Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 25 June.

Europe chemical industry concerns grow over dwindling Rhine water levels
Numerous European chemicals players have expressed concern about key shipping artery the River Rhine, with official data on Friday projecting that water levels are likely to continue to fall in days to come.

India’s Reliance eyes opportunities to sell PE in Africa
Reliance is eyeing the African market once it starts up its polyethylene (PE) 950,000 tonne/year plant in Jamnagar, India, in July, according to a source at the Indian petrochemicals major this week.

UK to leave EU customs union after Brexit – government
The UK will exit the EU’s customs union once it leaves the 28-country block in 2019, its government said on Wednesday.  

Global ferts prices to recover in 2018 despite bumps in the road – Bernstein
Some fertilizers prices have markedly improved during past months while others that had been trending up since the beginning of the year halted their rally in May, chemical equity analysts at Bernstein Research said on Wednesday.

Europe CX supply tight on global constraints
The European cyclohexane (CX) market has faced some interesting events so far this year, with continued tightness on the back of global supply constraints.

INSIGHT: Northwest Europe cracker margins continue strong as H2 advances
Ethylene producers in Europe are performing remarkably well with margins close to record highs so far this year.

US Celanese to form acetate tow joint venture with private equity firm Blackstone
Celanese is to form a joint venture with fund manager Blackstone to combine their acetate tow business, the US chemical producer said late on Sunday.

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