Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 2 August.

Freight headache distracts from Europe’s PE, PP existential crisis
Europe may be insulated from ballooning global supply of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in the second half of 2024, as spiking Asian freight costs are the latest pain point to disrupt trade flows.

Balanced to tight conditions could persist for Europe BD in H2 2024
European butadiene (BD) market fundamentals are likely to remain in a balanced to tight position for much of the remainder of 2024.

Europe base oils Group II/Group III expectations heavily dependent on import logistics for H2
The European Group II and Group III outlooks for the second half of 2024 center strongly on imports, with several logistical issues across the globe throwing some uncertainty onto the markets.

Europe H2 ethylene, propylene won’t be a repeat of H2 2023, may be better than expected
The second half of 2024 is looking brighter for Europe olefins markets compared to the same periods in 2022 and 2023. No demand crashes are expected, and there are several supportive factors that could make H2 2024 better than initially anticipated.

Europe PVC uncertainty continues on weak demand, new antidumping charges on imports
The European polyvinyl chloride (PVC) market faces a period of uncertainty in H2 2024, compounding the difficulties in long-term outlook since the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020, and only slightly mitigated by antidumping charges for US and Egyptian imports.