Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 6 December.

INSIGHT: Global plastics plan pushed down the road, production remains in the spotlight
With the idea of a global binding accord on how to handle plastics waste kicked back into the long grass for now, negotiations have progressed but the key points of disagreement still seem fairly intractable.

2024’s relative stability in key commodity pricing a contrast to previous US election years
Heading into 2025, there are a plethora of factors which chemical markets players are tracking to see what could impact pricing and fundamentals, but key among them is the arrival of a new US President.

Eurozone economy contracts as chemicals operating rates plunge; outlook grim
The eurozone economy has started to contract again according to the latest composite purchasing manager index (PMI), while regional chemical industry operating rates continue to fall sharply.

GPCA ’24: Lack of recycling root cause of plastics pollution, Dow says
Dow has attributed problems with plastics pollution to a lack of plastics recycling and not production, the US producer’s chair and CEO said at the 18th Annual Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA).

UPDATE: GPCA ’24: Bahrain to host 2025 GPCA Forum
Manama, the capital of Bahrain, will host the 19th Annual Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) Forum on 8-11 December 2025, according to GPCA promotional material seen by ICIS.