Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 16 August.

Sasol share price slumps as results release pushed back on Lake Charles cracker
Sasol shares fell on Friday after the South Africa-based company announced delays to the release of its fiscal 2019 results as it continues to scrutinise issues at its flagship US cracker project.

Europe PE market ponders future direction as holidays take hold
The polyethylene (PE) market is quietly active in Europe as the holiday period is in full swing, but visibility is low, as those players that are still working speculate on the short-term future.

OPEC cuts non-OPEC crude supply growth forecasts for 2019, 2020
OPEC has revised down its non-OPEC crude oil supply growth estimates for 2019 and 2020 on the back of lower-than-expected output in the US, Brazil, Norway, and Thailand, the cartel said on Friday.

INSIGHT: Europe PET, PTA challenged by Asian volatility, weather, sustainability and politics
The European polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and upstream purified terephthalic acid (PTA) markets will continue to be challenged by supply and demand, which in turn is heavily impacted by the bigger, unpredictable, global picture.

Europe BD could tighten in September as market re-balances
European butadiene (BD) could shift towards tightness next month following changes in operations downstream.

Romania’s Ciech soda ash plant hibernation could shift European fundamentals
European soda ash fundamentals could radically alter from 18 September as Ciech looks to hibernate its plant in Govora, Romania following the termination of a deal for industrial process steam with its supplier.

Relief for Europe methanol tank space, spot sticks near three-year
Europe’s methanol spot prices remain close to a three-year low in mid-August, after several months of difficulty for traders looking for tank space in Rotterdam slowly abates.

Saudi Aramco ‘ready’ for IPO -CFO
Saudi Aramco is ready to move forward with an initial public offering (IPO) as soon as its shareholders determine that market conditions are right to list, the CFO of the state-owned oil and gas major said on Monday.

Saudi Aramco to acquire 20% stake in Reliance oil to chems business
Saudi Aramco is set take a 20% stake in Reliance Industries’ oil to chemicals division in a deal giving the business an enterprise value (EV) of $75bn, the Indian petrochemicals producer said on Monday.

Europe petchems hopes for Q3 rebound dwindle
Although activity tends to slow down on the European petrochemicals industry over summer, there are concerns that there is something far more pressing affecting market dynamics this year.