This Week's Top Five Stories in Procurement
1. Trump’s Presidency and its Impact on Plastic Procurement
With US President Donald Trump's policies reshaping environmental and trade dynamics, plastic procurement faces new challenges in balancing cost, sustainability and compliance.
2024 was a pivotal year for the plastics sector, with global treaty negotiations and a surge of sustainable innovations taking centre stage. December’s breakdown of talks at the fifth Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee (INC-5) summit in Busan, South Korea, left manufacturers without a unified global framework to address plastic waste. In response, industry leaders like BASF and Mondelez continued exploring new materials and processes to develop sustainable alternatives.
Under Joe Biden, the US lagged behind the EU in mandating businesses to report their environmental footprints and adopt sustainability practices. The gap widened during Biden’s term and is likely to grow under the Trump Administration, focus is on deregulation and bolstering domestic production.
Trump’s recent executive orders don’t specifically target plastics but have significant implications for the industry. His push for fossil fuel expansion, combined with the rollback of environmental protections, directly affects the raw materials and regulatory landscape for plastic production.
Trump stated: “America will be a manufacturing nation once again and we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have: the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth.” Trump’s “America First” agenda further complicates procurement strategies. His tariffs on imported goods, including plastic products, disrupt global supply chains and may raise costs for manufacturers reliant on foreign suppliers.
2. What are the Biggest Global Risks to Procurement in 2025?
We explore the World Economic Forum's 20th Global Risks Report as state-based armed conflict tops the list of immediate global risks for 2025.
Imagine a global playing field where geopolitical tensions, environmental challenges and technological disruptions are constantly reshaping the rules of business.
For procurement professionals, this is not a dystopian fantasy—it is today's reality.
In the high-stakes world of global procurement, the World Economic Forum's 20th Global Risks Report offers a strategic roadmap for survival in an increasingly complex landscape.
The headline is stark: state-based armed conflict tops the list of immediate global risks for 2025. Nearly a quarter of global experts see this as the most severe challenge.
For procurement, this means more than abstract geopolitical tension—it means disrupted trade routes, compromised critical resources and destabilised regional supply networks.
3. Clean Energy Day 2025: Sustainable Sourcing and Solutions
The United Nations is set to mark International Clean Energy Day as the need for sustainable solutions, sourcing and renewables intensifies.
The world marks the third International Clean Energy Day on 26 January 2025, a day established to inspire global action towards a fair and sustainable transition to renewable energy.
This annual event, set in motion by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 2023, serves as a reminder of the critical role clean energy plays in addressing climate change and achieving global development goals.
International Clean Energy Day 2025 shines a light on the importance of sustainable sourcing and procurement in driving the clean energy transition. As nations and businesses look to expand the adoption of renewable technologies, sourcing practices must evolve to align with sustainability principles. Sustainable sourcing involves selecting suppliers with strong environmental and ethical credentials.
Businesses are increasingly encouraged to adopt procurement strategies that prioritise renewable energy technologies and low-carbon solutions. This includes investing in infrastructure for solar, wind and other renewable sources and implementing circular economy principles that minimise waste while optimising resource use.
4. Senators Push for Stronger US Supply Chains with New Bill
A bipartisan bill aims to bolster supply chain resilience in key industries, including pharmaceuticals, reducing reliance on oversea suppliers.
Supply chain resilience is now a top priority for US policymakers, with vulnerabilities in procurement and logistics threatening the availability of essential goods.
The US manufacturing sector, which contributes US$2.65tn to the economy and employs nearly 13 million people, continues to struggle with supply chain disruptions that drive up costs and delay production.
To address these risks, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) have reintroduced the Promoting Resilient Supply Chains Act.
This bipartisan legislation seeks to strengthen key supply chains by improving transparency, reducing dependency on foreign sources and fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors.
5. SAP: How Leading Companies Optimise Source-to-Pay Processes
Leading companies are leveraging the power of SAP Ariba's digital solutions to achieve standout results within their source-to-pay processes.
Harnessing digital tools is a vital component of modern procurement, helping to drive operational efficiency in their work. SAP's Procurement Benchmarks Survey Insights shows how top-performing companies use SAP Ariba and its solutions to obtain outstanding results across their source-to-pay processes.
The report found a difference between how leading companies harness sourcing savings. Top-quartile organisations achieved an impressive 13% annual sourcing savings rate from awarded auction events, compared to just 3.9% for bottom performers. Additionally, these leading companies realised 9.4% total strategic sourcing savings as a percentage of addressable spend, nearly three times higher than the bottom quartile.
There is also efficiency in sourcing processes, highlighting the gap between those at the top. The average sourcing cycle time for those organisations is just 17 days – compared to those falling behind, with the bottom performers taking 68 days. The top speeds of these higher performers reduce costs and improve agility in responding to shifts in the market.
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