The chemical tanker shipping market has been strongly supported by specialised trades and clean petroleum products (CPP) demand during the second quarter of the year. Although many newbuildings were delivered, the market has been able to absorb the extra tonnage, according to the latest edition of the Chemical Forecaster, published by global shipping consultancy Drewry.
Marquis Management was hit with a huge, sudden influx of crude oil shipments at its terminal on the Mississippi River. The company scrambled to find a planning and execution system that could cope with the surge of business.
The growth rate of the large and diverse chemical industry in North America tends to track GDP, but a confluence of factors is expected to accelerate the industry's growth relative to the overall economy during the next five to ten years. By the end of this period, the U.S. - representing more than 80 percent of the North American chemical market - will be a larger net exporter of chemicals than it is today.
Thanks to advancing capabilities and greater accessibility, the use of drones is continuing to increase. In fact, global drone sales reached $4.3m in 2015, a 167-percent jump from two years ago. This surge should come as no surprise as people find more and more useful ways to put drones to work.
The market for so-called "safer chemistry" is set to outpace the overall global chemical market during the current decade. Companies are reducing their use and generation of hazardous substances, creating safer products and lowering the impact of processes on human health and the environment. The impetus comes from a combination of tightening regulations and demand from consumers for more sustainable products.
The boom in natural gas production in the U.S. is "rippling downstream" to the plastics industry, and chemical companies will need to invest more in export logistics facilities as they ramp up U.S. plastics production, says Owen Kean, senior director of the American Chemistry Council. "For the most part, what's happening in the chemical industry is largely an export story."
Chemical shipping faces another tough year, but prospects are improving thanks to the strength of the product tanker market which is attracting a growing number of swing ships out of chemicals into products, according to the latest edition of the Chemical Forecaster, published by global shipping consultancy Drewry.
Hydraulic fracturing has contaminated some drinking water sources, but the damage is not widespread, according to a landmark U.S. study of water pollution risks that has supporters of the drilling method declaring victory and foes saying it revealed reason for concern.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration's annual energy outlook - which was released earlier this spring - anticipated that the industrial sector's energy demand would outpace all other sectors through 2040, and a just-released EIA report projected that bulk chemicals would account for a "large portion of both consumption and anticipated growth," with the value of chemical shipments increasing from $288bn in 2013 to $429bn in 2025.