Pastics

I was looking through some random statistics today and found that in Q2 the largest end-to-end growth in terms of dollars invested in private equity came in the chemicals and material focus group. Growth was up over 225%. I took a closer look and the majority of companies that were bought out within this focus group during Q2 were companies that dealt with plastics, including the forming, molding, coloring , etc. of plastics. Not sure why this would be, but I was thinking it may be linked to oil prices. I’m not quite sure, but I think oil plays a large part in the manufacturing of plastics. So, either lower oil prices are predicted by PE firms, which would reduce the cost of production and thus increase profits. Or, it might be looked at from the opposite viewpoint, where higher oil prices would increase the cost of plastics and there could be an opportunity or a bit of price gouging. Just some thoughts, not sure which train makes more sense.