In this episode, Paul Chapman, Managing Partner of HC, discusses the chemicals markets with Peter Staartjes. Peter is the Founder and CEO of Andino, an international chemicals fulfilment and logistics business, and former CEO of Brenntag Latin America.
Chemicals are key drivers of the commodities sector across hydrocarbons, agriculture, and metals and mining. The majority of chemicals themselves are commodities and face the same pressures as the rest of the sector from price transparency, digitisation, and consolidation and integration along the value chains. There are outside pressures too, as fulfilment companies and tech plays seek to disrupt the sector. Producers and merchants across the values chains are tempted to push into specialties to seek yield and stable markets, driving its own challenges.
With a 30-year career in building and running chemical merchants, Peter joins us to help navigate this crucial segment of the commodities markets.
How is the chemicals sector categorised and what is its economic scale and importance? How has the market, opportunities, and participants changed in response to the pressures all commodity markets face from disintermediation and digitisation? Why has it been a challenging space for traditional commodity producers and traders? The chemicals sector remains fragmented compared to other commodities – is this an opportunity for the big commodity houses? Are Amazon and Alibaba a threat? Can chemicals companies be both commodity and specialty focused? How has Covid-19 affected the sector? How do the chemicals markets compete for human capital?
The HC Insider Podcast
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