MUMBAI (ICIS)–Profitability of specialty chemicals producers in India is being weighed down by poor demand amid the global economic slowdown and volatile crude prices, with market conditions unlikely to improve in the next three to four months. Competition from imports, largely coming from China, also affects local players amid weakness in demand in the eurozone […]

SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Argentina’s petrochemicals players are bracing for a severe and potentially year-long economic contraction as President Elect Javier Milei implements his shock recipes for the country’s beleaguered economy. Last week, Argentinians showed with clarity their desire for change electing far-right and libertarian Milei for the highest office with more than 56% of the votes. His […]

LONDON (ICIS)–The ICIS Northwest Europe ammonia-to-hydrogen price increased marginally on a weekly basis heading towards December, with a similar move reported on low-carbon hydrogen while baseload electrolysis saw a solid increase. The ammonia-to-hydrogen price increased by €0.04/kg on a weekly basis to €6.15/kg on 23 November, continuing the recent trend over the past seven weeks […]

HOUSTON (ICIS)–There is no doubt that the circular economy has become one of the biggest priorities in the plastics value chain but market participants continue to question how recycling can grow to become more generally acceptable and how they will be able to access enough feedstock to ensure viability. Turning more towards chemical recycling is […]

HOUSTON (ICIS)–A CSX freight rail train derailed on Thursday morning near Livingston, south of Lexington, Kentucky, involving 16 railcars, including two molten sulphur railcars that breached and caused a fire, officials said. When molten sulphur burns it is known to release sulphur dioxide. The Kentucky government declared an emergency and authorities were encouraging people in […]

SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Global demand for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is “starting to improve” but the market’s overcapacities may take years to be absorbed, an executive at Brazilian producer Unipar said this week. Alexandre Castro, business director for PVC, said Unipar’s commitment to Brazil remains firm despite historically high input costs, adding the company’s chlorine division is […]

LONDON (ICIS)–The Polish government has defended its national gas storage regulation to ICIS on Friday following its referral to the European court system by the European Commission (EC) The EC announced on Thursday 16 November it was referring Poland to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) “for imposing restrictive requirements on companies […]

HOUSTON–With nearly 55% of unionised General Motors (GM) workers voting to ratify the new labour contract this week, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union now shifts its attention to Ford and Stellantis, with current vote totals indicating the deal should pass comfortably. According to vote trackers on the UAW website, Ford hourly employees have voted 67% to 33% in […]

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US union members at Ford and Stellantis approved new labor contracts, according to vote tallies published on Friday. “It is good news that the union ratified the contract,” said Ramesh Iyer, director, engineering plastics at Chemical Data (CDI).  “The impact was minimized as the high-volume vehicle production were shut down only for a couple […]

SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Braskem Idesa is preparing for the start-up of its new joint venture (JV) ethane terminal along with a major turnaround at its Ethylene XXI cracker and polyethylene (PE) complex in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico in 2025, ahead of a planned expansion of ethylene capacity, its CEO said. The 1.05m tonne/year ethane cracker is running at […]