According to China Chemical Manufacturing Network News, Mike Smith, vice president of IHS Chemical’s Europe, Middle East and Africa business, said recently: “The three years before the summer of 2014 will be a period of relatively stable chemical prices. And 2015 will be a period of price fluctuations. The United States has now become a newly emerging oil producer, and OPEC still maintains its decision not to reduce production. Under the expectation of oversupply in the market, global crude oil prices will continue to fluctuate sharply in 2015."

As of December 26, 2014, the IHS Material Price Index (MPI) fell by 13%. Since mid-July 2014, the index has fallen by 28%. Excluding oil, the index has fallen 24% since mid-July. In 2014, the prices of all categories in the index fell. Among them, the price of petroleum fell 46%, and the prices of other categories also fell sharply-dry bulk freight rates fell 55%; rubber and chemical prices fell 33%; fiber prices A decline of 18%.

In 2015, the global real GDP growth rate is expected to reach 3.0%, slightly higher than the growth rate of 2.7% in 2014, and the growth rate in 2016 will accelerate to 3.4%. IHS Chemical predicts that the average price of the global benchmark Brent crude oil in 2015 was US$64/barrel, and in 2016 it was US$75/barrel, which was a sharp drop from the 2014 average price of US$99/barrel.

Dewey Johnson, vice president of IHS's raw materials business, said that lower oil prices should stimulate the growth of demand for petrochemical products. On the one hand, the drop in oil prices will stimulate the acceleration of economic growth, which will lead to an increase in demand for petrochemical products, and will also increase the demand for alternative raw materials required for chemical production.