Europe top stories – weekly summary
ICIS Editorial
13-Mar-2017
LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 12 March.
Recent drop in Europe styrene spot
may be start of cooling down
phase
After five consecutive
increases of the barge contract from November 2016 to
the current month, the European styrene market
witnessed spot prices softening this week in tandem with some
losses in the Asian market, players said on
Friday.
Dutch AkzoNobel rejects PPG bid;
eyes specialty chem ops spin-off
AkzoNobel has rejected an unsolicited takeover bid made
by US-based PPG Industries, and has decided to review
strategic options to separate its specialty chemical
business, the Dutch paints and coatings firm said on
Thursday.
Akzo-PPG deal would make sense,
pressure to perform good for investors –
Bernstein
A merger between PPG
and AkzoNobel would be “credible and potentially powerful”
but higher pressure for the Netherlands-based company to
perform after rejecting a takeover bid is also good news for
shareholders, analyst Bernstein said on Thursday.
Early March Europe capro contracts
up €150/tonne
Players in the
European caprolactam (capro) market have agreed
some early March contracts €150/tonne higher versus February
on the back of good demand and limited availability, sources
said on Wednesday.
Soaring western butadiene,
benzene/styrene prices help push February global IPEX up
8.5%
Price increases in
the styrene chain and in butadiene markets in the
US and western Europe helped drive the ICIS Petrochemical
Index still higher in February, data showed on
Tuesday.
Economy may be poised for strength,
less need for chems M&A –
lawyer
BARCELONA (ICIS)–The
global economy could be at a tipping point where stronger
growth returns, creating better conditions for investment and
lessening the need to use mergers and acquisitions (M&A)
to chase growth, according to a chemicals sector
lawyer.
Global oil supply may lag behind
demand after 2020 on low capex –
IEA
The global supply
of crude oil may struggle to keep up with
demand after 2020 due to the lack of capital expenditure
(capex) in new projects since 2015, the International Energy
Agency (IEA) said on Monday.
Europe contract cracker margins rise
22-27% on contract hikes, lower
feeds
European contract cracker
margins have made healthy gains on the back of the increases
in the March contract prices and falls in the
euro-denominated naphtha and
liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) costs, according to
ICIS margin analysis on Monday.
Europe methanol spot high as some
see bumpy road
ahead
European methanol spot
prices have rapidly mounted a multi-year high, the
result of 2016’s weak prices combined with 2017’s production
hiccups, with some players anticipating a “bumpy road”
for supply in the near future.
(Please click on the link to read the full story).
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