Chemical companies are usually considered quite conservative. But according to McKinsey and Company research, the chemical sector is among the highest-performing industries. Total return to shareholders for chemicals is nearly double that of the world equity market, and the CAGR for the period from June 2008 to March 2015 for the chemical industry runs about 9 percent, compared to 6 percent for all markets. Clearly the industry has been doing something right.
As ports struggle to cope with a global oil glut, huge queues of supertankers have formed in some of the world's busiest sea lanes, where some 200 million barrels of crude lies waiting to be loaded or delivered.
The vertically integrated agriculture and food producer takes on the job of overhauling its supply, demand and logistics-planning systems, while opening a major new production plant.
Across industries, companies have been intensifying their focus on cybersecurity. This is a direct consequence of the expanding role that digitization is playing in their business and operating models and the demonstrated potential for significant damage resulting from a successful cyberattack.
First Solar sets out to create a centralized network that will allow it to share forecast data with suppliers upstream, and customers downstream. Systems analyst Cameron Sulfaro describes the initiative, and what it has achieved to date.
Tankers are currently the most profitable vessels in shipping with the cost to charter them remaining high by comparison with other ship types. These freight rates are expected to stay steady for the next 18 months despite a delivery boom of new tankers scheduled for late 2016, according to Devlin McStay, data analyst with IHS Maritime & Trade.
Global investment in drones and robotics technologies for transmission and distribution systems is expected to total nearly $16.2bn from 2015 to 2024, according to a Navigant Research report.
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.
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