Europe top stories: weekly summary
ICIS Editorial
06-Mar-2023
LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 3 March.
BASF
to discontinue melamine production at
Ludwigshafen due to costs
BASF plans to cease production of melamine at
its Ludwigshafen plant in Germany following
structural measures previously announced,
according to a company spokesperson.
Covestro braced for weak
2023 as energy, pricing headwinds
persist
Covestro expects 2023 earnings to fall below
last year’s following a sharp increase in
energy and raw material prices since early 2022
and difficulties in passing on those costs to
consumers.
PODCAST: Bearish
sentiment persists for urea as India surprises
with wide shipment window
The small recovery in urea prices is expected
to be short-lived, with sentiment turning
bearish once again after India said it is
looking to buy 1m tonnes to be loaded by 1
June.
Saudi
Arabia’s SABIC expects margins pressure to
continue in H1 2023 on slow demand
Saudi Arabia’s SABIC expects its margins to
continue being under pressure in the first half
of this year, after its net profit fell sharply
in 2022 amid poorer demand and lower prices.
Europe propylene March
contract settles up by €30/tonne
The European propylene March contract reference
price has settled at €1,185/tonne, up by
€30/tonne from February.
Europe chemical tanker
spot freights soften
Spot freight rates in the European chemical
tanker market were assessed lower in the week
ending 24 February, amid a reduced flow of
fresh enquiries and more openings for prompt
tonnage.
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