Chemicals & Energy

Oil & Gas Giant Uses Technology to Gain Efficiency, Avoid Reconciliation

June 19, 2015

Challenge: A large oil and gas corporation required a U.S. Customs broker to facilitate the clearance of 60,000 annual entries via rail and truck from Canada to the U.S. The company's complex supply chain included 12 different scenarios involving multiple locations, carriers, commodities, processes, and technology platforms. The customer sought a partner who would reduce manual entry processes, ensure Customs compliance, and streamline communication flow.

Brazil Forecast for Q3 2015: Political Risk Rises

June 18, 2015

Christian Science Monitor

Billion Dollar Revenues, Seven Factories, One Powerful Planning System

June 17, 2015

Challenge: Seven factories, seven different scheduling systems with no SAP integration. That was the challenge facing one of the world's largest manufacturers of powder coatings. The company suffered high inventory levels, sub-optimal utilization of plants, and inconsistent service levels.

Chemical Industry Urged to Pump More into Export Logistics

June 17, 2015

Wall Street Journal

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."

The Fortunes of Chemical Shipping Industry Is Boosted by Swing Vessels

June 16, 2015

Drewry

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 Causes Another Split Between Conservative and Liberal State

June 11, 2015

The Hill

Fracking is creating a new dividing line between the nation's red and blue states.

EPA Finds Fracking Not Responsible for Widespread Environmental Damage

June 10, 2015

Bloomberg

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.

Bulk Chemical Production Expected to Fuel Industrial Energy Consumption Increases for Next 25 Years

June 4, 2015

Manufacturing.net

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.

Tanker Operators Tie Their Prosperity to Decreased Shale Oil Production, Boost in Oil Imports

June 4, 2015

Drewry

How much U.S. shale oil production is taken out of service will be a key driver of future tanker shipping earnings, according to the latest edition of the Tanker Forecaster, published by global shipping consultancy Drewry.

Increases Predicted for Long-term Energy Costs

June 4, 2015

Worldwatch Institute

Although gas prices are temporarily low at the pump, long-term energy costs are on the rise. According to State of the World 2015 contributing author Nathan John Hagens, a former hedge fund manager who teaches human macro-ecology at the University of Minnesota, nations are papering over those costs with debt. Higher energy costs are leading to continued recessions, excess claims on future natural resources, and more-severe social inequality and poverty.

Chemicals & Energy

The latest supply-chain news, analysis, trends and tools for executives in the chemicals and energy industries. Learn how chemical and energy companies and their suppliers around the world are managing the flow of products across all channels of the enterprise. Experts sound off on forecasting and demand planning, supply-chain visibility, logistics outsourcing, inventory optimization, transportation management, warehouse management, supply-chain security, corporate social responsibility and more.