Industry News
Chemical Industry News
Plant status: Ducor lifts Dutch PP force majeure
LONDON (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Ducor Location: Rozenburg, the Netherlands Product: Polypropylene (PP) Capacity (tonnes): 180,000 Event start: 7 July 2025 Event finish: 28 August...
Proposal to limit US student visa durations draws criticism
Academic groups warn that the proposed rule will deter talented researchers, harm the economy and add bureaucracy
A greener approach to finishing fabrics
Cottonseed oil used to confer wrinkle and water resistance
Europe acetic acid August talks extended by summer holidays
LONDON (ICIS)--European acetic acid contract price talks for August are yet to conclude, as some negotiations were delayed by absences during the summer holiday season. Settlements heard so far are...
Letters: September 2025
Readers discuss negative results, chemistry cold spots and more
Europe PMMA prices fall in Q3
LONDON (ICIS)--Europe polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) prices fell by €0.05/kg in Q3. The fall comes amid demand that has been persistently low through 2025. At least one buyer that would normally...
Europe styrene contract drops to 2021 levels in September
LONDON (ICIS)--The European styrene September barge contract price was assessed at €1,256/tonne on Monday, a €46/tonne decrease from August. The contract price was agreed on an FOB (free on...
Norway’s Yara signs long-term shipping contract for two dual-fuel vessels
LONDON (ICIS)--Norwegian fertilizer major Yara Clean Ammonia (YCA) has signed a long-term shipping contract with Navigator Amon Shipping for two dual-fuel vessels. The two 51,000 cubic metres (cbm)...
Pharma sector jolted by unpredictable US tariffs policy
Firms face tough decisions amid Trump’s threatened taxes on pharmaceutical imports and ‘capricious’ approach to tariffs
Way to unlock polaritons’ ‘magic power’ discovered
Controlling polaritonic chemistry could lead to better solar cells – or even lightsabers
Boosting BYK’s presence and customer proximity in Brazil
In founding the new company “BYK do Brasil” and appointing Carlos Roberto C. Duarte Coelho as local Managing Director, BYK is sending out a clear signal on the growing importance of the South American market in the global
Common metal, unusual power
Reactions are typically driven by heat. However, in recent years, light has also established itself as an energy source, as it allows chemical reactions to be controlled with exceptional precision. This process is known as
Wax-assisted exfoliation and dual-surface AlOx encapsulation: significant enhancement of topological phases in MnBi2Te4
Two-dimensional materials are composed of atomic layers coupled by van der Waals force. This weak interlayer bonding allows for the isolation from bulk crystals into single or few-layer flakes through exfoliation methods, giving rise to
Plant status: Saudi’s Sadara Chem restarts cracker after resolving issue
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: Sadara Chemical Company Location: Al Jubail II, Saudi Arabia Product: Ethylene, propylene Capacity (tonnes/year): 1,500,000 (ethylene), 400,000...
Plant status: Saudi’s SHARQ restarts cracker after resolving issue
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: SHARQ Location: Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia Product: Ethylene, propylene Capacity (tonnes/year): 1.3 million (ethylene), 200,000 (propylene) Event...
Plant status: India’s OPaL runs cracker at lower rates on PP shutdown
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Here is a plant status report: Name: ONGC Petro additions Limited (OPaL) Location: Dahej, India Product: Ethylene, propylene Capacity (tonnes/year): 1,100,000 (ethylene), 400,000...
US loses another court case over tariffs
HOUSTON (ICIS)--An appeals court ruled on Friday that the US lacks the legal basis for most of the tariffs that it imposed on imports, setting up the dispute to be heard by nation's highest court....
SHIPPING: Asia-US container rates fall to lowest of the year, still facing downward pressure
HOUSTON (ICIS)--Rates for shipping container from east Asia and China to the US fell again this week, are now at their lowest levels of the year, and will continue to face downward pressure amid the...
NYMEX: Bullish storage data supports US gas futures ahead of Labor Day
Front-month US natural gas futures climbed even closer to the key $3/MMBtu threshold on 29 August, looking to strong LNG feedgas demand and this week’s storage data for support The October Henry...
Continued tight supply for US UAN pushes values higher
HOUSTON (ICIS)--Amid continued tight supply the values for US urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) volumes moved higher, even though demand has drawn more limited as caution has returned over the direction of...