Episode 1489: EU, US epoxy markets faced a volatile H1, skittish geopolitics casts shadow over H2

A complex tariff landscape, geopolitical instability in the Middle East, upstream volatility and demand struggles are key talking points in the Europe and US epoxy markets.

In this podcast, Heidi Finch, who covers the Europe epoxy market, and fellow senior editor Tarun Raizada, who covers the US epoxy market, recap on what has been a very volatile and challenging H1, in particular due to unsettled US-Iran geopolitics and discuss possible expectations for the H2.

. 

• In the US, higher feedstock costs, reduced Asian imports, due to the ME war, along with tariffs supported prices in H1, while demand remained largely flat. 
• Europe prices surged during Q2, due to the ME induced war cost impacts and more domestic sourcing due to import supply chain jitters, although demand remained low
• Geopolitical uncertainty makes for a hazy H2 for both regions, managing headwinds the focus, no recovery in sight