Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 26 October.

BASF shares down as Q3 net profit falls, warns of growing challenges
Shares in BASF fell on Friday after the German chemical major published falling net profit for the third-quarter and warnings of “growing” macroeconomic challenges.

Saudi Arabia’s shift to petrochemicals underscored by Aramco-SABIC merger
Saudi Arabia has grasped upcoming trends in the petrochemicals industry and plans to merge its crude oil major Aramco and petrochemicals major SABIC to take advantage of them.

France’s Arkema exec to chair European PMMA recycling project
Arkema’s scientific director is to chair the EU-wide MMAtwo project, a research programme to study the recycling by depolymerization of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) waste, the French chemical major said on Thursday.

Europe butadiene November contract price agreed down €100/tonne
The European butadiene (BD) contract reference price for November has been agreed at €1,075/tonne, a €100/tonne fall from October, several contract participants said on Thursday.

Eurozone business growth hits two-year low, optimism lowest since 2014
The eurozone economy grew at the slowest rate for more than two years in October on the back of an export-led slowdown that has now spread to the services sector, according to a flash composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) from IHS Markit on Wednesday.

UK stocking up on polymers, fuels ahead of a potential ‘hard Brexit’
UK petrochemicals and fuel buyers are stocking up on gasoline components, polymers and glycerine in preparation for a potential hard Brexit, the possibility the country may leave the EU in 2019 without having reached a trade agreement with the bloc.

3D printing advances overshadowed by lack of machinery – Evonik
The true take off for 3D printing is on the horizon but a lack of machinery capable of production is holding the technology back, according to Evonik’s head of new 3D technologies.

Linde, Praxair stock up as merger approved in US, large divestments required
Linde and Praxair’s shares rose sharply on Monday after the US’ Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cleared the industrial gases majors’ merger, subject to Linde divesting a large chunk of its business in the country.

Europe cracker margins continue to rise amid falling feedstock costs
European ethylene contract cracker margins continue to rise week on week on the back of decreases in naphtha and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) values, ICIS margin analysis showed on Monday.

Germany’s automotive sector declines sharply in Q3 – central bank
Germany’s “still intact” economic upswing may have come to a temporary halt in the third quarter as a result of a sharp decline in the chemical-intensive automotive sector, as well as a fall in construction output, according to the country’s central bank.