Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 7 February.

Europe PE prices fall on lower ethylene costs
Polyethylene (PE) prices in Europe are falling in line with the decrease in the February ethylene contract this month, but some buyers are pushing for more, sources said on Friday.

Germany January new-car sales rise 3.3% year on year
Germany registered 218,365 new cars on its roads in January – up 3.3% year on year from January 2015, but down 11.7% sequentially from December, the country’s federal motor vehicle agency said in data released on Thursday.

Verbio fiscal H1 profits jump on higher bioethanol margins
Verbio’s net income for the fiscal first half (July – December 2015) nearly doubled year on year to €21.6m on the back of higher bioethanol margins, and higher biomethane capacity utilisation, the Germany-based biofuels producer said on Thursday.

Petrochemical prices slump in January pushes global IPEX down 2.0%
Petrochemical and polymer prices fell sharply in January in the major producing and consuming regions helping drive the ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX) down by 2.0% in the month.

Europe chems players mull impact of April Belgian truck road tax
The implementation of a new Belgian road tax on vehicles over 3.5 tonnes from 1 April 2016 has prompted some petrochemical players to look into alternative routes/storage options outside the country or start to factor them into pricing decisions to mitigate higher transport costs.

Europe’s ACEA welcomes clarity on emissions test after parliament vote
The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) welcomed on Wednesday the “much-needed clarity” adopted following the favourable vote at the European Parliament for new regulations on real driving emissions (RDE) tests.

Eurozone private sector growth falls to four-month low in January
Manufacturing and service sector growth in the eurozone slowed to its lowest rate in four months, analyst Markit said on Wednesday, as price falls increase pressure on the European Central Bank to intervene.

UK Johnson Matthey’s Q3 sales down 1% on slowing trucks sector
Johnson Matthey’s sales for its fiscal third quarter (October-December 2015) stood at £736m (€972m), down 1% year on year, as three of the five company’s divisions posted double-digit decreases, the UK chemicals and catalysts producer said on Wednesday.

BP to cut 3,000 downstream jobs, Q4 petchems profit up
BP is to cut 3,000 jobs in its downstream operations as oil price woes continue to bite, the UK-headquartered energy major said on Tuesday.

Russia’s PhosAgro 2015 fertilizers sales volumes rise 8.9%
PhosAgro’s total sales volumes in 2015 rose 8.9% year on year to 6.64m tonnes despite “challenging” conditions, prompting the fertilizers major on Monday to issue a positive outlook for 2016 for its home market with the Russian government raising subsidies to farmers.

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