Americas top stories: weekly summary

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from ICIS News from the week ended 3 May.

Besieged by imports, Brazil’s chemicals put hopes on hefty import tariffs hike
Brazilian chemicals producers are lobbying hard for an increase in import tariffs for key polymers and petrochemicals from 12.6% to 20%, and higher in cases, hoping the hike could slow down the influx of cheap imports, which have put them against the wall.

US manufacturing falls back into contraction in April, prices rise
Economic activity in US manufacturing contracted in April after expanding in March, according to the Institute of Supply Management’s (ISM) latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey released on Wednesday.

SABIC Q1 net income falls 62%, warns of industry overcapacity
SABIC’s net income fell by 62% year on year to Saudi Riyal (SR) 250 million in the first quarter amid a drop in prices and sales volumes, the chemicals major said late on Wednesday.

US TiO2 producer Kronos to shut down production via sulfate process in Varennes, Canada
Kronos Worldwide, a titanium dioxide (TiO2) producer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, US is planning to permanently shut down sulfate-based production at its location in Varennes, Quebec, Canada.

US Huntsman assets in Europe spare from energy hit, but EU policies erratic – CEO
Huntsman’s assets in Europe are not energy intensive and have been spared from the energy crisis, but more broadly, the 27-country EU is still lacking a comprehensive policy to address the issue, the CEO at US chemicals major Huntsman said on Friday.