Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 23 September.

Delayed Europe PX contract throws Europe PET/PTA into more chaos
The continued trend of late Europe contract price settlements for upstream paraxylene (PX) is causing more uncertainties for downstream markets, in an already complex environment.

High electricity costs, production woes pressure Europe caustic soda prices
European caustic soda availability is tight, with producers separately targeting significant price increases because of high energy costs and the impact of production outages.

German chemicals want gas levy stopped as Uniper nationalisation unfolds
Germany’s government is to inject €8bn into the soon-to-be nationalised energy major Uniper and it will buy the stake of Finland’s Fortum for about €480m, Germany’s economic affairs ministry announced on Wednesday.

UK logistics woes to intensify on strike action at ports
Several UK ports are expected to see walkouts over the next few weeks as a result of industrial action, with strike action underway at the Port of Liverpool and set to come into effect at the Port of Felixstowe next week.