Thursday, November 29, 2018

Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert – November 2018


The purpose of this blog is to identify chemical and metal shortages reported on the Internet.  The sources of the information reported here are primarily news releases issued on the Internet.  The issue period of the news releases is November 2018.

Section I below lists those chemicals and metals that were on the previous month’s Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert list and continue to have news releases indicating they are in short supply. 
Click here to read the October 2018 Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert list.

Section II lists the new chemicals and metals (not on the October alert).  Also provided is some explanation for the shortage and geographical information.  This blog attempts to list only actual shortage situations – those shortages that are being experienced during the period covered by the news releases.  Chemicals and metals identified in news releases as only being in danger of being in short supply status are not listed.

Section I.  

None

Section II.   Shortages Reported in November not found on the Previous Month’s List

o-chloronitrobenzene: United States; sources no longer available

Reasons for Section II shortages can be broadly categorized as: 

1.  Mining not keeping up with demand: none
2.  Production not keeping up with demand: none
3.  Government regulations: none
4.  Sources no longer available: o-chloronitrobenzene
5.  Insufficient imports:  none
6.  Supply not keeping up with demand: none



Friday, November 23, 2018

Some Data on Synthetic and Natural Rubber Production and Revenues


Based on Internet research, global data on recent synthetic and natural rubber production and revenues are presented in tables 1, 2, and 3.  The data comes from a variety of sources, for example, various market studies.  Amounts provided at these studies can very, for example, 2017 synthetic rubber production might be given as 14.8 or 15.3 million metric tons (mt).  So, a “best guess” average or median is used in the tables.  The tables’ data are met only to be approximate; best used in comparing difference magnitudes in production and revenues from year to year and between rubber types.

table 1    year
synthetic rubber production (millions of mt)
price per mt (synthetic rubber)
synthetic rubber revenues (millions usd)
2014
14.2
 $                2,600
 $            36,920
2015
14.5
 $                2,100
 $            30,450
2016
14.8
 $                2,024
 $            29,955
2017
15.1
 $                2,022
 $            30,532


  table 2     year
natural rubber production (millions of mt)
price per mt (natural rubber)
natural rubber revenues (millions usd)
2014
12.1
 $                1,950
 $            23,595
2015
12.3
 $                1,560
 $            19,188
2016
12.7
 $                1,378
 $            17,501
2017
13.2
 $                1,651
 $            21,793


       table 3
synthetic rubber name
2017 production (millions of mt)
2017 average price per mt
2017 revenues (millions usd)
styrene butadiene (sbr)
5.1
 $                2,000
 $            10,268
polybutadiene (br)
3.6
 $                1,900
 $              6,886
polyisoprene rubber (ir)
0.8
 $                2,800
 $              2,114
butyl rubber (iir)
1.2
 $                2,400
 $              2,899
nitrile rubber (nbr)
0.6
 $                2,800
 $              1,691
ethylene propylene diene monomer (epdm)
1.4
 $                2,700
 $              3,669
totals
12.7

 $            27,527


Comparisons between table 1 and table 2 are interesting in that synthetic and natural rubber compete with one another, based on various factors.  From the tables, we see that synthetic rubber is used from 1.4 to 1.7 times more than natural rubber (on a global basis).  These differences should represent the various factors that go into decisions on replacing synthetic with natural rubber or vice versa in products.   Also, the tables show (assuming the price per mt data, which are approximate annual averages, are correct) that natural rubber tends to be from 70 to 80% cheaper per metric ton than synthetic rubber.

Table 3 shows six frequently-used polymers identified as rubbers.  The table shows the total 2017 production for these six as 12.7 million metric tons.   This amount differs from the table 1 2017 synthetic rubber production (15.1 million mt) because other rubber-like polymers are also manufactured (other than the six in table 3).   And tables 1 and 3 suggest that about 2.4 million metric tons (15.1 - 12.7) of these other polymers were produced in 2017.





Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Financial Benchmarking Data for Small Chemical Companies


A Canadian Government’s website provides financial data for small Canadian chemical companies.  Click here to go to this website.  The data is based on reporting to the Canadian Government by approximately 2,000 chemical companies ranging in size form $30,000 (Canadian dollars) to $5 million in revenues.   Income statement data are provided, but not balance sheet data.   The average revenue for all companies is $816,900 and 72.4% of the companies are profitable.  The average gross profit margin percentage is 48.1 percent.

The Canadian site provides data for companies offering the following products: basic chemicals; resins, synthetic rubber, and artificial and synthetic fibers and filaments; pesticide, fertilizer, and other agriculture chemicals; pharmaceuticals and medicines; paints, coatings, and adhesives; and soap, cleaning, and toilet preparations.

The United States Census Bureau has income and balance sheet data for chemical companies with total assets less than $25 million.  Click here to go this data (pdf file).  Assets of less than $25 million suggest companies similar in size to the companies represented at the Canadian government site.  The US Census Bureau data includes balance sheet data, while the Canadian data does not.   However, the US income data does not include cost of sales, so that gross profit margin percentages cannot be computed.  The US data also report on chemical companies by product offerings.

Such financial data for smaller companies, as given by the Canadian and US governments, can be difficult to find.  This data can be valuable to smaller chemical companies interested in benchmarking their financial data to other similar-sized companies offering similar products.


Thursday, November 1, 2018

Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert – October 2018


The purpose of this blog is to identify chemical and metal shortages reported on the Internet.  The sources of the information reported here are primarily news releases issued on the Internet.  The issue period of the news releases is October 2018.

Section I below lists those chemicals and metals that were on the previous month’s Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert list and continue to have news releases indicating they are in short supply. 
Click here to read the September 2018 Chemical and Metal Shortage Alert list.

Section II lists the new chemicals and metals (not on the September alert).  Also provided is some explanation for the shortage and geographical information.  This blog attempts to list only actual shortage situations – those shortages that are being experienced during the period covered by the news releases.  Chemicals and metals identified in news releases as only being in danger of being in short supply status are not listed.

Section I.  

None

Section II.   Shortages Reported in October not found on the Previous Month’s List

Adiponitrile – nylon 6,6:  global; production not keeping up with demand
Coal:  India; supply not keeping up with demand

Reasons for Section II shortages can be broadly categorized as: 

1.  Mining not keeping up with demand: none
2.  Production not keeping up with demand: adiponitrile
3.  Government regulations: none
4.  Sources no longer available: none
5.  Insufficient imports:  none
6.  Supply not keeping up with demand: coal