How has Chile’s chemical industry performed in the last 12 months and what have been the biggest challenges faced by your members?

ASIQUIM was fortunate to see good performances in 2020 and 2021 for the chemical industry in Chile. Increased oil prices related to Covid and the crisis in Ukraine brought some challenges to the market, but companies have been resilient in spite of the changing scenario. We continue to adequately deliver to the mining sector and companies are performing as strongly as they did pre-pandemic.

In terms of COMEX 2021, importations show an increase of 59% in US$ compared with 2020, with a total close of US$12.550 million, which represents 13% of Chilean total imports. Exports also increased 39% compared with 2020, totaling US$3.425 million, which represents a 4.8% of total Chilean exports.

According to statistics from the Chilean Central Bank, the chemical industry contributed 2% of Chile's total GDP in the first quarter of 2022.

Inflation and supply chain disruptions have caused many materials and logistics to become extremely expensive. For example, two and a half years ago, shipping a 40-foot container from China to Chile cost approximately US$2,000, whereas today it can cost from US$12,000 to US$15,000 if you want it express. In addition, raw materials in general have shown an increase along with volatility in the selling price of the final products, which often generate an overpriced inventory. Today in Chile, inflation is over 10%, which normally a maximum of 2%-3%. These cost increases and inflation are passed down to clients but fortunately have not resulted in noticeably decreased demand yet.

Which sub-segments of Chile’s chemical industry have been most resilient in 2022, and which have the strongest potential for growth in 2023?

Over the past few years, we have seen strong growth and development in industrial gases, adhesives, pigments, and especially construction chemicals. There has also been growth in the mining and pulp and paper segments. We do, however, expect a decrease in growth in some sectors in the years to come due to inflation, but the industrial segment has been performing well and we do not expect a shortage of demand or supply in this market over this year.

Due to uncertainty surrounding the ongoing challenges of inflation, supply chain and logistics disruptions, in addition to the Russian-Ukraine conflict, it is difficult to predict growth and demands at this stage.

Can you give details regarding ASIQUIM’s latest sustainability-related initiatives and focus on Responsible Care?

ASIQUIM works with Responsible Care, the global chemical industry’s environmental, health and safety (EHS) initiative to drive continuous improvement in performance. We are proud to say that in the last year, not one of our member companies incurred any major issue or incident. We put in the effort to get information to our members and encourage safety protocols and measures to be put in place in line with our focus on Responsible Care. Chile has high safety standards that are audited and monitored regularly. ASIQUIM has also implemented a university course on Responsible Care that over 500 students from six universities have completed, and we intend to grow these figures.

Do you think there are misconceptions about the modern chemical industry in Chile, and what could be done to start changing outdated views?

In 2021, ASIQUIM in collaboration with CADEM, conducted a study on how people view our chemical sector. The feedback demonstrated that people in Chile associated chemical companies with negatives concepts, such as pollution and accidents. As a result, ASIQUIM started a campaign to inform people what we are doing and the advantages of the chemical industry to ensure a better understanding of the importance of the chemical sector.

The campaign comprised of four stakeholder groups – leaders, authorities, industry and public. This also included the industry workforce. Interestingly, people from the workforce viewed the sector negatively, especially in regard to the environmental performance of their own companies, compared to other chemical companies in Chile. The industry workforce should be our ambassadors, and if they do not have a good opinion about something in the industry, we cannot ask the public to have a good opinion. Therefore, we hope that our campaign will allow both public and industry workers to understand the sector better and see the benefits it brings to the Chilean economy and society.