Executives warn that US tariffs are worsening challenges for the petrochemical sector.

TotalEnergies' executive said that U.S. Tariffs could cause a 15% decline in global petrochemicals trade. This was revealed at the APPEC Conference in Singapore, held on Tuesday.

Ganesh Gopalakrishnan's, TotalEnergies head of petrochemicals, said on the sidelines APPEC that if tariffs are kept in place the petrochemicals trade will drop another 15% on top of the previous 34% decline it has experienced in the last five year.

Gopalakrishnan said that a petrochemical trading house that does not own assets is struggling to survive. He added that the overcapacity has led to a 34% drop in trading over the last five years.

Sanjiv Vasudeva said that tariffs also make countries more protective, he told the conference.

Vasudeva stated that the volatility and overcapacity have made it more difficult to plan short-term investments.

Bahrin Asmawi is the chief commercial officer at Malaysia's Petronas Chemicals Group. She said that tariffs also push Chinese products to "our traditional market".

Vasudeva noted that the Indian market is a rare bright spot in petrochemicals, with its stable growth rate and good consumption.

(source: Reuters)