Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 10 July.

INTERVIEW: Chemicals carve-out and transformative M&A activity to ramp up – banker
The global chemicals sector is poised to see more corporate carve-outs and transformative deals, an investment banker said on Tuesday.

US Q3 glycerine contracts assessed at a sharp increase following major Q2 supply chain disruptions
US Q3 glycerine contracts were assessed at a sharp increase from Q2 following major supply chain disruptions during the quarter.

Weekly US IPA prices decrease slightly despite rising coronavirus cases
Isopropanol (IPA) prices slightly decreased this week on the spot market and for domestic delivered product, reflecting the continuation of a trend that has been seen in markets since May.

Re-imposed lockdowns, rise in Covid-19 cases cast shadow on crude oil market – IEA
Re-imposed lockdowns in Latin and North America and the pandemic’s resurgence are “casting a shadow” over the outlook for global crude oil rebalancing despite output continuing to fall at pace in June, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.

Slow return of US auto demand likely to weigh on chemical markets in H2
Lagging sales of new automobiles in the US is likely to weigh on demand for petrochemicals through the remainder of the year, but an analysis of sales data by an industry association suggests that the market could recover more quickly if the overall economy improves.