Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 1 December.

Saudi Sadara plans by-product recycling project
Saudi Arabia’s Sadara Chemical is planning a “by-products upgrade project”, the petrochemicals joint venture between Saudi Aramco and US chemicals major DowDuPont said.

Germany’s K+S to close Sigmundshall potash site
K+S will end potash production at Sigmundshall in late 2018 as crude salt reserves dwindle and mining conditions become more “demanding”, the German fertilizers producer announced.

Global bioplastics output to rise to 2.44m tonnes by 2022 – trade group
Global bioplastics production capacity is set to increase from around 2.05m tonnes in 2017 to approximately 2.44m tonnes in 2022, trade group European Bioplastics said.

Germany’s BASF benefits from chemicals tightness, China closures – Bernstein
Germany’s chemical major BASF is benefiting from higher-than-expected demand in Europe and China’s pollution-related plant closures, which have caused a spike in global chemical prices, analysts at Bernstein Research said.

Dutch AkzoNobel shareholders back specialty chems separation
AkzoNobel shareholders have backed the separation of its specialty chemicals business through private sale or legal demerger, the Netherlands-headquartered paints and coatings firm said.

Eurozone manufacturing output nears record highs, UK strongest since 2014
Eurozone manufacturing output stood near record highs in November while the UK’s sector growth remained strong despite economic uncertainty in the country, analyst IHS Markit said.

No respite for urea suppliers as prices continue to slide
Global urea prices continue to fall with levels in most regions touching three-month lows.

EU spending on R&D stable but behind other major economies
Research and Development (R&D) spending in the EU remained stable in 2016 but lagged behind competing economies, the European statistical agency Eurostat said.