Europe top stories: weekly summary

ICIS Editorial

31-Jul-2017

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

UK plans licence rule change to incentivise van drivers switch to cleaner fuel
The UK’s Department for Transport and its Office for Low Emission Vehicles said on Friday that the government has announced changes to driver licensing rules that will ease the transition for van drivers to switch to electric vehicles.

INEOS Phenol plans ‘world-scale’ cumene plant in Germany
INEOS Phenol is planning to build a “world-scale” cumene plant in Germany with a potential start-up date of 2020, the European chemical major said on Friday.

Swiss Clariant engaged in ‘positive’ dialogue with activist investor – CEO
Clariant is actively engaging with activist investors who are sceptical about the company’s plans to merge with US chemical peer Huntsman as more synergies are quantified in the negotiations taking place, the CEO and the CFO at the Switzerland-headquartered chemical company said this week.

BASF’s chems growth to slow in H2, firm eyes battery market
BASF’s healthy growth in chemicals earnings during the first half of the year is unlikely to continue to the end of 2017, the German chemical major said on Thursday. 

‘We’ll have to become electricity traders’ – biofuels market reacts to UK petrol ban
European biofuels market participants are wondering what their role will be in the future after the UK became the latest country to announce on Wednesday a ban on all conventional petrol and diesel car sales by 2040.

UK to ban combustion engines by 2040, follows other European countries
The UK government is set to announce a ban on all new diesel and petrol vehicles from 2040, environment secretary Michael Gove said on Wednesday.

Germany’s Covestro mulls expansions, specialty acquisitions
Covestro is mulling more capacity expansions on the back of strong demand and due to the healthy free cash flows it expects to generate in coming years, which equally “could be used” to acquire specialty chemicals firms, executives at the German chemical major said on Tuesday.

Europe LDPE looking firmer as Versalis force majeure lifted
European low density polyethylene (LDPE) is considered one of the strongest polyethylene (PE) grades at present, amid confirmation of the lifting of Versalis’s LDPE force majeure from its Dunkirk, France, plant.

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