Overview
The chemicals sector is one of L.E.K.’s primary areas of expertise. We understand the competitive nature and volatility of the chemicals market, and the issues and challenges that impact performance.
Leading chemicals firms around the globe benefit from the depth and breadth of our industry expertise. Through a deep knowledge of market forces, the changing competitive landscape, and customer needs, we help clients grow and invest successfully. Our expertise is shaped by our extensive project portfolio across key market segments, including:
- Specialty chemicals
- Commodity chemicals
- Fertilizers and agricultural chemicals
- Industrial gases
- Chemical distribution
- Integrated oil and gas (petrochemicals)
Key questions and challenges
We help leading chemicals firms manage today’s critical issues and the impact on their businesses, including:
- The renewed competitiveness of North American producers arising from the unconventional oil and gas boom
- The changing nature of feedstocks, including bio-based alternatives
- Continued demand growth from emerging economies
- The rising competitiveness of Asia-based chemical players
- The most attractive market segments to invest in (e.g., where is innovation driving margin, what geographies/sectors have attractive demand characteristics)
Examples of our work
L.E.K. is committed to providing our clients with insightful, meaningful and actionable results. Read the results stories below to learn how we’ve helped clients realize their objectives:
- L.E.K. developed a pricing strategy, tool and implementation plan for the client to improve its profitability in North America. The final impact was more than $80 million per annum in incremental revenues in five years. In addition to repricing its key accounts, our client is utilizing the pricing model to inform a wide range of strategic decisions (e.g., refining contracting strategy, modeling the impact of potential changes to the competitive landscape).
- L.E.K. delivered a strategic assessment of the flavors and fragrances market for a leading North American player experiencing threats to its core business from production in emerging markets. The client gained a deep understanding of the likely evolution of feedstock development over the next several years, the competitive position of emerging-market producers and an effective strategy to handle this emerging threat.
- L.E.K. developed an expansion strategy for one of the world’s largest chemical distributors, including prioritization of potential acquisition targets to accelerate further expansion in the region.
- The client was focused on developing and commercializing renewable feedstocks and hydrocarbon substitutes by utilizing a proprietary technology. L.E.K. valued each of the major applications currently in development, assessed the total value of the portfolio ― including the optionality of yet-to-be-developed applications ― and identified and evaluated the relative attractiveness of various funding alternatives. The company has successfully transitioned from a startup to a commercial-scale leader in its field.
