Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 16 October.

EU Jan-Sept car registrations up 8%, VW vehicle sales up a year after scandal
The EU’s automobile industry continued to boom in the first three quarters of the year, with passenger car registrations up 8% year on year, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said on Friday, while German major Volkswagen (VW) Group posted an increase in passenger vehicle registrations of 3.2% over the period in spite of the diesel scandal.

Turkey PP, PE demand, prices flat as lira drops to record low
Prices and demand for polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) have remained largely flat in the week that the Turkish lira fell to a new record low against the US dollar, sources said on Thursday.

Europe PE, PP players prepare to attend K 2016 trade fair
Plastics players globally are preparing to attend the world’s biggest plastics show – K 2016 – in Dusseldorf this month, as October pricing is still under discussion, sources said on Wednesday.

‘Real work’ to ease crude oversupply starts post-OPEC deal – IEA
The agreement reached by oil producing nations to cut output and encourage price increases will depend on how individual allocations are set for each country, their goodwill to implement such a deal and external events such as continued slowing demand growth, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday.

Global cost of auto petchem raw materials hits 13 month high
The worldwide cost of petrochemical raw materials in an average automobile is at a 13-month high, analysis of the Global ICIS Basket of Automotive Petrochemicals (IBAP) showed on Tuesday.

Europe cracker margins fall for third week on feedstock gains
European contract and spot cracker margins have fallen week on week for a third time on the back of gains in naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas LPG, ICIS cracker-margin analysis showed on Monday.

EU Q2 chem sales, prices down as global economy worsens – Cefic
The EU chemical industry suffered decreases in sales and prices in the second quarter of 5.2% and 5.7% respectively year on year while output fell 0.6%, the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) said on Monday.

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