US tariffs worsen challenges in petrochemical industry, executives warn

U.S. tariffs are increasingly pressuring the already challenged petrochemicals sector and could lead to a 15% drop in the global petrochemical trade, a TotalEnergies executive told the APPEC conference in Singapore on Tuesday.

“If tariffs remain in place, petrochemicals trading will see another 15% drop on top of the 34% drop it has seen in the last five years,” TotalEnergies’ head of petrochemical trading, Ganesh Gopalakrishnan, told Reuters on the sidelines of APPEC.