Chemical Week What are the key priorities for the chemical distribution sector right now?
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Nov 11, 2025 
Eric Byer, President and CEO of the Alliance for Chemical Distribution, discusses the current landscape for chemical distributors. He shares insights on the cautious optimism for 2025, highlighting how tariffs have impacted growth and investment. Byer emphasizes the importance of diversifying sourcing strategies post-COVID and the strengths of logistics in distribution. He also warns about the risks of digitalization and AI in product fraud, while outlining key policy needs to drive growth in the sector.
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Tariffs Have Kept Growth In Check
- Tariff uncertainty since late February has dampened distributor investment and M&A activity.
- Interest rates and tariffs together set the market back from the growth expected in 2025.
COVID Lessons Drove Diversified Sourcing
- Distributors learned diversification lessons from COVID and applied them to tariff disruptions.
- Many already spread sourcing and leaned into domestic options where feasible to avoid single‑source risk.
Distributors Are Logistics Specialists
- Chemical distributors act as de facto 3PLs, offering warehousing, transport and logistics expertise.
- Their logistics capabilities are the core value proposition that keeps long‑standing customer relationships.