Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 6 September.

German industrial output slumps again in July, heightening recession
German industrial output fell again in July, slumping 0.6% month on month, according to data agency Destatis, leaving the odds of the country falling into recession “all but confirmed”, according to an analyst.

Global IPEX down 1.0% in August as US prices tumble
Sharply lower prices in the US for key petrochemicals such as methanol, toluene, benzene and butadiene helped drive the global ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX) down in August.

Aramco appoints head of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund as chairman
Saudi Aramco has appointed Yasir Al-Rumayyan as its new chairman as the crude oil major prepares for a stock exchange listing.

Germany’s Q2 chemicals production drops as sales stagnate
German chemicals and pharmaceutical production dropped 0.7% in April-June, compared with the first quarter, and 8.8% year on year on the back of the domestic industrial slowdown as sales stagnated and capacity utilisation fell, trade group VCI said on Wednesday.

Europe BDO demand remains soft, uptick in Sept less likely
European butanediol (BDO) demand remains low in early September while expectations of a post-summer uptick in activity are diminishing.

BASF pigments sale positive indicator for future ratings – analysts
BASF’s sale of its pigments business indicates that the German major should be on the road to financial recovery, according to analysts who spoke exclusively to ICIS.

Sinopec leads ICIS Top 100 Chemical Companies list
ICIS Chemical Business magazine has published its annual ICIS Top 100 Chemical Companies, a global listing of producers ranked by 2018 sales.

Europe acetone gains kick start industry’s 2020 phenol planning phase
The yawning gap between upstream feedstock propylene costs and acetone spot prices – not far off the more-than-three-year lows hit in May – has narrowed significantly in Europe in recent days, bringing some welcome relief in a vexing year for phenol/acetone producers as they sketch out plans for 2020.