Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 22 October.

Gas, crude rally leaves Europe benzene behind as disruptions mount
Since mid-way through the third quarter, crude and gas prices have surged while values for benzene, a key petrochemical feedstock that often mirrors upstream trends, has remained relatively flat.

Eurozone private sector growth slows further on supply chain woes
Supply bottlenecks and unease about higher COVID-19 infection rates continued to weigh on private sector growth in the region this month, with the pace of manufacturing output growth slowing the most since the start of the pandemic.

Spain’s Fertiberia plans €1bn ammonia plant in Sweden
Fertiberia has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Swedish regional government to build a €1.0bn green ammonia plant, the Spanish fertilizers producer said this week.

Europe chemicals players grapple with energy cost surges
Multi-decade price highs for natural gas in Europe are rippling through the energy-intensive European chemicals sectors, with attempted price hikes or production cutbacks among the responses, and with the situation only set to worsen in the event of a cold winter.

Ford plans £230m reconversion at UK plant to produce electric vehicles components
Ford is set to invest £230m in the UK to build its first European electric vehicle (EV) components plant, the US automotive major said on Monday.