2023 energy, resources, and industrials industry outlooks

The dislocation of 2022 has fostered innovation for 2023

2022 was marked by vicissitudes that have altered expectations and redefined familiar metrics. The question facing companies as we look ahead to 2023 is how to continue, for yet another year, to plan for the unplanned. Across the energy and industrial sector, we see constraints which are now familiar:

• Supply chain delays continue to impede the timely receipt of key components affecting renewable energy projects, construction projects and manufacturing products.
• Volatile energy and commodity prices are expected to affect oil and gas operations, chemical feedstock costs, construction projects and manufacturing inputs in 2023 just as in 2022. The high energy prices of the past 18 months have cast a new light on the balance to be struck among energy security, energy access and energy sustainability.
• Attracting and retaining skilled employees has become more challenging as some jobs remain unfilled and high turnover rates persist
• Economic uncertainty currently looms large as different regions chart their own course to addressing disruption and rebuilding energy and other trading relationships.

But in the past year we also saw heroic efforts to quickly adjust to the unexpected, constrain costs, and to strategize around unplanned events. The dislocation of 2022 has fostered innovation in 2023. Redoubled efforts across the energy and industrial sectors to increase supply chain visibility and accountability are expected to create advantage in the coming year. Increased reliance on digital technologies for up to the minute market information as well as enhanced connectivity with a company’s suppliers and customers may create agility and resilience. In the chemicals industry 2023 is expected to be a pivotal point in materials innovation, due in part to the disruptions of the past year. Reliance on renewables continues to grow as new supply chains are forged. Finally, new policies passed in the EU and US in 2022 [1] are expected to provide momentum in 2023 with tax incentives, grant funding and other financial support for new technologies and existing projects.

Look again

In today’s rapidly evolving marketplace environment, key business issues are converging with impacts felt across multiple industry sectors. What are the key trends, challenges, and opportunities that may affect your business and influence your strategy? Look for more perspectives and insights from some of Deloitte’s forward thinkers.

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Endnotes

¹It’s a Big Deal for Job Growth and for a Clean Energy Future | ACP (cleanpower.org)