Leading Players of the Global Petrochemical Industry

Exclusive extracts from this 67-page-long report:

- Who are the key players?

In recent years, many players have benefited from persistently low hydrocarbon prices, generating higher margins for pure chemical producers (such as DowDuPont) or the downstream operations of integrated oil & gas groups (such as BASF, Total or ExxonMobil). At the other end of the spectrum, integrated companies' oil & gas extraction, production, refining and marketing operations have been deeply impacted by the fall in prices. Furthermore, low oil prices have narrowed the gap between the production costs of gas-based ethylene in the US and global petroleum-based ethylene. [...]

Groups analysed in this report include: Exxon Mobil Corp, Total, BASF, DowDuPont, Reliance Industries, Sabic, Mitsubishi Chemical, LyondellBasell Industries, LG Chem and Sumitomo Chemical

- What are the players' strategies?

With the goal of diversifying its portfolio of higher-value petrochemical products, ExxonMobil seeks to invest in integrated manufacturing complexes that combine refining with the manufacture of lubricants, chemicals and LNG. According to its “Growing the Gulf” blueprint, Exxon will invest €16bn in 11 major facilities in Texas and Louisiana over 2013-2022. The recently unveiled JV with SABIC is part of this programme. Other projects are the 650,000 tonnes-per-year polyethylene plant in Mont Belvieu, Texas, which became operational at the end of 2017. Increased capacity will allow Exxon to boost export volumes “in Asia and elsewhere”. […]

- What are the players' key growth and profitability drivers?

Reliance Industries' Refining and Petrochemicals businesses, which respectively accounted for 53% and 27% of its total sales in 2017, again posted strong growth in 2017 (+17% and +32%, respectively), driven by rising demand and higher selling prices. Moreover, the Indian company recorded a record profitability thanks to investments designed to shift to cost-competitive ethane as a primary raw material. [...]

1. Overview

1.1. The Sector

1.2. Ranking

1.3. Performance Analysis

2. Company Profiles

2.1. Total

2.2. BASF

2.3. DowDuPont

2.4. SABIC

2.5. LyondellBasell

2.6. Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings

2.7. Exxon Mobil - Chemical

2.8. LG Chem

2.9. Sumitomo Chemical

2.10. Reliance Industries

3. Sources

4. Annexes

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