Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 29 June.

German business climate falls in June, outlook slightly more optimistic
Germany’s business climate cooled in June to its lowest level of the year so far, especially in the trade sector, according to the country’s research institute Ifo.

Europe polyolefin players adopt wait-and-see attitude ahead of monomer settlements
European polyolefins players have adopted a wait-and-see attitude as trading activity has slowed ahead of the July upstream contract settlements.

EU Commission to investigate BASF acquisition of Solvay’s nylon business
The European Commission has opened an “in-depth” investigation into the proposed acquisition of Solvay’s global nylon business by BASF under the EU merger regulation.

Time was ripe for Spain’s chem workers to benefit from sector’s bonanza – trade union
The new collective bargaining agreement for Spanish chemicals workers had to include healthy wage increases after years of moderate rises and as the industry goes through a boom, according to the head of chemicals at Spain’s second largest trade union.

Indian urea tender dependent on ports’ stocks, Iran payments
The Indian Department of Fertilizers (DOF) is likely to approve an import tender for urea next week, according to sources.

Muntajat Qatar Sulphur Price for July falls $4/tonne despite supply shortages
The Muntajat Qatar Sulphur Price (QSP) for July has been announced at a fall of $4/tonne (or 3%) compared to June, the company confirmed.

Europe crude MDI price falls may prop up demand if end users switch product
Europe crude methyl di-p-phenylene isocyanate (MDI) order book volumes should eventually jump after end users switched to alternative products in the face of historically high pricing in 2017.

Europe July ethylene contract in ballpark but at higher end of expectations
The European July ethylene contract reference price settlement at €1,135/tonne was generally in line with most expectations albeit perhaps at the top end, several sources said.

Port of Rotterdam logistics issues persist after oil spill
Difficulties entering and leaving the port of Rotterdam after an oil spill are continuing, according to sources, despite clean-up efforts being well underway.