Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 17 May.

IPEX: Global spot IPEX slips as decline in Asia offsets gains in other regions, crude
The global spot ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX) slipped 0.1%, as a fall in the northeast Asia index failed to offset gains in other regions and a rise in crude oil prices.

Univar sees scope for both industrial and specialty chemicals M&A – CEO
Chemicals distributor Univar Solutions will target both industrial and specialty chemicals and ingredients acquisitions as it seeks to be a consolidator in a still-fragmented market, its CEO said.

Brazil’s floods-hit state plastics sector under ‘hypothesis’ operations could normalize end May – trade group
Plastics producers in Rio Grande do Sul remain shut following the floods but are working under the “hypothesis” operations could normalize by the end of May, a full month after the floods hit the Brazilian state, trade group Abiplast said.

US home builder confidence dives as mortgage rates exceed 7%
US builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes fell sharply in May as higher mortgage rates “hammer” confidence, the National Association of Home Builders said on Wednesday.

Chemical cycle has bottomed and now ‘beginning to turn’ – Dow CEO
The global chemical cycle has bottomed out and is starting to turn higher, with a higher degree of confidence in a sustainable recovery ahead, said the CEO of Dow.

Houston storm disrupts chems, knocks power out for thousands
Powerful thunderstorms in Houston and the Gulf Coast disrupted operations at chemical plants while leaving more than 700,000 without power as of Friday.