Europe top stories: weekly summary
Niall Swan
11-Feb-2019
LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 8 February.
Global MMA operating
rates slashed amid oversupply
Operating rates at global methyl methacrylate
(MMA) producers have been cut in order to
manage the current oversupply.
German court probes fatal
2016 BASF explosion
A German court began hearing charges related to
the 2016 explosion at BASF’s Ludwigshafen
petrochemicals production hub that ended up
killing five people and injuring 44.
Europe 2019 soda ash
prices grow by double digits amid tight
fundamentals
Participants in the European soda ash market
have settled 2019 annual contracts with
increases of €15/tonne compared with 2018
business, depending on the account, starting
point and region, sources said.
Braskem, Haldor Topsoe
partner on renewable MEG pilot plant
Brazil’s Braskem and Denmark’s Haldor Topsoe
have reached mechanical completion on the first
phase of a demonstration plant that will
produce bio-based monoethylene glycol (MEG)
from sugars, the companies said.
Global IPEX falls further
in January but Asia creeps higher
Petrochemical and polymer prices began to fall
in September last year and generally continued
the downward march in January.
Europe cracker
maintenance preparations in good shape, but
limited flexibility for the
unexpected
Good preparations have been made to cover
Europe’s heavy 2019 cracker maintenance slate,
although doubts remain.
Circular economy will
require ‘heavy’ investments in new chemicals –
ECHA chief
It may take more than half a century to make
the European economy circular, but the sooner
“heavy investments” are made in new chemicals
the less of a burden this will place on future
generations, according to the chief of the EU’s
chemicals regulator.
Sasol’s US Lake Charles
cracker completion pushed back five months as
costs mount
Sasol has pushed back the estimated start-up
date for its new cracker in Lake Charles,
Louisiana to July, a five-month delay from its
most recent estimate, as projected costs of the
petrochemicals complex continue to rise, the
South Africa-headquartered producer said.
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