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Industry Insight

Representation of AI tools in the chemicals industry.

4 min read

Artificial Intelligence and the Chemical Supply Chains of the Future

The benefits that automated process and artificial intelligence (AI) bring to chemistry laboratories and chemical engineering development are...

Image shows the different routes to develop biobased monopropylene glycol

4 min read

Biobased Monopropylene Glycol: The Bumpy Road to a Decarbonized World

Monopropylene glycol (MPG) – often called simply propylene glycol – is essential to a wide range of products across a variety of industries and...

Image shows the chemical reactions for catalysing succinic acid from petrochemical-based feedstocks as opposed to a biobased route

5 min read

Biobased Succinic Acid: Is the Sustainable Route Becoming Economically Viable Once More?

A renewable technology hailed as revolutionary in the 2010s may emerge as a choice route to deliver key intermediate chemicals in the future. When...

Image shows a paintbrush overlaid on four pots of paint

4 min read

Sustainable Routes to Polyurethane

It could be considered one of the plastics world's most contradictory materials. Notoriously under-recycled due to technical difficulty, polyurethane...

Close-up of plasticizer entry in a dictionary

2 min read

Supply for Plasticisers in Europe Remains Snug but There are Challenges Ahead

2020 has been a very challenging year for European plasticizer producers. Following a terrible second quarter, as consumption, particularly in...

1 min read

Working Toward A Circular Economy in Challenging Times: The Chemical Recycling Solution

The present moment is an unprecedented challenge; for the world of engineering thermoplastics, there has been a chance to serve the needs of key...

3 min read

European Plasticisers Markets Struggle as Industry Players Fear the Recovery Will be Slow

While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused havoc in the chemical industry worldwide, plasticizer markets have been particularly affected as the main...

1 min read

What Future for Coal-To-Meg and Bio-Meg in a Low-Cost Brent World?

Since the start of 2020, we have seen Brent crude oil futures fall from just under $70/bbl to $23/bbl. MEG values followed, plummeting from $608/ton...

Woman in a mask reading a sign that says the business is closed due to COVID-19.

2 min read

How Hard Has the BA Market Been Hit by COVID-19 Lockdowns?

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed and intensified challenges within the international butyl acrylate market to an extent not previously seen....

1 min read

Biofuels and Renewable Chemicals Producers Step Up in Response to Covid-19 Crisis

As some chemical companies ramped up their production of ingredients for sanitising and disinfectant products, several biofuel companies and...

Close-up of synthetic fibers.

3 min read

Demand Found Sadly Lacking as Chinese Synthetic Fibers Emerge from Lock-Down

The Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting disruption to economies around the world has had a major impact on global synthetic fibers demand – with a...

1 min read

Where Should PET Resin and Polyester Intermediates be with Brent Crude Oil?

Everything is uncertain and challenges abound for individuals, industries and society at large in the context of today’s COVID-19 pandemic....