Issue 7/2021 - Global Chemicals Quick Facts

The German chemical industry faces serious challenges

German chemical production (excluding pharmaceuticals) increased significantly by 9.
2% in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the third quarter due to customer replenishment of inventories, but the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI) said that the situation facing the German chemical industry at the beginning of 2021 was more challenging
.
Downstream customers replenished inventories before the end of the year, stimulating the pace of recovery of German chemicals in the fourth quarter of 2020, and production was also significantly higher
than at the end of 2019.
Including the pharmaceutical sector, the German chemical industry's production level increased by 7.
4% sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2020 and chemical prices increased by 0.
4%
compared to the third quarter of 2020.
However, chemical prices still fell nearly 2%
in the fourth quarter compared to the same period in 2020.
Nearly half of the VCI members expect a recession
in the German chemical industry in the first quarter.

India will increase investment in petrochemical production capacity to make up for the domestic supply gap

Currently, the Indian government is actively bridging the gap between domestic supply shortages and growing consumer demand, for which it will invest about $87 billion in new projects
。 Among the petrochemical projects under consideration in India are: Nayara Energy plans to invest in a US$20 billion petrochemical complex in Wadinar in Gujarat, including a cracking unit and downstream units such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), benzene, cumene cumene and ethylene glycol (MEG); Holdia Petrochemical plans to invest $10 billion in a $10 billion petrochemical complex in Balasall, Odisha, which plans to produce 1.
6 million mt/year of paraxylene and 1.
25 million mt/year of purified terephthalic acid (PTA).

India is expected to complete about 11 petrochemical projects with a total investment of about $17 billion
by 2024.
India's petrochemical market is expected to surge from $178 billion in 2020 to $300 billion
by 2025.

In 2020, new wind power capacity in the Asia-Pacific region increased significantly

According to the latest data released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), new wind power capacity in the Asia-Pacific region reached nearly 56 GW in 2020, a significant increase of 78%
from 2019.
Among them, China's new wind power capacity reached 52 GW, accounting for about 94% of the new wind power capacity in the Asia-Pacific region.
India and Australia, tied for second, each have 1.
1 GW of new wind capacity, while Japan and Kazakhstan rank fourth and fifth
with 449 MW and 300 MW, respectively.
At present, the Asia-Pacific region has nearly 347 GW of wind power capacity, of which China accounts for about 83%.

According to the commission's 2020 data, Europe currently has 219 GW of wind power capacity and the Americas about 170 GW
.

The global oil market remains oversupplied

The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently said that global crude oil inventories are still well above the level
when the epidemic began to hit oil demand a year ago.
In its monthly market report, the IEA raised its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2021 by 100,000 b/d to 5.
5 million b/d, while also forecasting a 180,000-bpd
decline in U.
S.
crude production this year.
According to the IEA, oil demand in the final quarter of 2021 will be just 1.
4 million b/d
below pre-pandemic levels.
While OPEC and its allies have stepped up their cuts, extended their timelines, and predicted supply shortages in some parts of the market, oil inventories have remained ample
compared to historical levels, even as oil inventories steadily decline from the massive glut accumulated in the second quarter of 2020.
At the end of January, crude oil inventories in OECD countries were still 110 million barrels
higher than they were at the start of the pandemic a year ago.