What’s Going On? Taylor Swift on Industrial AI, RMP at Risk, Oil Inventories and Stuff that Trump Says

Editor’s note: Welcome to What’s Going On? This is a quick look at news impacting the chemical industry from the lens of outside sources, including our parent company Endeavor Business Media’s many brands. 

• Control’s Chief Editor, Len Vermillion, recaps the goings on at the ARC Forum, which focused on “winning in the industrial AI era.”
  
  “The uneasiness you may feel about artificial intelligence (AI) might just be the push you need to take it seriously. A little anxiety over change never hurts because it often leads to inspiration. Don’t believe me? Just ask Taylor Swift, who made herself a billionaire by writing about the pain caused by relationship changes.”
  
  Having a little fun, Vermillion turned to ChatGPT to write a Swift-like chorus ushering in the industrial AI era. Head on over to Control to check out the song and other highlights of the ARC Forum.
  
  
• Fast Company reported this week that Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency wants to get rid of a rule that protects you from chemical disasters. Specifically, the EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP), a regulation introduced in 1990 and designed to improve chemical accident prevention at large petrochemical facilities.
  
  Fast Company points out: For reasons that have little to do with knowhow and capacity, RMP regulations have been glaringly ineffective. Indeed, few regulations have been subject to the yo-yo of successive presidential administrations, and their political whims, like the RMP. 
  
  
• Pharma Manufacturing’s Greg Slabodkin talks tariffs and impacts on U.S. biotech companies.
  
  Almost 90% of U.S. biotech companies rely on imported components for at least half of their FDA-approved products, making the supply of these medicines particularly vulnerable to proposed tariffs on Canada, China, and the European Union, according to results of a new survey by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).
  
  “Proposed tariffs on the EU would force 50% of companies to scramble for new research and manufacturing partners,” according to BIO. “Half of those surveyed say they would have to rework or potentially delay regulatory filings, jeopardizing the pace of innovation.”
  
  
• Oil & Gas Journal reports on data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
  
  According to EIS, U.S. crude oil inventories for the week ended March 21, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased by 3.3 million bbl from the previous week.
  
  At 433.6 million bbl, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5% below the 5-year average for this time of year, the EIA report indicated.
  
  Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 400,000 bbl last week and are about 7% below the 5-year average for this time of year.
  
  Propane-propylene inventories decreased by 200,000 bbl from last week and are 11% below the 5-year average for this time of year, EIA said.
  
  
• Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing’s Ron Shinn discusses 3D printing in his latest podcast. He notes a new market study that says high interest rates are causing processors to delay buying 3D printing equipment. Some resin makers and equipment manufacturers have exited the business.
  
  Indeed, Shinn points out that BASF sold its additive manufacturing business. BASF was the last major chemical company with a significant additive manufacturing arm.  
  
  
• And finally, the folks over at IndustryWeek have been keeping a running tab on Washington, D.C. happenings via its DC Watch.
  
  “President Donald J. Trump says a lot of things every day that could affect manufacturers’ strategies. His social media posts, executive orders and comments to the news media, in addition to responses to those developments, can generate a lot of noise and confusion.”
  
  Head over there for the latest comments from politicians that could impact manufacturing.