Chemical Trade Research Articles

Carbon tax to phase out coal as propylene feedstock and control upstream methane emissions in China: Based on dynamic radiative forcing

Carbon tax is a policy instrument that facilitate the phase-out of coal as a chemical feedstock and help China achieve an early carbon peak. However, the policy design is challenged by the complex dynamics of global warming potentials (GWP) from upstream methane emissions, which have a short atmospheric lifetime but a high climate impact. In this study, we compared the life-cycle GWP of two propylene production routes in China: Coal-to-Olefin (CTO) and Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH). We also conducted a cost-profit analysis that incorporates the carbon tax, considering uncertainties in the dynamic radiative forcing of methane. We derived a range of optimal carbon tax rates that can enhance the economic competitiveness of low-carbon propylene routes PDH and discourage the expansion of coal-fed CTO propylene routes. Results show that, for the propylene sector in China, the carbon tax rate should be between 86 and 600 Chinese Yuan (CNY) or 12–84 US dollars (USD) per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), which corresponds to 1–10% of the typical propylene price in the Chinese market. Our study provides spatiotemporal insights into the carbon tax for China's propylene sector to decarbonize and control upstream methane emissions. Since propylene is one of the key raw materials for chemical (e.g., plastic) productions, our analysis contributes to the climate benefits of global chemical trade.

“They Steal it from the Sultan’s Pharmacy.” Pharmaceuticals and Medicines in Early Modern Transylvania

This article examines the trade in drugs and chemicals in early modern Transylvania through various primary sources. In the first section I discuss how the correspondence of Transylvanian envoys at the Ottoman court with the Transylvanian elites suggest that certain healing products were in high demand in Transylvania. In contrast to these purchases of medicines and drugs on command, the sixteenth–seventeenth‑century rate lists, customs tarriffs, and the customs registers of Cluj and Sibiu reveal the dynamics of the trade in chemicals and drugs from Vienna or the Ottoman Empire. In the seventeenth century, the imports of these goods became more diversified.

Continuing large-scale global trade and illegal trade of highly hazardous chemicals

Pollution caused by anthropogenic chemicals contributes to interlinked planetary crises, together with climate change and biodiversity loss. One of the key treaties adopted to regulate the transboundary movements of hazardous chemicals is the Rotterdam Convention, which created a framework for countries to better handle the international trade of certain hazardous chemicals. To date, research examining the effectiveness of the Convention has been scarce. Here we analysed 66,156 trade records from the United Nations Comtrade database using a workflow that comprehensively addresses data-quality issues in the database. We found that for 46 listed chemicals, at least 64.5 megatonnes were traded in 2004–2019, and illegal trade was prevalent, reaching at least 25,324 trade records and 25.7 megatonnes. For over 70% of the listed chemicals, the Convention has played a positive role, but large-scale trade of some well-known chemicals such as tetraethyl and tetramethyl lead continues. Concerted efforts are warranted to improve how highly hazardous chemicals are traded globally, including enhancing enforcement of the Convention, addressing illegal trade and swiftly listing problematic chemicals (for example, chrysotile asbestos) in the Convention.

George E. Davis: Editing the Chemical Trade Journal, 1887–1906

This article explores George Davis’s editing of the Chemical Trades Journal (CTJ) between 1887 and 1906, a period during which he was also working as a consultant chemist and consultant chemical engineer. Davis had worked from 1870 in various sectors of the chemical industry before becoming a sub-inspector in the Alkali Inspectorate between 1878 and 1884. It was during this period that the British chemical industry was facing severe economic pressure and to remain competitive was having to adapt to less wasteful and more efficient production. Drawing on this wide industrial experience, Davis developed a framework for chemical engineering with the broad aim of making chemical manufacture as economic as the latest science and technology would allow. Several important issues are raised by Davis’s editorship of the weekly CTJ alongside his extensive consultancy work and other responsibilities: Davis’s motivation given the likely impact on his consultancy work; the community the CTJ hoped to serve; competitive periodicals addressing the same market niche; the degree of focus on his chemical engineering framework; the changing content of the CTJ; and Davis’s role as editor over a period of nearly twenty years.

Ecological unequal exchange: quantifying emissions of toxic chemicals embodied in the global trade of chemicals, products, and waste

Ecologically unequal exchange arises if more developed economies (‘core’) shift the environmental burden of their consumption and capital accumulation to less developed economies (‘periphery’/‘semi-core’). Here we demonstrate that human populations in core regions can benefit from the use of products containing toxic chemicals while transferring to the periphery the risk of human and ecological exposure to emissions associated with manufacturing and waste disposal. We use a global scale substance flow analysis approach to quantify the emissions of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), a group of flame retardants added to consumer products, that are embodied in the trade of chemicals, products and wastes between seven world regions over the 2000–2020 time period. We find that core regions have off-loaded PBDE emissions, mostly associated with the disposal of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste), to semi-core and peripheral regions in mainland China and the Global South. In core regions this results in small emissions that mostly occur during the product use phase, whereas in peripheral regions emissions are much higher and dominated by end of life disposal. The transfer of toxic chemical emissions between core and periphery can be quantified and should be accounted for when appraising the costs and benefits of global trade relationships.

Uzbekistan’s Trade Policy Liberalization. Predicted Impact of WTO Accession on Chemical Industry Trade

This paper is dedicated to the recent reforms in Uzbekistan’s foreign trade policy and the process of the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization. It pays special attention to the chemical industry trade; with the partial equilibrium model employed, expected changes in imports of chemicals, budget revenues and consumer welfare are revealed. Two scenarios — mere tariff reduction or abolition of country-specific discrimination practices in imports — are considered. Results show that, in the former case, imports of chemical products and consumer welfare will slightly increase and budget revenues will decline; the outcome in the latter case differs: budget revenues will grow considerably, whereas imports and consumer welfare will decrease. We conclude in the latter case that the negative effect will be outweighed by creating a fairer, more competitive environment thanks to removing discrimination practices such as import-specific excise taxes and exemptions on import duty payments for state companies.

О целесообразности внедрения цикла специальной подготовки врачей-токсикологов по теме «Химикаты двойного назначения — потенциал для создания современного химического оружия»

Актуальность. Химикаты двойного назначения и их потенциальное воздействие являются постоянным объектом наблюдения со стороны многих международных организаций, однако данная информация до сих пор не нашла должного отражения в учебных программах подготовки военных токсикологов. Цель. Подтверждение актуальности расширения спектра знаний по токсикологии химикатов двойного назначения и разработки цикла тематического усовершенствования по этому вопросу. Материалы и методы. Проанализированы материалы Организации по запрещению химического оружия, Австралийской группы, Организации по безопасности и сотрудничеству в Европе по вопросам международного регулирования химического и токсичного оружия. Результаты. Автором обобщены ключевые компоненты системы международного наблюдения за химическими веществами — компонентами химического оружия, дана характеристика химикатов двойного назначения. Представленные списки химикатов подразделяются в зависимости от степени потенциального риска и масштаба коммерческого применения. Подчеркивается, что в учебных программах последипломной подготовки военных врачей преимущественно уделяется внимание изучению оружия массового поражения на основе методологии, разработанной еще во времена Второй мировой войны. Учитывая вышеизложенное, существует необходимость пересмотра учебных программ последипломной подготовки военных врачей с целью создания возможности приобретения слушателями знаний по токсикологии химикатов двойного назначения и современных международных норм их наблюдения и регулирования. Выводы. В современных условиях существует необходимость совершенствования учебных программ последипломной подготовки военных врачей в аспекте изучения токсикологии химикатов двойного назначения и международных норм их контроля.

Asia’s Chemical Distribution Market: The final Frontier for Mergers and Acquisitions!

The chemical distribution business had undergone huge transformational changes globally, through mergers and acquisitions, by both strategic buyers and private equity firms. The industry consolidation process in Europe and North America which started many years ago is now being shifted to Asia. There is very little research being done on Asia’s chemical distribution market size and the major chemical distributors. Asia’s chemical industry enjoyed tremendously high growth in the past years, and coupled with the highly fragmented chemical marketplace, it offers huge scope for consolidation. The lack of information and clarity in Asia’s chemical distribution sector has somewhat impeded the pace of the consolidation process. A clearer knowledge of the chemical distribution market size, and the key players in the market, itself would help potential investors enormously in their decision making to expedite the mergers and acquisitions process.
 The research findings can serve as a compass for potential investors to navigate through Asia when searching out for potential targets and would offer investors a much-needed informational tool to know where to look to invest in. Literature review on existing publications, chemical industry trade publications, and chemical distribution associations will provide the background information for this research.

Multiple Response Optimization in Machining (Milling) of Graphene Oxide-Doped Epoxy/CFRP Composite Using CoCoSo-PCA: A Novel Hybridization Approach

Graphene oxide (GO)-doped CFRP composites possess excellent mechanical properties for high-performance products of aircraft, defense, biomedical and chemical trades. This paper highlights a novel hybridization of the combined compromise solution-principal component analysis (CoCoSo-PCA) method to optimize multiple correlated responses during CNC milling of GO-doped epoxy/CFRP. The influence of process constraints like drill speed ([Formula: see text]), feed rate ([Formula: see text]), Depth of cut ([Formula: see text]) and GO wt.% (GO) on machining performances like MRR, cutting force ([Formula: see text]) and Surface roughness ([Formula: see text]) has investigated. Taguchi [Formula: see text] orthogonal array considered for machining (milling) of composite by using Titanium aluminium nitride (TiAlN) milling cutter ([Formula: see text][Formula: see text]mm). A multivariate hybrid approach based on combined multiplication rule was utilized to evaluate the ranking of the alternatives decision process and optimize responses. ANOVA reveals that spindle speed (82.24%) is the most influential factor trailed by feed rate (5.02%), depth of cut (0.55%) and GO wt.% (2.17%). This module has fruitfully tackled critical issues such as response priority weight assignment and response correlation. Finally, CoCoSo-PCA shows the higher predicted value of 9.06 and confirmatory test performed on optimum settings as [Formula: see text] RPM, [Formula: see text]-160[Formula: see text]mm/rev [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]mm and GO-1%, which show a satisfactory agreement with actual ones for favorable machining environment.

Supplying synthetic opioids during a pandemic: An early look at North America

International commerce and travel have been restricted in order to limit the spread of COVID-19. The illegal trafficking in drugs, which is often concealed in other commercial activity, will be affected by these disruptions. This is particularly true for precursor chemicals, controlled substances of synthetic origin, and new psychoactive substances coming from Asia. China hosts large and under-regulated pharmaceutical and chemical sectors that provide many of the active ingredients used both in legitimate medicines and illicit fentanyl and methamphetamine. Unregulated producers and vendors in China have been supplying drug trafficking organizations in Mexico or using the internet and postal service to directly sell fentanyl to buyers in North America. The magnitude of supply shortages and interrupted trade of chemicals and synthetic drugs coming from China will depend on the breadth and depth of COVID-19’s disruptions. In turn, this could impact vulnerable drug-using populations. Drawing on historical accounts of prior supply disruptions, this commentary offers some initial speculation as to the possible effects of COVID-19 on the supply of synthetic drugs like fentanyl and precursor chemicals supplied to North America from China, which may have important lessons for other parts of the globe. Prior supply disruptions coincided with elevated prices and reduced purities of street drugs as well as increases in the number of users entering treatment. However, it is challenging to predict how developments will unfold given the unprecedented nature of this pandemic. A short-term breakdown in supply chains, interrupted trade, or social distancing mandates may not have much of an effect on the availability of synthetic drugs. Yet, disruptions in trade for months or years could shape how drugs are supplied or used. Drug policy will need to evaluate market indicators as soon as they are available but responding now with expanded medication therapies, like methadone, may help save lives. The drug policy landscape could look different in a post-COVID world.

New Redox Strategies in Organic Synthesis by Means of Electrochemistry and Photochemistry.

As the breadth of radical chemistry grows, new means to promote and regulate single-electron redox activities play increasingly important roles in driving modern synthetic innovation. In this regard, photochemistry and electrochemistry—both considered as niche fields for decades—have seen an explosive renewal of interest in recent years and gradually have become a cornerstone of organic chemistry. In this Outlook article, we examine the current state-of-the-art in the areas of electrochemistry and photochemistry, as well as the nascent area of electrophotochemistry. These techniques employ external stimuli to activate organic molecules and imbue privileged control of reaction progress and selectivity that is challenging to traditional chemical methods. Thus, they provide alternative entries to known and new reactive intermediates and enable distinct synthetic strategies that were previously unimaginable. Of the many hallmarks, electro- and photochemistry are often classified as “green” technologies, promoting organic reactions under mild conditions without the necessity for potent and wasteful oxidants and reductants. This Outlook reviews the most recent growth of these fields with special emphasis on conceptual advances that have given rise to enhanced accessibility to the tools of the modern chemical trade.

Synthetic Chemical Trade as a Potential Driver of Global Health Disparities and Data Gaps on Synthetic Chemicals in Vulnerable Populations.

Most research on toxic exposures in vulnerable populations focuses on air pollution. Synthetic chemical production, however, is a multi-billion-dollar industry that lacks appropriate international regulation to protect those exposed to toxic chemicals. This paper aims to describe the country-level import and export of key groups of synthetic chemicals using data from the United Nations Comtrade Database and provide a narrative review of the evidence from January 2018 to August 2019 on exposure to, health effects of, and interventions to reduce synthetic chemicals in vulnerable populations around the world. Generally, a small number of high-income countries export the majority of synthetic chemicals, while most low-income countries import more chemicals than they export, which may contribute to higher levels of synthetic chemicals in those settings. However, few studies have quantified exposures to synthetic chemicals in low- and middle-income countries, the health effects of such exposures, or interventions to mitigate exposures. Synthetic chemicals continue to enter markets despite our limited knowledge of their effects on human health, particularly in the most vulnerable populations. We need more research to understand the health impacts of these pervasive exposures.

The global diffusion of environmental clubs: how pressure from importing countries supports the chemical industry’s Responsible Care® program

Abstract Environmental clubs have proliferated across sectors and issue areas. We examine the diffusion of the chemical industry’s Responsible Care® (RC) program. Much of the work on the diffusion of clubs has focused on the demand side: why firms join these clubs despite the costs of doing so. There is some work focusing on the supply side: why actors establish or create a new club. However, there is virtually no work examining why national-level industry associations decide to subscribe to an existing global environmental club in order to make it available to their members. Industry organizations in 17 lower and middle-income countries have joined RC, comprising 25 percent of RC members. We ask, in the context of developing countries, what motivates national associations to join RC? Drawing on an original dataset of RC global diffusion in 195 countries (1985–2017), we estimate a Cox proportional hazards model of the risk of joining RC. We find that RC adoption is more likely when a country exports chemicals to other countries that have joined RC (the California effect) and is unaffected by the total volume of its chemical trade. Thus, while exposure to global markets per se may not influence RC adoption, incentives change considerably when countries’ key importers signal their support for these environmental practices. This is because importing firms often realize that because they have joined Responsible Care, NGOs and stakeholders expect them to demand that their overseas suppliers adopt the same sort of environmental policies and work place safety practices. In addition, peer pressure and learning matter: RC adoption is more likely when countries in close physical vicinity (e.g., within 500 miles) have joined the club. Finally, domestic factors play a role as well: both the level of democracy and the size of the economy encourage national associations to join RC.

New Scholarship

New Scholarship

Chemical trade group names new CEO

The American Chemistry Council, the US chemical industry’s main trade association, has named Christopher L. Jahn as its new CEO, effective late October, 2019. Jahn will replace Cal Dooley, who has led ACC since 2008 and announced his retirement last year. Jahn currently leads the Fertilizer Institute and previously led the National Association of Chemical Distributors.

An Empirical Study on the Development of China’s Chemical Trade

Based on the trade data from 2008 to 2017, this paper empirically analyzes the development of China’s chemical trade. The scale of China’s chemical trade has expanded year by year, trade has been in a state of deficit, and the concentration of import and export commodity structure is high. The overall performance of chemical trade is trade competition disadvantage and comparative disadvantage. More than half of the classified products are characterized by trade competition disadvantages and comparative disadvantages. Products with export advantages have weak competition. Therefore, China should actively promote enterprises to go global and expand export channels, cultivate emerging products and pay attention to innovation, to improve the competitive advantage of products and promote the sustainable and healthy development of chemical trade. With the continuous adjustment of the world industrial structure, the chemical industry has become the economic growth point of modern industry. Chemical trade is an important part of world trade. In 2017, the world trade volume reached 483.9 billion US dollars. The chemical industry is the foundation and pillar industry of China. It has always occupied an important position in China’s foreign trade. The scale of trade has been increasing year by year. It sorts out the development of China’s chemical trade and proposes countermeasures in a targeted manner, which is conducive to the sustainable and healthy development of China’s chemical trade

Act 2 for chemical e-commerce

Count e-commerce in the chemical industry among the flops of the dot-com boom and bust. Not that the major chemical companies didn’t make a go of it, individually and in partnerships, in the early 2000s. But efforts to launch Amazon-like web catalogs for buying and selling chemicals petered out quickly; the companies that remained in business pivoted to developing online logistics tools and other services. It seemed that trade in chemicals—more involved than selling books and consumer items—was too complex an undertaking for the shiny new thing called a web portal. Nowadays, however, people buy Porsches online. Businesses are thoroughly acclimated to cloud computing, and web services have matured to the point at which once-complex transactions are routine. So chemical purveyors are trying again. In recent months, several web platforms have emerged for selling chemicals via online catalogs. This time, executives maintain, the chemical industry is ready to make e-commerce

Chemical industry and value-added trade – A comparative study on Hungary and Poland

Nowadays, global production networks (GPN) and global value chains (GVC) play an important role in the world economy intensifying the trade and production networks and resulting in products having value-added in different countries. The analysis of how many intermediate products a country imports in order to produce a product and of how many products a country exports to another country in order to produce new products draws the attention to value-added trade. In the present study, we compare the Hungarian and Polish value-added trade of chemicals and chemical products. We use the OECD-WTO data of value-added trade, which is based on an input-output table. By calculating numerous indices, we reveal that the domestic value-added of chemicals and chemical products in the two countries was relatively low and should be increased by adequate economic policy.

Dangerous Exposures: Visualizing Work and Waste in the Victorian Chemical Trades

AbstractCheshire, Britain, and the towns of Widnes and St. Helens, where many of the world's first chemical factories and towns were created in the nineteenth century, is an especially important place to study historical responses to industrial pollution and its social costs. This paper, based on newly recovered archival sources about the Victorian alkali industry, explores the role of visual imagery, particularly drawings and lantern slides, in materializing the connection between labor in chemical trades, the disposal of waste, and poor health outcomes for diverse communities in the late nineteenth century. The paper will focus on the writer Robert Sherard's article “White Slaves of England” (1897), a work that, more than many of its time, drew national attention to the plight of nineteenth-century chemical workers by pictorializing the ways that work in heavy chemical industries, many of them involving waste and its disposal, affected individual workers and their lives. The paper concludes with critical reflections on the current state of scholarship on images, waste, and labor, areas for more needed work, and paths forward.

Seaborne chemical trade prospects

The number of chemical products transported by sea is very high. They have different physical and chemical properties, and thus come together in very different ways when they are released into the water. In response, the environmental modeling impact is difficult, and consequently, the co-operation and preparation for potential accidents are particularly essential. The high demand for chemical substances due to a high volume of transport, which is worldwide continually growing. The chemical products transport is different from the oils and petroleum products transport and requires special vessels, specialized equipment, and complicated handling, but also the specialized training of the company, both theoretically and practically. Those involved need to understand the nature of the different substances and to be aware of the possible perils involved in their manipulation. Maritime transport of goods implies enormous costs and requires significant investments. Therefore, governments impose stricter regulations and restrictions on environmental protection. It is expected that such regulations will restrict the market in the long run. It is also expected that geopolitical issues and political instability will limit the offer for chemical products transport.