Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 8 March.

BP Gelsenkirchen refinery scale-back underscores Germany’s competitive hurdles
BP is set to become the latest European oil and gas player to cut crude oil refining capacity in Germany, with the UK-headquartered firm citing structurally high costs and declining demand for conventional fuels.

Poland’s Azoty rejects calls for Pulawy subsidiary to go it alone
Second largest European fertilizer producer Grupa Azoty “faces an urgent challenge to return to a stable development path”, but any attempt to split off subsidiary Grupa Azoty Pulawy “would have a number of negative consequences”, the Polish group on Wednesday said in a statement.

Celanese to close engineered materials site in Belgium
Celanese plans to close an Engineered Materials compounding site at Mechelen, Belgium that was part of its $11 billion acquisition of DuPont’s Mobility & Materials business in 2022.

Indorama eyes upstream plant shutdowns with 6 assets under review – Group CEO
Indorama Ventures is reviewing six operating assets in the ‘West’ for potential shutdown as it seeks to boost competitiveness and exit the merchant market for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) feedstocks amid intensifying competition from China, its group CEO and Founder said.

Evonik sells superabsorbents business to ICIG to focus on specialties
Germany’s Evonik has signed a deal to sell its superabsorbents business to International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG), a privately-held industrial group headquartered in Germany.