Industry News
Chemical Industry News
ICIS TTF Early Day assessments: 16 December 2025
- Planned and unplanned maintenance will not impact capacity on 16 December. Ekofisk gas asset faces field unavailability, impacting 6.9 mcm/day of production. It is expecting to resume operations...
Local approvals nudge Japan nuclear revival, may trim near-term LNG imports
Niigata, Hokkaido approvals accelerate Japan’s nuclear restart momentum New reactor restarts could trim Japan’s LNG import needs Nuclear share to rise as Japan targets lower fuel imports...
Plant status: Saudi Arabia’s SHARQ to restart No 3 MEG unit soon
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: SHARQ Location: Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia Product: Monoethylene glycol (MEG) Capacity (tonnes/year): 500,000 Event start: End June 2025 Event...
French gas exports to Spain expected to continue in January PRISMA bookings show
Shippers booked over 2mcm/day of capacity for supplies to Spain through the VIP PIRINEOS over January Around 13mcm/day capacity was booked at Mazzara del Vallo for Algerian flows, biggest auction...
Plant status: Japan’s ENEOS eyes March 2026 MEK plant turnaround
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: ENEOS Corp Location: Kawasaki, Japan Product: Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) Capacity (tonnes/year): 100,000 Event start: March 2026 Event finish:...
Plant status: Japan’s Maruzen eyes February 2026 MEK plant turnaround
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Maruzen Petrochemical Location: Chiba, Japan Product: Methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) Capacity (tonnes/year): 170,000 Event start: February 2026 Event...
India’s Reliance H2 Dec MEG contract nomination down by $5/tonne
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--India’s Reliance Industries announced its nomination for the second half of December monoethylene glycol (MEG) contract price at $455/tonne, a company source said. The price is on...
Japan Dec flash manufacturing PMI rises to 49.7 amid firmer demand
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Japan’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 49.7 in December from 48.7 in November as demand improved, flash estimates from a private sector survey showed on...
Plant status: Saudi Arabia’s SHARQ shuts No 2 MEG unit on poor margins
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: SHARQ Location: Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia Product: Monoethylene glycol (MEG) Capacity (tonnes/year): 450,000 (No 2) Event start: H1 December 2025...
Plant status: Celanese restarts Nanjing acetic acid plant in China
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Celanese Location: Nanjing, Jiangsu, China Product: Acetic acid Capacity (tonnes/year): 1.2 million Event start: 28 November 2025 Event finish:...
INSIGHT: Global EPDM consumption to keep growing 2026-2030, but at a slower pace
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Global ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) demand is expected to increase during 2026-2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 2.8% according to ICIS supply and...
Plant status: China’s Qingdao Haiwan cuts ECH run rate to 50%
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Qingdao Haiwan Group Location: Qingdao, Shandong, China Product: Epichlorohydrin (ECH) Capacity (tonnes/year): 75,000 + 75,000 Event start: Late...
Chemicals invests in training despite the crisis
Following last year's record figure, the expected consolidation of training figures in the chemical-pharmaceutical industry is now taking place: companies are adjusting their training offer for 2025 to the current economic conditions with 8,779 training
ECHA observes a fall in hazardous chemicals trade in 2024
ECHA’s annual report on exports and imports of chemicals that are banned or severely restricted in the EU shows that substances containing benzene accounted for approximately 51% (1.1 million tonnes) of total exports and 99%
Photovoltaics: Molecular fine-tuning increases the efficiency of tandem solar cells
Perovskite silicon tandem solar cells are considered a key technology for photovoltaics. Their structure allows sunlight to be used more efficiently than with conventional silicon cells: While the upper perovskite layer absorbs the high-energy blue
Plant status: China’s Qingdao Haiwan cuts epoxy resins run rate to 50%
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Qingdao Haiwan Group Location: Qingdao, Shandong, China Product: Epoxy resins Capacity (tonnes/year): 150,000 Event start: Late November 2025...
Plant status: China’s Chongqing Jianfeng shuts melamine unit for maintenance
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Chongqing Jianfeng Industrial Group Location: Chongqing, China Product: Melamine Capacity (tonnes/year): 60,000 (total of two lines) Event...
Asia fatty alcohols mid-cuts C12-14 discussions stalled by wide buy-sell indications
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Asia’s fatty alcohols market is likely to experience limited trade in the near term, as buyers and sellers are far apart in their price indications amid the year-end holiday lull...
AI flexes its protein design muscles for harsh environments
‘Creative architect’ can produce proteins that are four times stronger than natural counterparts
India November exports rise 19.4%, trade deficit narrows to $24.5 billion
MUMBAI (ICIS)--India’s goods exports in November grew by 19.4% year on year to $38.13 billion, while the trade deficit for the month narrowed to $24.5 billion on strong exports and a sharp decline...