Industry News
Chemical Industry News
Petchem demand to account for half of global oil demand growth in 2026 – IEA
LONDON--Global oil demand is expected to increase in 2026, with petrochemicals demand making up half of this year’s growth, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday. The IEA...
Europe TDI February contract price assessments fall on bearish fundamentals
LONDON (ICIS)--February contracts for toluene diisocyanate (TDI) for the European market were assessed this week at decreases. Final February prices were consistent with absolute numbers received...
Europe MDI February contract price assessments vary on spec
LONDON (ICIS)--February contracts for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) for the European market were assessed this week, with increases for polymeric MDI and pure MDI at increases and decreases....
Europe polyols February contract price assessments at increases
LONDON (ICIS)--Slabstock conventional flexible polyether polyols contract prices in Europe for February were assessed this week at increases from the previous month. Prices for February were...
China’s sulphur port inventories down 45,000 tonnes on more trading
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--China’s sulphur port inventories fell to around 1.765 million tonnes on 12 February, because of more trading in the domestic market, ICIS data showed. This marks a decrease of...
Gluten-based vegan leather gains strength with heat and UV treatment
Process triggers protein denaturation and crosslinking to create material that gets close to imitating the strength, pliability and texture of natural leather
Why everyone wants to ramp up rare earths production
Rare earth elements have become instruments of geopolitical power
Germany leads the world in technologies for the circular economy – East Asia is catching up fast
Germany is the world leader in technologies for the circular economy. In terms of the absolute number of patents in this area, only the USA is ahead of Germany; in terms of the economic relevance
Scientists use sunlight and liquid metal to produce clean hydrogen from water
Researchers have created a process using liquid metals, powered by sunlight, that can produce clean hydrogen from both freshwater and seawater. The method allows researchers to ‘harvest’ hydrogen molecules from water while also avoiding many
Seeing How Atoms Vibrate at the Angstrom Scale
Probing the vibration of atoms provides detailed information on local structure and bonding that define material properties. Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) offers extremely high resolution to probe such vibrations. Krystof Brezina and Mariana Rossi from
Change on Endress+Hauser Supervisory Board
The Endress+Hauser Group’s generational handover continues. The Swiss measurement and automation technology specialist has already announced a sweeping refresh of the Executive Board made necessary by the planned retirement of several long-serving members. Now the
N America weekly chemical rail traffic rises 2.8%, led by Canada
HOUSTON (ICIS)--North American chemical railcar traffic rose 2.8% year on year to 48,969 loadings for the week ended 7 February, following a 6.5% decline the week before, according to freight rail...
Supply tightens for C9 in Europe, boosting prices
LONDON (ICIS)--Media reports of a force majeure on solvent naphtha (C9) at Shell's plant at Pernis in the Netherlands were cited by the market this week. The force majeure, which the company has not...
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY WEEK 2026: Africa leans on gas as “Destination Fuel” in energy transition
LONDON (ICIS)--Africa’s energy transition will hinge on natural gas, infrastructure development and clear policy frameworks, panelists said at International Energy Week, as the continent seeks to...
German capacity utilization improves in January, but chemicals still low
LONDON (ICIS)--Capacity utilization in Germany improved in January, led by services, but utilization in manufacturing remains low - particularly in chemicals, rubber and plastics products, and...
TotalEnergies expects Qatar expansion to boost LNG business in 2026
TotalEnergies' forecasts 6% LNG growth in 2026, supported by Qatar expansion Growth in output and sales will offset lower gas prices in 2026 Company eager to remain stakeholder in Russia's Yamal LNG,...
TTF 2027 premium to 2028 decouples from near-curve volatility on storage risk, LNG delays
All-time low Dutch stocks, LNG delays kept TTF 2027 lifted relative to 2028 despite downturn across near curve Benchmark TTF front month has upheld correlation with hedge funds' positioning since...
Kemira acquires water treatment chemicals business in Germany
LONDON (ICIS)--Finnish chemicals producer Kemira has agreed to acquire Germany-based SIDRA Wasserchemie for €75 million, the companies said in separate statements on Wednesday. SIDRA is a producer...
AlphaGenome & the RNA world hypothesis
In this episode, we discuss Google DeepMind’s latest deep learning model AlphaGenome, dissect the origins of life from chemicals to complex lifeforms, and hear the latest headlines.
US economy adds 130,000 jobs in January, more than expected
HOUSTON (ICIS)--US nonfarm payroll employment rose by 130,000 month on month in January, following a downward-revised gain of 48,000 in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said in a...