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The chemicals industry has been subjected to the same wave of consolidations as the refining and polymers industries. While some of the fundamentals are driven by industry sector interference, e.g., polymers and petroleum, there are other fundamentals at work as well (e.g., globalization). Increasingly, chemical companies are seeking differentiation competitively through (1) integration along the value-chain, (2) process technology steps that provide step-out cost advantage from their peers by product line, and (3) IT solutions that reduce the cost of doing business, now and in the future, while maintaining or improving margins.
In most subsegments in chemicals production, with the exception of true commodities, e.g., ammonia, sulfuric/nitric acids, fertilizers, etc, technology changes will continue to provide improvements. In the chemicals industry (as opposed to in polymers), the process technology developments are expected to be dominated by the producers who develop them, since the greatest value added is derived from the product costs and/or pricing advantages. By comparison, raw material plus production cost represents a lower portion of the overall transaction cost, with sales/marketing and distribution (due to smaller volumes) costs being higher. Hence, the technical trend toward lower cost feedstock process developments, e.g., olefins to alkanes.
The combination of new lower-cost feedstocks, new catalysis, and reduction in the chain of production steps to end-use chemical products are still a powerful driving force. Single-site, selective oxidation, combinatorial catalysis, and biocatalysis are rapidly changing these scientific platforms for many companies.
The Catalyst Group offers a variety of services for clients in the chemicals industries:
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