In this episode of The Decisive podcast, host Kristen Hallam shares highlights from a recent S&P Global Market Intelligence client webinar on the forces reshaping procurement strategy. The conversation explores how prolonged disruption in the Middle East is moving beyond energy markets and into broader supply chains, affecting shipping, chemicals, metals and industrial inputs.

S&P Global Market Intelligence experts Emily Crowley, Gregory Muller and Maxwell Clarke examine why oil prices may stay higher for longer, why LNG markets are unlikely to repeat the extremes of 2022, and how AI-driven data center expansion is tightening capacity for transformers, electrical equipment, cooling systems and related components.

This episode is designed for procurement professionals, supply chain leaders, corporate strategists, market intelligence teams and anyone tracking how geopolitical disruption, energy markets and AI investment are reshaping industrial input costs and equipment availability.

What listeners will learn

Why procurement teams may not see meaningful price relief even as demand softens in parts of the economy
How inventory dynamics, shipping disruption and tariff uncertainty are shaping supplier behavior
Why data center construction is creating sustained pressure on electrical and cooling equipment markets
How companies can think about risk mitigation, contract management and inventory strategy in a constrained supply environment

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Credits:

Host: Emily Crowley
Guests: Gregory Muller, Maxwell Clarke
Produced By: Debbie Taylor, Kristen Hallam
Edited By: Marz Marcello
Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr, Feranmi Adeoshun