SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Click here to see the
latest blog post on Asian Chemical Connections
by John Richardson. In the old familiar world,
supply chains just worked. We didn’t have to
worry about them.
But some of today’s problems with supply chains
have been building for years, which have
been greatly exacerbated, of course, by the
pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
In European polypropylene (PP), as we discuss
today, demand destruction is being caused by
energy and semiconductor shortages etc.
There is no immediate end in sight to the
disruptions, creating the risk that European PP
demand growth is negative this year, as was the
case in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
We see it as unlikely that global supply chains
will ever return to their “old normal” because
of the big geopolitical re-alignments. These
re-alignments – along with growing
sustainability pressures – are why energy,
petrochemicals and manufacturing are becoming
much more localised.
It this localised model which offers a strong
long-term future for European petrochemicals,
if the industry focuses increasingly on carbon
abatement and plastics recycling.
Editor’s note: This blog post is an opinion
piece. The views expressed are those of the
author, and do not necessarily represent those
of ICIS.
