The Ledger

Every entry so far, newest first. One capacity event or feedstock shift at a time.

• Jul 215 min read

  The Sixty-Day Head Start

  A WARN notice lands in a state database weeks before the press release. The methodology brief on the earliest public closure signal we know of.

  Subscribers
• Jul 174 min read

  A Sourcing Manager's Guide to Who Pays the Tariff

  Washington finalized a 25% tariff on most Brazilian goods. Whether you pay it or the exporter does comes down to how much slack is left in US capacity.

  Subscribers
• Jul 145 min read

  How a Dead Cracker Shuts the Plant Behind It

  The Versalis cracker at Brindisi went cold in March 2025. Sixteen months later the polypropylene line behind it followed, and the same case is being argued across Europe.

  Subscribers
• Jul 104 min read

  Who Absorbs Barry?

  Dow's Barry closure takes roughly a third of Europe's basic-siloxane capacity off the map. We trace where 150,000 tonnes a year has to reappear, and what it does to the plants that take it.

  Subscribers
• Jul 73 min read

  Why We Started Counting Closures

  Closures are outrunning expansions in US specialty chemicals. The launch brief on the database we built to keep score, and the feedstock math behind it.

  Free