BUTADIENE

NEW at PIE: Spot and contract price reports for the precursor / Supply situation in Europe remains tight; prices likely to remain high / Numerous expansions planned in Asia

SHELL

GreenDot supplies pyrolysis oil for processing in the Netherlands

STYRENE

Spot market calmer after news of restart in Netherlands / Prices remain high / Increase for polymers

SHELL

Energy giant drops chemical recycling plans / Target of 1 mn t/y by 2025 “unfeasible”

CHEMICAL RECYCLING

Pyrolysis oil as potential alternative to naphtha in crackers / Numerous plants ready to get started / Possible approach above all for Europe, Asia / Change could further impair cost base

POLYMER PRICES

Styrenics July 2024: Prices drop significantly amid weak demand, decent supply / Plant outages strong price drivers in August / Polymer demand continues to decline

POLYMER PRICES

Styrene August 2024: Outages lead to strong price rise

PETROCHEMICAL MARKETS

Olefins, aromatics: Outage of Shell cracker at Moerdijk reported

INEOS STYROLUTION

Styrene production at Canadian unit faces closure / Complaints about damage to health

BRASKEM

Adnoc cancels negotiations for majority takeover / Brazilian polyolefin group remains in the red

SHELL

Petchem group sells Singapore operations to Indonesia's Chandra Asri, Glencore

BASF

World's first electric cracker demo plant inaugurated / Joint project with Sabic, Linde aims for more sustainability

NATURAL GAS

Qatar plans expansion despite pricing woes / Europe may need LNG for 50 more years / US pause in export terminal approvals challenged

POLYMER PRICES

North America January 2024: Crackers, refineries come to a halt due to cold weather / Higher feedstock costs prevent decreases / Standard grades expected higher in February, engineering plastics to remain weak

POLYMER PRICES

North America December 2023: Weak 2023 ends with price reductions, rollovers / Economic slowdown continues to affect demand / Falling feedstock quotations put polymers under pressure at start of 2024

SABIC / LINDE

Firms seek to decarbonise ethylene glycol process / Saudi government joins carbon capture and storage thinktank

CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

Low-carbon group cuts ties with World Economic Forum / CEOs line up to accelerate journey to net zero targets

PETCORE EUROPE

Bertaggia replaces Stephan as director general / Annual conference to focus on core PET challenges in 2024

TOTALENERGIES

Deal adds 10 years to Oman LNG partnership / New agreement includes GHG reduction

NATURAL GAS

Qatar inks new LNG supply deals with EU players / Fierce competition with US suppliers / China a major client

BAYSTAR

Borealis, TotalEnergies JV starts major US HDPE plant / Facility marks final step of integrated petchem project

ELLBA

Styrene plant of BASF/Shell JV in Moerdijk restarts / Pressure on spot price

HYDROGEN

US seeks to unseat Europe as frontrunner in the race to ‘net zero' / Energy Department publishes hydrogen strategy paper / Generous subsidies under Inflation Reduction Act

POLYMER PRICES

North America August 2023: Prices vary / Firmer styrene costs prop up PS / Hurricane Idalia has no effect on prices so far / Extent of damage to polymer production not yet clear / September likely to be generally weaker

EXXONMOBIL

Workers cite safety concerns in UK ethylene plant walkout / Normal production continues – management