The global chemical industry (a broad mix of sectors including petrochemicals, gases, inorganic compounds and specialty chemicals) has seen a significant structural change in the last few years – driven by changes in production locations, major markets, technology as well as the all-encompassing impact of the global economic crisis.

During the last two years, the commodity and the specialty chemicals segments have experienced sharp margin declines largely as a result of the global economic crisis. Going forward, though, demand is expected to be  relatively stable in developed markets while emerging markets such as South East Asia and Latin America will see higher growth rates attributed to economic growth and new application development.  Fundamentally, the global chemical industry will retain a strict focus on managing cash flow, controlling operating rates as well as securing investment globally.

Chemical companies, specifically, are continually widening their geographic scope, with western companies, in particular, actively exploring the growing opportunities in emerging markets, with a particular focus on the Asia Pacific region as well as other developing areas around the world. The Middle East has also seen a lot of activity, attracting new capacity, given its significant potential advantage in low cost hydrocarbon feedstocks.  (The majority of the new capacity coming up in China and the Middle East are due to their proximity to high growth markets and accessibility to cheaper feedstock respectively.)  Adding to these challenges, increasing regulation and carbon emissions policies are pushing companies towards greener processes and technologies.

The Smart Cube’s segmental focus on Petrochemicals, Specialty chemicals, Agri chemicals, Paper chemicals, Plastic Resins, Rubber/Tire industry and a host of other related categories provides unparalleled expertise in analyzing and tackling the industries issues of the day.  Our work empowers our clients with targeted information to make the right decisions across all areas of their business, from the strategic to the operational.  Whether it is assessing new market opportunities and identifying and evaluating complex global value chains (including key issues and bottlenecks, points of value, etc.) or whether we are required to deploy focused information and decision tools such Should Cost Models, Feedstock tracking and analysis, Market sizing and Forecasting Tools, The Smart Cube delivers high value, economically compelling research and analytics services to clients in this space.  To learn more about our offerings in chemicals space, please contact us.