Industry News
Chemical Industry News
Europe toluene premiums slip, activity minimal
LONDON (ICIS)--European toluene spot premiums continued to trend downwards in the week ending 24 April. Players also noted that spot premium ranges react to the fast-changing market much slower than...
EU sets yearly quota for Russian ammonia exports
LONDON (ICIS)--EU member states have adopted the 20th package of sanctions against Russia which includes a quota on ammonia exports. The European Commission said it will introduce a yearly quota on...
European caustic soda spot prices stable-to-firm, markets remain tight
LONDON (ICIS)--European caustic soda spot prices were stable-to-firm in the week ending 24 April, as global demand remains tight. NWE prices rose $20/dmt (dry metric tonnes) on the high end, to...
Europe E&P series glycol ether prices stabilize as market weighs up end to maintenance and alternative sourcing
LONDON (ICIS)--Spot prices for E&P series glycol ethers held steady into late April as the markets began to find a new price equilibrium - where buyers are less willing or able to pay current...
Indonesia’s Pupuk scraps 155,000 tonne potash purchase tender – sources
LONDON (ICIS)--Indonesian holding group Pupuk has cancelled a purchase tender for a total 155,000 tonnes of standard-grade muriate of potash (MOP) fertilizer, for delivery June-September, according...
Softer demand and improving supply outlook pressure Europe DEG spot prices
LONDON (ICIS)--European diethylene glycol (DEG) spot prices were assessed in narrower ranges in the week ending 24 April with buyers taking a wait-and-see approach after defensive stocking. DEG truck...
Europe palm oleic acid shortages to persist Q2-Q3
LONDON (ICIS)--European palm oleic acid shortages are to persist in Q2 and Q3, while palm stearic acid constraints will be less severe. Palm oleic acid shortages severe in Q2 Palm stearic acid...
Xylenes premiums slip, demand continues flat
LONDON (ICIS)--The European mixed xylenes (MX) spot premium range was assessed lower in the week ending 24 April, on the back of ongoing minimal buying interest from the market. The spot premium...
Europe EVA nears record high in April on US-Iran war fallout
LONDON (ICIS)--European ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) contract prices approached record highs in April, following spiking upstream prices prompted by the US-Iran war, which has been called the...
Carbon-free ferrocene analogue synthesised
Osmium complex is the first carbon-free version of the classic sandwich compound
Vanadium’s promise in medicine and the researchers who refuse to give up
It mimics phosphate, kills cancer cells in the lab and almost changed how we treat diabetes. So why has a vanadium compound never made it to the clinic?
When vanadium almost changed how we treat type 2 diabetes
Chris Orvig tells the story of BEOV
Nanoparticles enable new combinations of previously immiscible metals
Metals have a wide range of properties. Combining these with each other opens up new perspectives for many future technologies. However, some metals cannot yet be mixed with each other. At the Karlsruhe Institute of
China BPA average plant run rate falls to 74.0% on shutdown, operational cuts
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--The average run rate of China’s bisphenol A (BPA) plants was at around 74.0% in the week ended 24 April 2026, down by 3.4 percentage points from the last reporting period, ICIS...
China Tangshan Zhonghao’s PA66 unit turnaround boosts ADA availability
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--China’s Tangshan Zhonghao has taken its 40,000 tonne/year polyamide 66 (PA66) unit offline for a turnaround that started around 20 April because of feedstock shortages. PA66...
Plant status: China’s Shandong Hualu Hengsheng begins ADA unit turnaround
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Shandong Hualu Hengsheng Location: Dezhou, China Product: Adipic acid (ADA) Capacity (tonnes/year): 80,000 Event start: 21 April Event finish:...
The dynamic heart of Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalysts
With the aim to precisely understand its function, researchers from the Inorganic Chemistry Department and Interface Science Department of the Fritz Haber Institute, together with colleagues from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion
Breakthrough in the simulation of complex quantum systems
The physicist Dr. Sebastian Paeckel has developed a method that can be used to calculate spectral functions of complex quantum systems much more precisely than was possible previously. His approach reconstructs precise energy spectra without
Asia-US container rates stable to slightly higher; tanker rates mixed
HOUSTON (ICIS)--Rates for shipping containers from east Asia and China to the US rose slightly this week while liquid chemical tanker rates saw slight declines on the major trade lanes and a bump for...
NYMEX: US gas futures lower as the market digests looser gas storage balance
Front-month US natural gas futures decreased on 24 April following the recent large gas storage injection amid shoulder season The May 2026 Henry Hub contract on NYMEX settled at $2.523/MMBtu, down...