Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 30 October.

Swiss Clariant prioritises US, Asia expansions over low-growth Europe – CFO
Clariant’s expansions in Asia and the US seek to capitalise on both regions’ growth while its European capacities are enough for a market which, despite making a return as of late, is still growing at low rates, the CFO of Swiss chemicals major Clariant said this week.

BASF confirms restart of Ludwigshafen steamcrackers, mourns colleagues
German chemicals major BASF on Thursday confirmed that its two steam crackers at Ludwigshafen in Germany have resumed production after the fire and explosion at the site on 17 October.

No Covestro disposals needed to fund Bayer’s Monsanto takeover
Flotation of additional stakes in Covestro are not necessary for Bayer to fund the acquisition of Monsanto, a spokesperson for the Germany-headquartered agrochemicals and pharma producer said on Wednesday.

Spain’s chems bonanza can only hold with EU-wide solutions – FEIQUE
While Spanish chemicals are going through a bonanza as the country’s economy recovers from the crisis started in 2008, EU-wide solutions are needed to increase competitiveness and secure a future for the industry in the region, the president of Spain’s chemical trade group FEIQUE said this week.

Germany’s Covestro Q3 net profit up 62%, sales flat
Covestro’s third-quarter net profit surged by 61.9% year on year to €259m amid higher margins, the German producer said on Tuesday.

European confidence falls into negative territory in October – CMCI
The European Chemical Markets Confidence Index (CMCI) fell into negative territory in October, with confidence trending lower in all indicators as worrying global trends offset fairly positive data in Europe.

K Fair ’16: LDPE sellers expected to prefer Asia to Europe as prices slip
Linear low density polyethylene C4 (butene based) sellers are expected to prefer Asia as a destination rather than Europe, players said at the K 2016 Fair in Dusseldorf.

Eurozone’s economy shows ‘signs of life’, Oct PMI at 10-month high
Rising order books and prices as well as strengthening employment took the eurozone’s main two economic sectors – services and manufacturing – flash purchasing managers’ index (PMI) composite to a 10-month high, driven by strong growth in Germany, analysis firm IHS Markit said on Monday.

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