AFPM 2016 Market Update

By: Thomas Guadagno, Product Manager – Polymer Additives

The Chemical Company esters line covers niche to specialty applications. It is one of the most comprehensive lines in the industry today. Whether your need for an ester is CASE, lubricants, or to be used in polymer compounding, TCC can provide quality solutions to meet the stringent requirements necessary to perform to your specifications. Over the decades TCC has grown its line of ChemFlexx and NatureFlexx esters to include: specialty and commoditized linear and branched phthalates; non-phthalates; linear and branched trimellitates; linear and branched adipates; benzoates; citrates; glycol based esters; succinates, sebacates, linseed oil based, as well as soy based primary and secondary plasticizers.
The Chemical Company is proud to produce the majority of ChemFlexx Ester offerings domestically and in Europe. TCC forges partnerships with the most integrated manufacturers in the industry who are committed to fulfilling the needs of the marketplace with the highest quality products. Whether an order is less than a full truckload of drums or totes, compartmentalized split truckloads of multiple esters, bulk tank trucks, or rail, the TCC ChemFlexx line is available to serve your needs.

The Chemical Company operations and sales staff is friendly and knowledgeable. They want to develop a strong relationship with your organization so they can keep you abreast of the most current industry news and trends of the cutting edge of new esters entering the marketplace.

By: Tom Ultsch, Vice President MidWest Market

Crude oil pricing has rebounded over the last few weeks and currently West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is selling in the $38-$40/BBL range. Some of this rebound is based on the hope that OPEC and Russia will cut back production, even without the cooperation of Iran as it moves more crude into international markets. Oil and downstream derivative inventories maintain record levels that continue to be a drag on pricing. Currency valuations have also become a big factor in setting commodity prices. These varying factors have made evaluating the future price of crude extremely difficult. However, all indices make $35-$40/BBL over the next 3-4 months followed by a trend upward to $40-$45/BBL during the second half of the year highly probable.

Another factor that has been driving the petrochemical industry is the dominant role that natural gas and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) are playing in North America. The shale gas revolution has transformed the face of the petrochemical industry over the last few years. Natural gas availability and much lower pricing have placed North America on par with projects that would have been considered only in the Middle East just a few years ago. Stable political and monetary policy has also attracted projects back to North America. This new production is starting to come online and has created more opportunity for downstream production of products. The differential in crude oil/naphtha values versus these new NGLs have decreased substantially and are causing producers to re-examine remaining with heavier feeds versus converting to a lighter NGL feed for basic olefin production. These discussions are highly dependent on propylene and butylene downstream requirements and their relative values.

The cost of oil has had a significant effect on petrochemical prices. Olefin values have bottomed out and are beginning to increase. This upward trend will continue as we head into the higher gasoline demand season in the US during the second and third quarter of the year. Higher values for gasoline are also felt in pricing for gasoline blending stocks such as toluene and xylene which are currently on the rise. These higher values are reflected worldwide and have been somewhat offset by lower demand for petrochemicals in Asia and Europe.

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