In this edition of European Chemicals Update from Duff & Phelps, A Kroll Business, we evaluate current trends for key raw materials, prevailing investor sentiment and valuation developments in the featured agriculture sub-sector.
Top Insights:
- Key raw materials’ prices in the chemicals sector continued to increase in Q2 2021 driven by lower crude oil production. The speed of economic recovery to pre-COVID-19 levels remains an important uncertainty that can affect actual demand.
- Next, the ifo Business Climate Index for the German chemical industry remained positive in Q2 2021, with both current conditions and expectations on performance remaining positive. This indicates that German companies have strong confidence in current business activities and remain optimistic about the near future.
- Finally, in the agriculture sub-sector, featured companies show an increase in market capitalization at various degrees. Top performers, including Israel Chemicals and K+S AG, generated ca. 100% share price gains in the last 12 months while share price of KWS Saat remain stable.
