Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 26 August.

Germany’s VCI urges chems to prepare for ‘hard Brexit’
German chemical industry trade group VCI is calling on chemical firms to prepare for a “hard Brexit”, it said on Friday.

UK chems to be among the worst hit under no-deal Brexit – chancellor
The UK chemicals industry stands to be among the worst hit in the event of a breakaway from the EU that reverts to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, according to the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond.

Weak Turkey adds woes to Europe PE market as China tariffs come into effect
The ailing Turkish polyethylene (PE) market is leading to concerns over fresh imports into Europe as China’s 25% tariffs on US product came into effect on Thursday.

INSIGHT: China’s latest tariffs on chemicals, polymers set to distort regional trade
It is not necessarily a calm before the storm but traders and others have to deal with the world as it is. The bottom line impact can be gauged later. Petrochemical sources in China do not hold out much hope for the working-level China-US trade talks in Washington which begin on Wednesday.

Europe PET imports fell nearly a third from May to June, and prices soared
EU imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in primary forms dropped 28% in June, according to the latest data from Eurostat, at a time when domestic prices soared.

Total fails to obtain US waiver on Iran sanctions, exits the country
Total is withdrawing from its investments in Iran after failing to obtain a business waiver from the US following Washington’s re-imposition of sanctions, the French energy and petrochemicals major confirmed to ICIS on Tuesday.

PODCAST: Turkish lira steadies but uncertainty takes its toll
After rollercoaster movements since the beginning of August, the Turkish lira stabilised against the US dollar last week but the currency has lost more than 40% of its value year to date.

Sasol FY profit down sharply, expects $250-300m earnings from US Gulf project in 2019
Sasol’s net profit for its 2018 fiscal year slumped on currency headwinds and production interruptions despite the firmer oil price, but the firm’s flagship US Gulf Coast complex is drawing closer to completion, the South African chemical major said on Monday.

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