Impact on Global Chemical Industry Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
By Research and Markets | 04.15.20
The chemical industry plays an important role in the production of countless products such as plastic, fertilizers, medicines, packaging products and so on. With the widespread of the coronavirus, many production facilities of several end-user industries have been halted. With this, the demand for chemicals used in these facilities has been declined.
For instance, the large butadiene derivatives such as polybutadiene rubber and styrene-butadiene rubber are among the major components to produce auto tires and other auto parts including hoses, belts, and gaskets. With the halt in production facilities of several automobile manufacturers, a steep fall in the supply of tires in automotive industries has been witnessed. Thus, the continuing spread of COVID-19 across the globe is likely to impact demand chemicals.
However, with the outbreak of this pandemic, a light rise in the demand for the packaging materials has been increased to prevent the contamination of food, medicine, personal care, and medical products thereby creating a significant demand for chemicals involved in the packaging industry.
Based on chemical type, the industry is segmented into petrochemicals, basic inorganic, polymers, specialty chemicals, consumer chemicals, and others. Due to the downfall in crude oil prices, the market of petrochemical is expected to be most affected. Based on geography, the global chemical industry is classified into four key regions, including North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World.
Asia-Pacific is anticipated to get highly affected by the spread of the COVID-19 due to the effect of the pandemic in China, Japan, and India. China is the epic center of this lethal disease. China is a major country in terms of the chemical industry.
As per the CEFIC Chemdata International, in 2018, the chemical sales in China hold for around $1.32 trillion. According to the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA), China is the eighth largest chemical importing nation and the twelfth largest chemical exporting nation across the globe. After China, the US is anticipated to get majorly impacted by the spread of COVID- 19.
