Industry News
Chemical Industry News
N American chemical rail traffic rises for fourth week, US up 5.9%
HOUSTON (ICIS)--North American chemical rail traffic rose 5.0% year on year to 47,411 railcar loadings for the week ended 4 October, marking a fourth consecutive increase, according to freight rail...
Explainer: why have metal–organic frameworks won the Nobel prize in chemistry?
Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi scooped the Nobel prize for their work on MOFs – here’s everything you need to know
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 for the development of metal-organic frameworks
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 to Susumu Kitagawa (Kyoto University, Japan), Richard Robson (University of Melbourne, Australia) and Omar M. Yaghi (University of California, Berkeley, USA) “for the
2025 chemistry Nobel prize goes to the scientists behind metal–organic frameworks
Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi take top prize for discovery and development of versatile materials with a huge surface area
The 2025 Nobel prize in chemistry as it happens – live
Join us as we provide analysis and commentary in the run up to the announcement of the biggest prize in chemistry
Why I’m still in love with the Nobel prize
The enthusiasm and excitement the awards generate for the sciences are still second to none
China’s growth revised upward to 4.8% in 2025, 4.2% in 2026 – World Bank
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--The World Bank has revised China’s economy forecast to 4.8% in 2025, compared with its 4.0% forecast in April, the lender said on 7 October. Revised GDP forecast comes amid US...
US tariffs on India exports to weigh on South Asia growth – World Bank
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--India's economic resilience is set to be tested in 2026 by significantly higher US tariffs, the World Bank warned on 7 October, stating the levies would act as a "drag" on South...
Breaking the Bubbles of the Different Renewable Carbon Sectors to Enhance the Transformation of the European Chemical Industry
The Renewable Materials Conference (RMC) concluded with a sense of optimism and a clear strategy for transforming Europe’s chemical and materials industry. The key takeaway: Europe can pioneer a defossilised and competitive chemical industry by
Chemists discover new way to break down nitrous oxide, a climate pollutant
"In order to defy climate change, we need new approaches for the reduction of greenhouse gases," says Prof Dr Jan Paradies from Paderborn University. Together with his team, the chemist has now come a big
Taming the “Bad” Oxygen
Researchers from the Freunberger group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have unveiled pivotal insights into the redox chemistry of oxygen and reactive oxygen species (ROS). While some ROS play essential roles
Isomer MX South Korea export prices extend gains on stronger upstream, downstream
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Isomer grade mixed xylenes (MX) spot export prices from South Korea extended gains on 7 October, following higher bids for November during the window trading period. Stronger...
Dow assessing impact of fire at Freeport PE unit, Olin unaffected
NEW YORK (ICIS)--Dow is assessing the impact of a fire at one of its polyethylene (PE) units in Freeport, Texas. Meanwhile, Olin, which has chlor-alkali plants at the site, said it was not impacted...
Plant status: Covestro chlorine, TDI units remain down at Dormagen
HOUSTON (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Covestro Location: Dormagen Product: Toluene diisocyanate (TDI), chlorine, caustic soda Capacity: TDI, 300,000 tonnes/year; caustic soda, 448,000...
NYMEX: US gas futures gain with above-normal October weather outlook
Front-month US natural gas futures rose on 7 October as dry gas production eased, with above-normal temperatures expected for the coming week The November Henry Hub contract on NYMEX settled at...
INTERVIEW: Covestro sees steady US demand for polyurethanes
ST LOUIS (ICIS)--Covestro is seeing steady demand in the US polyurethanes market, officials said on Tuesday. There has been pockets of growth in such end markets as data centers, said Judi Bayer,...
CRUDE SUMMARY: Crude benchmarks finish mixed as market weighs small OPEC+ hike against surplus signals
Smaller-than-expected 137,000 barrel/day November increase eased near-term concerns OPEC+ targets up over 2.7 million barrels/day in 2025, non-OPEC+ supply likely to stay firm Geopolitical risk...
INTERVIEW: US mattress market is recovering from H1 lull
ST LOUIS (ICIS)--US production and sales of mattresses have started recovering during the second half of 2025, the CEO of Carpenter said on Tuesday. The recovery started during the Fourth of July...
US-Brazil thawing could ease tariffs crisis as industry starts feeling the pinch
SAO PAULO (ICIS)--The US’ President on Monday called his Brazilian counterpart to continue the thawing of relations started at the UN General Assembly, with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva describing...
Nylon Corp of America starts up third reactor at New Hampshire site
HOUSTON (ICIS)--Nylon Corp of America (NYCOA) has started up a third reactor for the production of specialty nylons at its headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire, the producer of engineered nylon...