of 2021.
Martha Moore, ACC's senior director of policy analysis and economics, said: "U.
S.
chemical production has also contracted
as major end-users and export markets have shrunk.
U.
S.
chemical production will fall 9.
3% this year, chemical freight will fall 13.
5%, and U.
S.
chemical production will rebound strongly by 12.
3% in 2021, and chemical freight will increase by 14.
5%.
”
BP sells its global petrochemical business for $5 billion
BP has agreed to sell its global petrochemical business to INEOS for $5 billion, with INEOS paying a $400 million deposit and a further $3.
6 billion upon completion of the transaction, which is expected to close
by the end of 2020.
BP said the remaining $1 billion would be deferred in three installments until June 2021
.
BP's petrochemicals business focuses on aromatic hydrocarbons and acetyl products
.
Bernard Looney, chief executive of BP, said the divestiture of petrochemical assets was another step towards the company's competitiveness and success through the energy transition, and the company needed considerable capital to grow
its petrochemical business.
BP Chief Financial Officer Brian Gilvary said the deal was a year ahead of schedule for the company to achieve its previously agreed goal of
divesting $15 billion in assets.
Global chemical M&A deals will resume their upward trend
Rothschild & Co.
Federico Mennella, managing director and co-head of the global chemicals and materials business, said that global chemical M&A activity slowed down by 30%~40% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, with March being the most affected by the
coronavirus lockdown.
Investment bankers say M&A activity in the chemical sector will pick up again in the second half of the year, and buyers and sellers will be ready to start trading
again.
David Ruf, managing director and head of the chemicals and materials practice at KeyBanc Capital Markets, a well-known Wall Street investment bank, said: "We are seeing a significant increase
in one-off conversations between buying and selling.
This also lays the foundation
for the resumption of M&A activity in the chemical industry in the future.
And companies are now looking to the future and no longer using revolving credit facilities to meet their liquidity needs
.
”
European grease production is slowly declining
According to a survey by the National Grease Association, European grease production declined slightly in 2019
.
Chuck Coe, president of Grease Technology Solutions, said the 47 European grease companies that finalized the survey produced 488 million pounds of grease last year, down 1.
8 percent
from 2018.
As in the rest of the world, lithium soap remains the thickener of choice in Europe, accounting for 69%
of total production.
This is followed by calcium soap at 15%, followed by aluminum soap and polyurea at 5%
each.
Other thickeners together accounted for 5.
5%.
The global market share of lithium thickened grease is slowly declining, from nearly 76% in 2016 to 70%
in 2019.
Calcium soap fills most of the gap, growing from 10% in 2016 to 15%
in 2019.
In Europe, however, lithium greases have fallen by only 1.
3%
since 2016.
Calcium grease seems to fill almost all the gaps, increasing by 1.
2%.
