Abstract

End markets such as Construction in 2009 wentdown 15 percent compared to 2007. This article will providean explanation why the sales volume of upstream suppliersto Construction markets first went down 30-50 percent, andthen recovered to around original levels, and then wentdown again. Royal DSM together with a group of scientistsfrom Eindhoven University of Technology have investigatedthis effect based on the hypothesis that de-stocking in thelong value chains of the chemical industry is the cause ofa significant part of the decline, and that de-stocking hasbeen triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers midSeptember 2008. It is further based on the hypothesis thatthe supply chains act elastically to a strong impulse, thuscreating wave-like effects.