Global megatrends to impact the chemical industry

These changes will have a major impact on the flow of both materials and information. In the new report “The Chemicals and Materials Company of 2040,” Lux Research outlines the factors impacting these industries and how they will cause large-scale change.

A century and a half in the making

The modern materials and chemicals industry began to emerge around 150 years ago, with many companies starting in the 19th century with a single or few products and steadily broadening activities through research and acquisition to encompass a diverse range of chemicals. Throughout this history, chemicals companies have continuously honed a handful of core skills (R&D, operations, sales, and acquisition) to achieve two basic goals – increase sales volumes and increase profits. The industry has become quite skilled both at moving and transforming materials, and at marshaling the necessary information to successfully manage vast global operations, to achieve these goals – leading both its suppliers and customers on total shareholder returns for much of the 21st century so far.