How Basic Chemicals are Being Impacted in the Supply Chain

Disruptions in the supply chain are causing problems across every industry. Basic chemicals such as ethylene, PVC and epoxy resins are seeing price surges due to these disruptions. With that in mind, we asked Jimmy, CEO of integrity biochim. About this increases in the man and what sort of role does it play in the overall chemical supply chain issue? You know, obviously demand there's a lot of pent up demand from the pandemic as people start to consume more and get back on the roads and travel. You're seeing a lot of demand, and it's unfortunate that demand is spiking as supply is dwindling. So what you're seeing is the big players that have a more sophisticated supply chain system have gotten out ahead of it. Some great examples or you've seen a lot of the bigger companies that have even contracted their own fleet to move goods and services around the world. And so you're seeing some of the larger players with a really solid plan to mitigate a lot of the supply chain issues. But the tier two and tier three companies that might not have the cash flow to go out and purchase six months worth of inventory are feeling it the most and you're going to see. And then the reality is in the US that tier two and tier three support system in manufacturing than in the chemical space that goods and services, it makes up a massive percentage of the market. So you're going to see a very compressed manufacturing base that are able to get the products. And so with that are going to come a lot of delays. You can just expect, you know, lead times to go from 2 to three weeks to six months and even pushed out further. So it's going to be interesting as the market tries to correct. We already know what these issues are doing to chemicals such as ethylene, PVC and epoxy resins. But what about the sustainable, bio based chemicals? Are they being impacted similarly or in a completely different way? So the sustainable supply chain, you know, the surfactants or the based surfactants and the chemical side have not been impacted. But what you're going to find is that a lot of the technology out there, you obviously don't have the production capacity that is built into their traditional synthetic market. So a lot of the fermentation capacity has come a long way and you're going to see them surge over the next six months because they're going to be able to produce what they can. However, what they can produce is just a fraction of what the industry needs. A lot of the vegetative sources like integrity biochem uses, they're going to be more readily available as well, but they're emerging technologies and they might not have the adoption that traditional synthetics have. So it's going to be interesting to see how quickly you can get these chemistries into the supply chain and through the regulatory side in an expedited way to make an impact. Finding solutions to these supply chain issues is something every industry is trying to figure out when it comes to chemical producers. What strategies should they implement westjet? Should they be investing in New supply chain partnerships, new chemical compounds or new production workflows? And this is what he had to say. I think it's definitely a mix. I mean, you have to be looking at alternative supply partners immediately to secure the pent up demand that is required to run your business. But, you know, in a congruent path, you need to be also looking at New technologies that might supplement or even replace some of these existing technologies. You know, one of the things I love about this industry is that innovation is born in difficult supply markets. When there's challenges out there, a lot of new stuff is developed and a lot of new markets are created. So I'm excited to see what happens. I mean, America is we are excellent at adapting. And so I think we're going to see a lot of neat new technologies emerge and a lot of sustainable products that might have been on the sidelines are going to have a shot to come in and replace some of the sympathetics that you just can't get right now. Chemical energy and its demands is something that needs to be closely evaluated, especially when it's in high demand and a supply chain process is facing as many issues as it is. For more stories of energy and its supply chain effects, be sure to head to Marcus gmail.com as well as subscribe.