Chemical Industry Summary The first quarter of the 2016 financial reporting season has been concluded with results generally consistent with forecasts. US-based paint and home supply companies generally reported improved results on a year-on-year basis, with high gross margins due to a benign raw material cost environment. Commodity chemical producers report softer year-on-year revenues…
Chemical Industry Summary Recent news for global chemicals has been dominated by M&A. This week, Westlake Chemical announced that the board of its acquisition target Axiall has agreed to sell the company for the significantly improved offer of US$33 per share representing an enterprise value of US$3.8 billion. This valuation is a 31% increase…
Chemical Industry Summary With the Q2 earnings season in sight, financial analysts are forecasting flat year-on-year earnings results from any chemical companies, with a relative balance of puts and takes from last year’s performance. However, it is likely that industry leaders will note some encouraging signs on the horizon, with several industries seeing modest…
Chemical Industry Summary The anticipated secular recovery of the global crude oil market appears to be faltering under the pressure of strong production output and sustained high inventory levels. In July, Saudi oil output rose 123,000 barrels per day to hit a level of 10.67 million bpd. Russian crude exports are up nearly 5%…
Chemical Industry Summary Consolidation of the global agricultural chemicals sector is continuing as a brisk pace. On September 14, Monsanto accepted Bayer’s takeover bid, valued at US$66 billion. This included a stock price of $128 per share and the assumption of US$10 billion in debt. The final bid follows two previous bids, and reported…
Chemical Industry Summary Global prices and trade for the major polyolefins reflect a reasonable balance of supply and demand that has been supported by a number of global outages, planned and unplanned, particularly in North America. Improved global growth will be required to maintain strong demand growth and chemical operating rates as new…
Chemical Industry Summary The US political election in November resulted in an outcome that was not predicted by most polls, with Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump winning a majority of the electoral college vote and becoming president elect. This election has widespread ramifications for the US chemical and energy industries, as important…
Chemical Industry Summary The conclusion of OPEC’s annual meeting in Vienna on November 30th has touched off a rally in the global crude oil market that has multiple implications for chemicals and regional competitiveness. WTI crude pricing has moved up about US$4/Bbl. on the speculation that an announced OPEC production cut of 1.2…
Chemical Industry Summary The 6-month anniversary of OPEC’s decision to limit crude oil production will occur at the end of May, and the decision to re-authorize production cut targets is pending. The current news flow prompts many analysts to anticipate that the production cut targets will remain in place in 2017, perhaps extended to 9…
Chemical Industry Summary The financial community’s consensus estimates for US chemical companies indicates that they are expected to reportQ1earnings most reports will be flat with last year. Companies leveraged to the olefins/polyolefins chain are seeing a relatively strong, but lower margins. Improvement is expected from US companies that are leveraged to the chlor-vinyl’s chain…