Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 28 June 2019.

Europe BD marked by caution over uncertain H2 outlookSentiment on the European butadiene (BD) market is cautious, with many players wary of how the second half of 2019 will shape up, given the less-than-buoyant picture registered year to date. The July contract reference price was settled this week at €810/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe), down by €50/tonne from June.

BASF to reduce workforce by 6,000 in cost saving programmeBASF is to reduce its headcount by nearly 5% until the end of 2021, or 6,000 employees, the German chemicals major said on Thursday. “As a result, the company expects savings of €300m, as part of the ongoing excellence program,” it said.

Shell Moerdjik, Netherlands petchem site in start-up phase following turnarounds Shell has begun to restart units at its Moerdijk, Netherlands petrochemical site following planned maintenance, a company spokesman said on Thursday. “Some plants are now in the start-up phase,” the spokesman said, without disclosing any information as to which plants were affected.

EU passenger car registration 2019 growth forecast shifts from positive to negative The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has revised it forecast for 2019 passenger car registrations growth down to -1% from an initial estimate of +1%, the organisation said on Thursday. The association has adjusted its year-on-year expectations with total EU projected car sales to be just above 15m at the year end.

Yara benefiting from US-China trade war as Brazil exports boom – execs The US-China trade conflict has benefited Yara’s operations in Brazil, a country not subject to newly imposed Chinese tariffs on agricultural products, executives at the Norwegian fertilizers major said on Wednesday. The export-oriented US agricultural sector has been at the centre of the trade war as China is a large consumer of soybeans, corn and other products produced in the US.

Yara’s nitrogen firm’s earnings expected at $150-230m/year, ‘inherent’ complexities to process – exec 
Yara is set to keep a “significant share” of its future, carved out nitrogen business, and expects earnings for the spin-off of between $150-230m a year, or around 10-15% of current earnings, an executive said on Wednesday. The Norway-based fertilizer major said earlier that it was mulling an initial public offering (IPO) for its industrial nitrogen business, set to be concluded by early 2020.

Norway’s Yara eyes potential IPO of its industrial nitrogen business 
Yara is evaluating an initial public offering (IPO) of its industrial nitrogen businesses in a move that would “create the first integrated industrial nitrogen” company, the Norwegian fertilizers major said on Wednesday. Ahead of its capital markets day (CMD) in London, the Oslo-headquartered crop nutrient manufacturer revealed the conclusion of a final IPO scope is expected in early 2020.

Borealis to place PE, PP at heart of circularity, chem recycling still weak spot – exec Borealis’ main selling products – polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) – place it in a good position to deepen research and development (R&D) into recycling as global public alarm about plastic waste rises, an executive at the Austrian major said.

Borouge feeling the heat from US polymers producers – exec
Polyolefins producer Bourouge is starting to feel the heat from US competitors sending material to Asia, causing ups and downs in prices which the Abu Dhabi producer is trying to weather, an executive at the joint venture said on Tuesday.

Chevron Phillips Chemical, Qatar Petroleum in 1.9m tonne Qatar cracker/1.7m tonne PE plan
Chevron Phillips Chemical and Qatar Petroleum have agreed to build a 1.9m tonne/year ethane cracker and 1.68m tonne/year high density polyethylene (HDPE) project at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar, the companies said on Monday. The project agreement documents were signed earlier in the day in Doha.

Europe cracker margins fall as naphtha, LPG rise on US-Iran tensions European cracker margins have fallen on the back of a rise in upstream values due to US-Iran tensions, ICIS margin analysis showed on Monday. Naphtha values rose by 7% liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) values rose by 12% while naphtha-based contract margins fell by 11%.