Four major trends in the development of the global chemical industry

The high-end and differentiated development of products has become an important trend. The emergence of new products is becoming more and more difficult, and more and more enterprises in developed economies focus on research and development to extend the function of existing products or use them together. Functional chemicals represented by new chemical materials and special chemicals have undergone rapid development. In packaging materials, automotive lightweight, electronic chemicals, building materials, new energy and other fields to form a large number of high-end and functional chemicals portfolio. Now this trend will gradually be passed on to developing emerging economies, creating higher value and more market opportunities.

Product innovation is important, but the combination of product portfolio and service solutions is still the model to achieve the highest profit margin. Most of the leading multinational chemical companies in the concept of innovative development and restructuring, the pursuit of upper and lower priorities (cost advantages and technological advantages) :

① Commanding heights of raw material utilization technology

Such as methane to ethylene technology, artificial light synthesis technology, carbon recycling technology. In addition, the technology of ethane dehydrogenation, propane dehydrogenation, isobutane dehydrogenation to produce isobutene, and n-butane dehydrogenation to produce n-butene is also maturing.

② The demand of the end market

One level is to provide high quality products and integrated solutions for industrial users, extend the industrial chain, improve enterprise efficiency, and enhance market competitiveness; The other level is to focus on human life itself, putting the focus and commanding heights of innovation and development in medical, health care and life sciences.

The global chemical industry is also striving to change from "end-management" to "whole-process production control" to achieve green, low-carbon and circular development. At the same time for energy saving and emission reduction, environmental protection to provide advanced solutions and technical products, whether it is the traditional "three wastes" treatment and improve the efficiency of energy and resources use, or reduce and control greenhouse gas emissions, the chemical industry will have a great deal to do.

In general, the focus of innovation and development of multinational companies in the next 10 years is at the high-end of the industry's technological structure, closely focusing on life sciences, new chemical materials, new chemical energy, special chemicals and environmental protection technology, accelerating original innovation and characteristic innovation, striving to achieve new breakthroughs in industrial technology, and striving to create new advantages to occupy the future competitive heights.

4. Digital revolution: Deep integration with information technology

Chemical industry has been integrated with biological industry, environmental industry, service industry and financial industry for a long time, and the new trend is to further integrate with the information industry. Chemical professional e-commerce, chemical industry Internet, industrial Internet is gradually advancing and deepening. Chemical enterprises in ERP, MES and other systems integration implementation and application, the integration of chemical industry and the Internet has gradually evolved from online and data to intelligent.

From the "Industry 4.0" and "re-industrialization" strategies proposed by developed countries in Europe and the United States, to the "Internet +" and "Made in China 2025" vigorously promoted by China, chemical companies are reshaping the industrial chain with the deep application of the Internet and information technology. Industry consensus believes that in the face of the baptism of the new round of industrial revolution at home and abroad and the status quo and trend of information construction of domestic enterprises, the chemical industry to create "four-chain integration" (production and finance value chain, industrial value chain, ecological value chain, enterprise manufacturing value chain), technology integration, data integration, security integration and innovation integration as the characteristics of the smart enterprise has become an inevitable direction.

In essence, digitalization is part of the innovation drive, but its importance lies in the fact that the field of digitalization will replace product innovation and solutions as the main battlefield for chemical companies in the next stage of competition, and leading chemical companies such as BASF are actively embracing the digital wave as a top-level strategy. Digitalization not only reduces costs and increases efficiency, but also new business models, technology development models, and organizational models are emerging.