Issue 18/2020 - Global Chemicals Quick Facts

The global chemical industry billion-dollar club rankings are freshly released

Recently, Chemistry Week ranked each company based on the sales revenue of the chemical business in 2019, and released the 2020 global billion-dollar chemical club ranking, with a total of 99 chemical companies on the list
.
With the spin-off of DowDuPont, BASF returned to the top with $67 billion in chemical sales, Sinopec ranked second with $61 billion in chemical sales, and Dow Chemical ranked third
with $43 billion in chemical sales.
Prior to the pandemic, sales revenue and profits in the global chemical industry were already under intense pressure, as the manufacturing and industrial environments in 2019 were already challenging
.
The average sales revenue of the 99 companies on the list was US$11.
9 billion, down 2% year-on-year, and the average operating profit was US$1.
15 billion, down 11%
year-on-year.
Among the 99 companies, 60 companies experienced a decline in sales revenue in 2019, and only 39 companies increased or remained flat
in sales revenue year-on-year.

The Asian polyester market is about to usher in the traditional peak demand season

Asia's polyester market has stagnated since early August as sluggish sales have dampened further price increases, while overall demand is expected to pick up
during the traditional peak season in September.
The price increase in the Asian polyester market since the beginning of July stopped in August as purchase inquiries from overseas markets were very limited
amid the global economic downturn.
Many downstream processors buy small quantities of goods
just to meet their basic requirements.
At the same time, major polyester exporters in Asia are reluctant to lower prices
due to eroding profit margins.
The price of ethylene glycol (MEG), one of the raw materials for polyester production, rose by nearly 4% in the Asian market, which squeezed polyester's profit margins
.
A major polyester producer in Southeast Asia said it was facing a dilemma
.
Many market participants now expect September and October to be the traditional peak demand season
for polyester.
However, sources said that due to the coronavirus epidemic, polyester demand growth in 2020 is expected to be lower than last year
.

The epidemic will severely impact the industrial lubricants market this year

Klein & Co.
predicted in a webinar on September 9 that the coronavirus pandemic will reduce global demand for general industrial oils and greases by 13% to 5.
6 million tonnes
this year.
Demand for hydraulic fluids, industrial gear oils, turbine and circulating oils, compressor and refrigeration fluids and greases is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 3% from 2021 to 2024, but will not return to 2019 levels
during this period.
David Tsui, project manager of Klein's energy practice, said in the webinar that economic lockdowns to contain the coronavirus pandemic have disrupted the lubricants market, and the impact
has been amplified by the staggered timing of such measures in different regions.

India has great export potential for specialty chemicals

In the chemical sector, India exports the most specialty chemicals and imports petrochemical intermediates
, according to a new report from consulting firm McKinsey.
Overall, India faces an annual trade deficit of $15 billion in the chemical sector
.
"This deficit opens the door to two opportunities: reducing imports of petrochemical intermediates can make India more self-sufficient and increase inputs in downstream specialty chemicals; Increasing exports of specialty chemicals could bring India a larger share of
global value.
"Most observers believe that the biggest export opportunity for Indian chemical companies is in the specialty chemicals sector
.
Deepak Palekar, head of strategy and technology at Indian consultancy STEP, said: "The global commercial market for specialty chemicals is about $700 billion ~ $750 billion, and India's exports account for only about 4% of the market share, while China accounts for about 15% of the market share
.
”