As demand for transport falters, and with the Middle East fighting for market share, crude oil prices may continue their downward spiral, eventually boosting chemicals demand.

- Low oil prices put money into consumers’ pockets

- Petrochemicals demand will eventually benefit from lower oil prices

- Destocking down value chains initially masks demand boost

- But trade war will likely dampen global economy, chemicals demand

- China’s move to electric vehicles will reduce crude oil demand

- Oversupply means oil price decline likely to continue

- Trade war, demand trends will drive changes in China petrochemicals

Demand in the EU and US epoxy markets remains muted and the sentiment has become even more cautious, as players navigate the changing and complex tariff landscape.

In this podcast, senior editor Heidi Finch, who covers the Europe epoxy market and fellow senior editor Tarun Raizada, who covers the US epoxy market, share insights on key topics including tariffs, effects on sentiment, demand and profitability struggles.

• Europe epoxy sentiment diluted in April; as Trump tariffs add to demand caution; competition from South Korea and within Europe
• US epoxy price momentum slowed in April as players scrambled to assess impact on supply chain after duty/tariff fallout
• Profitability still a challenge; but benzene drop in Europe provides some relief
• Sentiment cautious in US moving forward as demand outlook far less favorable amid extended tariff uncertainty
• Trump tariffs cast a cloud over the downstream outlook, EU players hope trade deals will be reached

Podcast editing by Nick Cleeve

From Trump's tough tariffs talk to pivotal recycling legislation, ICIS senior analysts and editors pick their top themes from the 11th ICIS World Polyolefins Conference in Cologne.

Joining senior editor manager Vicky Ellis on the podcast are senior editor Ben Lake, senior analyst for PE Lorenzo Meazza, ICIS consultant Les Bottomley, senior recycling analyst Egor Dementev and senior analyst Alex Tomczyk.

They discuss highlights from the conference, including examples of tariffs from US' history, how Europe's market views the tariffs headache, one speaker's view that AI could be “better at purchasing chemicals” than human buyers, and how polyolefins must get their head out of the sand on Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) rules or lose to other packaging.