Participants at the Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference (APIC) expect chronic oversupply conditions hurting the chemical sector will start to rebalance by 2028-2030.

- China overcapacity, trade war is causing an unprecedented crisis

- Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), paraxylene (PX) in structural oversupply

- Hopes for rebalancing by 2028-2030 as plants shut down, capacity build slows

- Demand is flat but India is the exception – a beacon of growth for the region

- Taiwan, Thailand struggle to compete against China, Middle East

- Trade war will cause “cataclysmic” changes in global trade

- Sustainability still seen as a growth driver, especially for polymers

- Growing reliance on US ethane for chemical production in Asia

Cease fires on both business and war fronts are the focus of this month’s European polyethylene (PE) & polypropylene (PP) podcast, from the US and China de-escalating their eye-watering tariffs battle for 90 days, to the India-Pakistan ceasefire.

Senior editors Vicky Ellis and Ben Lake look at May’s price trends, how US-China trade relations are influencing sentiment in Europe, and are joined by senior editor Nadim Salamoun to discuss Trump's announcement regarding lifting sanctions on Syria, and how Pakistan’s market responded to its ceasefire with India.

They also highlight ICIS coverage from the latest Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference (APIC) in Thailand, including how petrochemical demand may ramp up as US lifts Syrian sanctions, how South Korea is mulling petchem rationalization, and another ICIS podcast on Asian C2 players’ survival strategies.

LONDON (ICIS)--Relatively stable demand and evolving global supply dynamics are expected in European ammonia and acrylonitrile (ACN) markets in 2025.

In this latest podcast, global ammonia editor Sylvia Tranganida and Europe ACN editor Nazif Nazmul share the latest developments and expectations for what lies ahead.

• Ammonia players are expecting European demand from the nitrates market to pick up soon
• Availability is due to tighten with scheduled turnarounds in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia
• Ammonia prices globally are softening due to a lack of major demand
• Geopolitics-led macroeconomic challenges dampen prospects of ACN derivatives demand resurgence
• Balanced-to-long ACN supply dynamics anticipated to endure