Polyurethanes

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–India will cut import duties for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) by 2.5 percentage points to 5.0% effective 24 July, with plans to review the country's overall tariff structure in the next six months. MDI was among raw materials identified by the Indian government on which custom duties will be reduced. India's finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the changes to the country's Basic Customs Duty (BCD) – a tax levied on imported goods at the time of their entry into the country – in her presentation of India’s national budget for the fiscal year ending March 2025 before parliament. HIGHER DUTIES FOR SOME PRODUCTSConversely, the minister said that the customs duty for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) flex films/flex banners will be raised to 25% from 10% currently starting 24 July, "to curb their imports". Flex banners are commonly used for outdoor advertising as billboards. "PVC flex banners are non-biodegradable and hazardous for environment and health," Sitharaman said. The customs duty on ammonium nitrate will also be raised to 10% from 7.5% from 24 July "to support existing and new capacities in the pipeline", she said. EXEMPTIONS FOR CRITICAL MINERALSSitharaman also proposed full exemption of 25 critical minerals from import duties, a cut in duty rates for two other products in the same category. "Minerals such as lithium, copper, cobalt and rare earth elements are critical for sectors like nuclear energy, renewable energy, space, defense, telecommunications, and high-tech electronics,” she said. “This [cut in import duty] will provide a major fillip to the processing and refining of such minerals and help secure their availability for these strategic and important sectors," Sitharaman said. As for the electronics sector, the finance minister proposed to remove the BCD on oxygen-free copper for the manufacture of resistors. GOV'T TO REVIEW CUSTOMS DUTY STRUCTUREOver the next six months, the Indian government will conduct a thorough review of its customs duty rate structure, Sitharaman said. "I propose to undertake a comprehensive review of the rate structure over the next six months to rationalise and simplify it for ease of trade, removal of duty inversion and reduction of disputes," she said. "We will continue our efforts to simplify taxes, improve taxpayer services, provide tax certainty and reduce litigation while enhancing revenues for funding the development and welfare schemes of the government." It was not immediately clear how the revised BCD structure will impact implementation of import certifications of various chemicals under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). BIS certification for some chemicals has been extended many times since they were introduced in 2019-20 to allow domestic end-user industries more time to adhere to the quality-control orders (QCO). Focus article by Nurluqman Suratman Thumbnail image: At the Vallarpadam Terminal in Kochi, Kerala, India. 2014 (By Olaf Kruger/imageBROKER/Shutterstock)

23-Jul-2024

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–India will cut import duties for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) by 2.5 percentage points to 5.0% effective 24 July, the country’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Tuesday. MDI was among raw materials identified by the Indian government on which custom duties will be reduced. Sitharaman announced the changes to the country's Basic Customs Duty (BCD) – a tax levied on imported goods at the time of their entry into the country – in her presentation before parliament of India’s national budget for the fiscal year ending March 2025. Conversely, the minister said that the customs duty for polyvinyl chloride flex films/flex banners will be raised sharply from 10% currently to 25% from 24 July "to curb their imports". Flex banners are commonly used for outdoor advertising as billboards. "PVC flex banners are non-biodegradable and hazardous for environment and health," Sitharaman said. For ammonium nitrate, the custom duty will be raised to 10% from 7.5% from 24 July "to support existing and new capacities in the pipeline", she said. (adds paragraphs 4-7)

23-Jul-2024

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–India will cut import duties for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) by 2.5 percentage points to 5.0% effective 24 July, the country’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Tuesday. MDI was among the raw materials identified by the Indian government on which custom duties will be reduced. Sitharaman announced the changes to the country's Basic Customs Duty (BCD) – a tax levied on imported goods at the time of their entry into the country – in her presentation before parliament of India’s national budget for the fiscal year ending March 2025.

23-Jul-2024

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The US election could see Donald Trump return as president with majorities in both legislative chambers, which could bring a reduction in excessive red tape, weaker support for electric vehicles (EVs) and impose even more ponderous tariffs and trade restrictions. Incumbent President Joe Biden has dropped out of the race, and current polls show Trump ahead in the election The House of Representatives and the Senate are closely split between the nation's two major parties, so the Republican party could obtain majorities in both legislative chambers Regardless of who wins the presidential election on 5 November, the outlook remains pessimistic for tariff relief and trade deals in the US US TRADE POLICY WILL REMAIN RESTRICTIVERegardless of who wins the presidential election, US trade policy will remain restrictive, which could leave the nation's chemical exports vulnerable to retaliatory tariffs imposed during a trade dispute. Also, tariffs could increase the cost of imports of critical chemical intermediates. Biden's campaign website did not discuss trade policy, and he recently dropped out of the race. But he maintained many of the tariffs that Trump introduced during his presidency in 2016-2020. In addition, Biden raised tariffs on EVs from China. He signed bills passed by Congress that required local content rules for government programs. Trump's platform proposed a baseline tariff, with the candidate mentioning 10% for most imports. For China, he mentioned tariffs of more than 60% during an interview on the television program Fox News. Trump's campaign website proposes a reciprocal trade act, under which the US could match tariffs that another country imposes on its exports. Although the platform concedes that reductions are possible, the proposal focuses on the potential of higher tariffs. TRUMP TO ROLL BACK BIDEN'S EV POLICIESBiden did not mention EVs on his campaign website. But during his presidential term, the federal government used multiple laws and regulatory statutes to promote EV adoption. If Trump becomes president, he has pledged to cancel what he calls the electric vehicle mandate. He specified many of Biden's policies that encouraged the adoption of EVs. EVs typically consume more plastics on a per unit basis than automobiles powered by internal combustion engines (ICEs). EVs also pose different material challenges, which is increasing demand for different plastics and compounds. Policies that prolong the use of ICE-based vehicles could extend the operating life of the nation's refineries. Companies could be more willing to invest in maintenance and repairs if they are confident that they could recoup their investments. Refineries produce many building block chemicals, such as propylene, benzene, toluene and mixed xylenes (MX). BIDEN, TRUMP PRESENT EXTREMES ON CHEM REGULATIONSBiden and Trump lay on opposite extremes of regulations and policy. Under Biden, the federal government has adopted numerous regulations, many of which the chemical industry has said provided them with little benefit given the time and expense of compliance. The past six months has been described as the worst regulatory environment that the chemical industry has ever seen. That burdensome regulatory climate could persist if a Democrat wins the election, since personnel from the Biden administration could remain in place. The following lists some of the regulatory policies that could either persist under a Democratic administration or weaken under a Trump administration: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has adopted a whole chemical approach in determining whether a substance poses an unreasonable risk under the nation's main chemical-safety program, known as the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The regulator is currently reviewing vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), acrylonitrile (ACN) and aniline, a feedstock used to make methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI). Changes to the Clean Waters Act, the Risk Management Program (RMP) and the Hazard Communication Standard that were made by Biden. Biden has promoted environmental justice throughout the federal government. Environmental justice could make it harder for chemical companies to expand existing plants or build new ones. Because these are federal policies, a different president could reverse them. Trump could try to unravel some of Biden's rules to the degree possible under executive authority. However, some of the rules will persist because of entrenched bureaucracy or because they are final. The pace of new regulations would likely slow under a Trump presidency. He has pledged to restore his order that for every new regulation introduced by the federal government, two existing ones must be eliminated. OTHER POLICY DIFFERENCESSuperfund tax: If Trump wins the presidency and Republicans win the legislative branch, that could set up a repeal of the Superfund tax, which imposes taxes on several building-block chemicals and their derivatives. Republican legislators have already introduced bills to repeal the tax. Trump tax cuts: Trump has pledged that he would make his 2017 tax cuts permanent. These are set to expire at the end of 2025 from his previous term in 2016-2020. Oil production: Biden has imposed several restrictions on oil and gas production on federal land and on offshore leases, although this did not stop production from surging in the Permian Basin, much of which is outside of government control. Trump has pledged to remove those restrictions. Insight by Al Greenwood Thumbnail shows US capitol. Image by Lucky-photographer

22-Jul-2024

SHANGHAI (ICIS)–In this podcast, markets reporter Shannen Ng discusses how northeast Asia’s methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) supply is expected to remain tight as Q3 progresses. However, poor demand expectations in the Asian import markets for the rest of this quarter remain. Polymeric MDI sentiment in SE Asia, India supported by tight supply Monomeric MDI particularly sluggish and expected to remain so Weak demand outlook for China’s downstream construction and automotive sectors

18-Jul-2024

RIO DE JANEIRO (ICIS)–In just a few years, global automotive majors have switched their focus from an all-electric production to a more hybrid model, an executive at US crude oil major Chevron said on Tuesday. Chris Castanien, global industry liaison at Chevron and lubricant additive expert, said that most automotive majors who had set up targets to go all-electric or nearly all-electric by 2030 have dropped those plans as intake among consumers remains slow. This has happened even after authorities in North America or Europe have poured “tremendous amounts of money in trying to force everyone” into the energy transition. Castanien was speaking to delegates at the 14th International Summit with the South American Market 2024 organized by specialized publication Lubes em Focus, which focuses on base oils. ICIS is a partner in the event. BILLIONS – BUT THE JUMP IS NOT HAPPENINGAnyone in the lubricants industry would be pleased to see the initially quick transition to electric mobility some authorities had planned is not happening. At the end of the day, they are an interested party which would lose out much if ICE engines – combustion engines – went out of the market. Therefore, Castanien was somehow pleased to list the many plans in the EU and the US which had planned for a quick electric vehicles (EVs) implementation, including the US’ $1 trillion New Green Deal in 2021 or the consequent $67 billion investments contemplated in the CHIPS Act or the $369 billion of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). “The US’ EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] had forced a ruling that by 2032 around two thirds of cars should be EVs; the EU issued a ban on ICE engines by 2035 – well, I think those targets will not happen,” said Catanien. “Moreover, now we are seeing a lot of protectionist tariffs against Chinese EVs: we want people to make and use EVs, but we don’t want the Chinese to make them.” The Chevron executive went on to say that the US is still a “long way” to meet its own targets on charging points, for instance, which, added to the considerably higher cost of EVs, would be putting off consumers. And this consumers’ reluctance, he went on to say, is even happening when many jurisdictions are implementing fiscal incentives and rebates for EVs. “In the US, you even get the case of California, where HOVs [high occupancy vehicle lanes] are now allowing EVs even if it’s only the driver inside the car…” he said. Thus, the initial change planned by automotive majors – even with thousands of redundancies of ICE engines engineers – is giving way to a slower implementation of the EV push. Castanien mentioned the case of Germany’s major Mercedes. “Only a few years ago, Mercedes said they would be making all vehicles electric by 2030 – they don’t say that anymore. Their updated target is aiming to make 50% of its fleet electrical by that year,” he said. “[US major] Ford has said it is losing $64,000 every time they sell an EV. Tesla was planning a gigafactory in Mexico: they have dropped those plans. The shift towards more hybrid vehicles and not purely EVs is happening – this is a big change.” The automotive industry is a major global consumer of petrochemicals, which make up more than one-third of the raw material costs of an average vehicle. The automotive sector drives demand for chemicals such as polypropylene (PP), along with nylon, polystyrene (PS), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), polyurethane (PU), methyl methacrylate (MMA) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Base oils, also called lubricants, are used to produce finished lubes and greases for automobiles and other machinery. The 14th International Summit with the South American Market 2024 runs in Rio de Janeiro on 2-3 July.

02-Jul-2024

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News Asia and the Middle East for the week ended 28 June 2024. Asia melamine sees uptick on tighter supply; demand recovery uncertain By Joy Foo 28-Jun-24 12:54 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Asia’s melamine spot market for China-origin product faced some pressure from early June due to lagging demand. China MEG market supported by limited import arrivals By Cindy Qiu 26-Jun-24 12:20 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–China’s monoethylene glycol (MEG) prices rose after falling in June, reflecting supply-demand dynamics, but the price growth may be capped by increasing domestic supply and curtailed downstream polyester production, despite limited import arrivals expected in July. India’s BPA import price surges; freight continues to exert pressure By Li Peng Seng 24-Jun-24 11:53 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–India’s bisphenol A (BPA) average import price hit its highest level in nearly 20 months recently due to firm ocean freight rates, a phenomenon that is expected to persist in the short term as vessel space is likely to stay tight. PODCAST: Asia base oils supply, demand to gradually rise in H2 By Damini Dabholkar 26-Jun-24 18:13 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Asia’s base oils supply is expected to improve slightly in H2 2024, while a seasonal peak in overall demand is due to kick off in the later part of Q3. INSIGHT: Asia isocyanates H1 performance mixed, poor expectations for Q3 By Shannen Ng 26-Jun-24 14:30 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Demand in Asia’s import markets for polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (PMDI) and toluene diisocyanate (TDI) is likely to remain limited in the upcoming summer months of July and August, and the outlook for late Q3 is uncertain. Chemanol to supply methanol to Saudi Amiral project over 20 years By Pearl Bantillo 25-Jun-24 12:52 SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Saudi Arabia's Methanol Chemicals Co (Chemanol) has signed a 20-year deal to supply methanol to the Amiral petrochemical project of Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Co (SATORP).

01-Jul-2024

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Click here to see the latest blog post on Asian Chemical Connections by John Richardson. China's chemicals producers are said to be focusing on being “nimble and agile” in response to weaker demand growth, ample local supply of intermediate chemicals and increasingly sophisticated end-use markets. This involves producing everything up and down the value chains only when it makes economic sense and increasing the differentiation of grades for a broader range of more sophisticated applications. Local producers are reported to be tripling their range of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polyurethane (PU) grades as they broaden their licensing of technologies. A lot of this differentiation is aimed at supplying chemicals and polymers for higher-value downstream industries such as electric vehicles and batteries. There are said to be plenty of intermediate chemicals available locally that can compete with opportunistic imports. Local producers of intermediates are also reported to be able to make better domestic netbacks than selling overseas. Customers of the local intermediate producers increasingly value reliable suppliers who can provide a wider range of grades, technical services and local currency deals, I’ve been told. The ability of chemicals importers to compete on price alone seems to be under challenge as a sustainable business model. Future winners in China could be the Tier 1 suppliers. These suppliers would make all the grades necessary to serve ever-more sophisticated local end-use markets, which would require constantly successful R&D and good technical services. This points towards China becoming a vast continent-sized market that largely serves itself in speciality chemicals and composites, as well as commodity chemicals. I earlier discussed how self-sufficiency is increasing in commodity chemicals resulting in a pivot by “overseas-based” producers to specialities and composites. China could become just about entirely self-sufficient in commodity grades of PP, polyethylene (PE) and in paraxylene (PX) and ethylene glycols (EG) by 2030. The latter two chemicals are of course pure commodities. Note the above phrase “overseas-based” rather than overseas, as the foreign investors in China are in strong positions to take advantage of this vas and rapidly maturing market. For reasons discussed today, I don’t believe that the pivot by overseas-based producers to specialities and composites will work if it is based on exporting to China. What should the overseas-based producers do? Pretty much forget China as an opportunity as they focus on the rest of the world. And here's the link: https://www.icis.com/asian-chemical-connections/2024/06/chinas-ever-more-sophisticated-chemicals-markets-could-entirely-serve-itself/ Editor’s note: This blog post is an opinion piece. The views expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent those of ICIS.

18-Jun-2024

NEW YORK (ICIS)–US-based coatings producer PPG is seeing robust demand for sustainable products from customers, some of which rely on new, more energy efficient processes, said an executive on Monday. “Across the board there is strong pull… because when you look at [our customers’] narrative to the consumer, everybody is using sustainable advantage as a way to move market share,” said Peter Votruba-Drzal, vice president, Global Sustainability at PPG. “The challenge is to move with the speed and agility that’s required from customer industries. Large, mature industries are transforming right in front of us – the powertrain (EV) transformation in automotive, for example. The same holds when you look at how they will ultimately paint cars in the future,” he added. Votruba-Drzal spoke to ICIS at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The time to get new, more sustainable products to market varies by industry, from being relatively quick – a matter of months – on the architectural coatings side, to longer for automotive, marine, aerospace and packaging, he pointed out. MARINE COATINGSIn the marine sector, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is targeting a 20-30% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. “Marine coatings have a lot of sustainability benefits that are being pulled by the industry. The introduction of non-toxic anti-fouling technologies plus the benefits of fouling resistance which improves fuel efficiency over time, helps [shippers] meet their carbon emissions goals and reduces their cost of operation,” said Votruba-Drzal. On 5 June, PPG announced a collaboration with digital maritime sustainability platform RightShip to foster the development and adoption of sustainable marine solutions. PPG has a biocide-free silicone hull coating that helps vessels achieve up to 20% power savings and up to 35% lower GHG emissions versus traditional antifouling coatings, according to the company. SUSTAINABILITY + COST BENEFIT = PREMIUMIn most cases, simply introducing a more sustainable product is not enough to warrant a price premium, he pointed out. “Our customer typically requires improved performance – lower operating cost, less waste, energy efficiency – in addition to the sustainable benefit. We can partner with customers and create mutual value so that we both partake in the financial benefits,” said Votruba-Drzal. However, in other areas such as Europe’s architectural coatings market, consumers are willing to pay more for a more sustainable solution with the same performance, he added. Greener specifications, such as from builders of commercial real estate, are also driving demand for more sustainable products with lower carbon footprints, as building owners seek to achieve certain levels of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications, he said. “If we’re working with a coil coatings customer and can provide a low carbon footprint solution, they win market share in the building,” said Votruba-Drzal. Coil coating is a continuous, automated process for coating metals prior to fabrication. TRANSFORMATION IN COIL COATINGS“In the coil industry, a fascinating transformation has been happening”, and only in the past two years or so, the executive said. Coil coatings operations are moving from using football field-length ovens fired by natural gas, to a much more compact electron beam system of around 30 yards in length, he explained. “You eliminate all of the burning of the fossil fuel and carbon emissions, as it runs off electricity which can be renewable power,” said Votruba-Drzal. “Here is a mature industry of 50-plus years that used to be heavily focused on operational throughput costs on the technology side. Now suddenly all these formulations are changing into electron beam curing. And so it resets the opportunity for market share gains,” he added. PROGRESS ON SUSTAINABILITY GOALSPPG in May 2023 introduced 2030 sustainability goals, including a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions (from operations and purchased energy) and a 30% reduction in Scope 3 emissions (mostly from purchased raw materials) from a 2019 base, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Source: PPG As of its May 2024 update, it has achieved 10% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions, and a 12% reduction in Scope 3 emissions. PPG has also assessed 97% of key suppliers against sustainability and social responsibility criteria. Scope 1 and 2 emissions account for only 4% of PPG’s total carbon footprint. Further reductions to Scope 1 and 2 will primarily come from replacing motors and equipment on mixers, and using more renewable power. The bulk comes from Scope 3 emissions, with the primary components being raw materials, and how paint shops use PPG’s products, said the executive. Often the location of a supplier’s facility plays a key role in the carbon footprint of the products coming out of that site, he pointed out. “You can have a material made by a manufacturer that has operations in Asia as well as in other regions, that tie into very different electrical grids. And how green that grid is, basically impacts the carbon footprint associated with that product,” explained Votruba-Drzal. With global operations, PPG can also provide the same product at different levels of carbon footprint, depending on where it makes it, and ships it from, he added. RECYCLED AND BIO-BASED RAW MATERIALSPPG also uses recycled and bio-based raw materials in certain formulations. Its Mexico coatings company Comex uses recycled tires as a filler for waterproof roof coatings. Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET), acrylics, elastomers, polyurethanes and polyolefins can all be incorporated into coatings, he noted. “This is an emerging space of circularity where getting the scale matters,” said Votruba-Drzal, who pointed to partnerships between companies to develop new technologies and ecosystems. Interview article by Joseph Chang

17-Jun-2024

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–China has slammed EU’s proposal to impose provisional tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), denouncing it as a "blatant act of protectionism”, raising concerns that a trade war between Asia’s biggest economy and a new western front is brewing. EU tariffs on Chinese EVs to rise to 27-48% Retaliatory measures from China likely EU imports of China cars surge sevenfold over three years "The European side has disregarded facts and WTO [World Trade Organization] rules, ignored China's repeated strong opposition, and ignored the appeals and dissuasion of multiple EU member state governments and industries," China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement issued late on 12 June. The European Commission on 12 June notified Chinese automakers, including EV giant BYD, Geely, and state-owned SAIC Motor Corp, that it will impose additional provisional tariffs of 17% to 38% on imported Chinese EVs from around 4 July. These will be applied to existing 10% tariffs imposed on all Chinese EVs, with the final rate determined by each carmaker's level of cooperation with EU's anti-subsidy investigation launched in September last year. NEW FRONT FOR TIT-FOR-TAT TRADE WAR China’s commerce ministry has urged the EU to "immediately correct its wrong practices" and "properly handle trade frictions through dialogue and consultation". The ministry said it will "resolutely take all necessary measures to firmly defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies". "This move by the European side not only harms the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese electric vehicle industry but will also disrupt and distort the global automotive industry chain and supply chain, including the EU," it said. The EU's move follows the US' tariff hikes announced last month on Chinese imports of EVs, batteries and other materials, starting 1 August. In 2018, then US President Donald Trump initiated a trade war with China by imposing tariffs on Chinese imports to address alleged trade imbalances, intellectual property theft, and unfair trade practices. China retaliated with tariffs on US goods, escalating tensions between the two biggest economies in the world. While reviews by the US and EU on Chinese goods were under way, Beijing launched in May an anti-dumping investigation into imported polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymer, also known as polyformaldehyde copolymer – a key material in electronics and automotive manufacturing. China's commerce ministry alleged that the plastic is being sold below market value, harming domestic producers. The probe, targeting imports from the US, EU, Taiwan, and Japan, could last up to 18 months and is seen as a direct response to their recent trade barriers against Chinese goods. In the case of Taiwan, China has also suspended tariff concessions on 134 more products from the island, including base oil, chemicals, and chemical products, citing Taiwan’s supposed violations of the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with the mainland. Meanwhile, Japan’s tightened export controls on 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment that took effect on July 2023 was deemed in line with restrictions imposed by the US and the Netherlands, potentially hindering China's access to advanced chipmaking technology. China may issue further retaliatory measures, potentially impacting global supply chains and escalating trade tensions with major economies in the west. The automotive industry is a major global consumer of petrochemicals that contributes more than one-third of the raw material costs of an average vehicle. The automotive sector drives demand for chemicals such as polypropylene (PP), along with nylon, polystyrene (PS), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), polyurethane (PU), methyl methacrylate (MMA) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). CHINA 2023 CAR EXPORTS TO EU SURGE China’s exports of automobiles to the EU have surged over the past year, particularly in the battery electric vehicle (BEV) segment, according to Nomura Global Markets Research. Cars produced in China accounted for 20% of all BEV registrations in the EU during the first two months of 2024, it said, citing data from automotive business intelligence firm JATO Dynamics. An analysis of January-April 2024 sales figures from China’s top three EV manufacturers in the EU, however, suggests that their overall presence in the region is still nascent, Nomura noted. In 2023, EU’s imports of Chinese EVs surged to $11.5 billion, more than sevenfold increase from $1.6 billion in 2020, according to think thank Rhodium Group. China accounted for 37% of EU’s total EV imports last year, it said. In the first quarter of 2024, about 40% of China’s EV exports or 145,002 units went to Europe, according to official customs data. Focus article by Nurluqman Suratman Thumbnail image: An electric car at a charging station near the European Commission building in Brussels, Belgium. (Xinhua/Shutterstock)

13-Jun-2024