Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 24 May.

Canada freight rail strike unlikely to begin before mid-July, rail carrier says
A possible freight rail strike in Canada is not likely to begin before mid-July, according to rail carrier Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC).

DuPont flags $60 million in dis-synergies from break-up, assures on PFAS liabilities
DuPont expects about $60 million in dis-synergies from its break-up into three independent publicly traded companies, CEO Ed Breen and CFO Lori Koch told analysts in a conference call on Thursday.

US tariff hikes on China EVs, batteries take effect 1 August
Starting August, US tariffs on imports of electric vehicles (EVs) from China will quadruple to 100%, while those for battery materials will more than triple to 25%, the US Trade Representative (USTR) said.

US DuPont to separate electronics and water businesses
DuPont plans to separate its electronics and water businesses into two publicly traded companies, the US-based specialty chemicals producer said on Wednesday.

Mexico’s Tamaulipas drought hits some chemicals producers as water supply halved
A severe drought affecting Mexico’s sate of Tamaulipas has prompted an order to halve water supply to chemicals and other industrial companies, although some chemicals producers have said to ICIS they are operating normally.

PPG to build new US paint plant, invest in existing two sites
PPG plans to spend $300 million to build a new plant in the US and to make investments at existing sites in North America, the paints and coatings producer said on Tuesday.

Brazil’s Braskem restart at Triunfo to kick off petchem hub normalization
Braskem has restarted operations at its Triunfo facility in the flood-hit state of Rio Grande do Sul, which will allow other players in the petrochemicals hub to start up their plants as many depend on input from the Brazilian polymers major to operate.