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Speciality Chemicals08-Jul-2025
LONDON (ICIS)–European politicians must decide
if they want to save the region’s chemical
industry as the wave of energy-intensive
closures continues.
Dow to close cracker at Bohlen, Germany,
plus two other sites with loss of 800 jobs
More than 5 million tonnes/year of ethylene
capacity now under threat in Europe
Industry still faces high energy costs,
regulatory burdens, unfair competition
China will continue to add capacity at
least to 2030
China chemical plants running at
higher-than-expected operating rates
Importing ethylene and propylene can be
expensive
Political support will be vital to save
Europe’s chemical industry
New US tariffs may see two-tier chemical
markets emerge in Asia
Uncertainty and chaos likely to persist
In this Think Tank podcast, Will
Beacham interviews John
Richardson from the ICIS market
development team.
Editor’s note: This podcast is an opinion
piece. The views expressed are those of the
presenter and interviewees, and do not
necessarily represent those of ICIS.
ICIS is organising regular updates to help
the industry understand current market trends.
Register here.
Read the latest issue of ICIS
Chemical Business.
Read Paul Hodges and John Richardson’s
ICIS
blogs.
Naphtha08-Jul-2025
SINGAPORE (ICIS)–ChemOne Group has secured
$350 million in Islamic insurance cover, paving
the way for Islamic banks to finance the $5.3
billion Pengerang Energy Complex (PEC) in
Malaysia, the Singapore-based petrochemicals
firm said on Tuesday.
The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of
Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), a wholly
owned subsidiary of the Islamic Development
Bank (IsDB), has approved an insurance cover of
$350 million for the PEC, ChemOne Group said.
The ICIEC cover is structured under a Murabaha
financing facility, providing 90% cover on both
principle and profit and aligning with
significantly de-risking the transaction for
participating Islamic banks, the firm added.
The Islamic banks include:
National Bank of Kuwait (NBK)
Qatar National Bank (QNB)
Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia
Al Rajhi Bank KSA
Additionally, the IsDB Group has committed $150
million in direct investment via Istisna
(manufacturing or construction contract) and
Ijara (leasing contract) structures.
Between direct investments and credit
enhancement, the IsDB has supported the PEC
with over $500 million, said ChemOne Group.
The groundbreaking of the
PEC project is expected to take place in Q4
2025 following financial close by the end of Q3
this year, a ChemOne spokesperson told ICIS on
Tuesday.
“At this point of time, the Pengerang Energy
Complex is slated to begin operations by 2028,”
the spokesperson said.
The project has been beset by delays since 2020
due to “complex financing issues”, according to
the project operator. Construction was
previously
set to begin in mid-2025 after $3.5 billion
in funding was found in Dec 2024.
Located within the Pengerang Integrated
Petroleum Complex (PIPC) in Johor, the 6.5
million tonne/year PEC is capable of processing
150,000 barrels/day of condensate plus side
feed of naphtha, that will in turn produce 2.6
million tonnes/year of aromatics, 3 million
tonnes/year of energy products and hydrogen
output of 50,000 tonnes/year.
In May this year, ChemOne Group’s Vice
President for Technology Mobin Rahman said the
complex would
utilize bionaphtha as a feedstock for
the PEC, creating a circular and sustainable
petrochemical chain.
Ammonia07-Jul-2025
HOUSTON (ICIS)–US corn and soybean acreage is
steadily maturing with 18% of the corn crop now
silking and 32% of soybeans blooming, according
to the latest crop progress report from the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The amount of corn at the silking stage
continues to rise but is behind the 22%
achieved during the 2024 season, yet it is
ahead of the five-year average of 15%.
In the first update on corn reaching the dough
stage, the USDA has 3% of the crop at this
development point, which equals the 3% from
2024 and is slightly above the five-year
average of 2%.
For corn conditions, there remains 1% listed as
very poor and 4% still poor, with the amount
rated as fair down to 21%. The crop ranked as
good has decreased to 57% with the level of
excellent up to 17%.
Soybean emergence has reached 96% and blooming
is at 32%, which matches the 32% from 2024 and
is above the five-year average of 31%.
The crop that is setting pods is at 8%, at pace
with the 8% rate from 2024 but a bit higher
than the five-year average of 6%.
For soybean conditions, there is still listed
2% very poor, 5% poor and 27% rated as fair.
The amount that is ranked as good has decreased
to 54% with excellent lifted to 12%.
Cotton plantings are concluded with sorghum
sowings at 96%.
Winter wheat harvest has reached a 53%
completion rate.

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Ethylene07-Jul-2025
HOUSTON (ICIS)–The US has proposed on Monday
tariffs of 25% on imports from Japan as well as
from South Korea, which was the top source of
US imports of aromatics and base oils in 2024.
The tariffs will take effect on 1 August, US
President Donald Trump said on social media.
The tariffs would not apply to imports subject
to the sectoral tariffs that the US has adopted
on goods such as aluminium, steel and
automobiles.
The US will also start imposing an unspecified
higher tariff on transhipped goods from Japan
and South Korea. The US is already adopting
such a tariff on transhipped goods from
Vietnam, which it set at 40%.
S KOREA IS TOP US SOURCE OF IMPORTED
AROMATICSSouth Korea is the
largest source of US imports of benzene,
toluene and mixed xylenes (MX), according to
ICIS. In addition, it is the second largest
source of paraxylene (PX), trailing only
Mexico.
These are building block chemicals produced as
byproducts from refineries or from cracking
naphtha, an oil-based feedstock. Companies will
not purposely expand refineries or naphtha
crackers to produce these byproducts. As a
result, US importers will have to find
lower-cost sources, pay the tariffs or lower
production.
Benzene is used to make many intermediates such
as cumene and styrene.
Cumene is used to make phenol and acetone,
which, in turn, are feedstock for polycarbonate
(PC) and methyl methacrylate (MMA)
respectively.
Styrene is used to make polystyrene (PS),
acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and
styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) among many
others.
Toluene and MX can be used as solvents or
octane boosters for gasoline. MX can be further
refined to produce orthoxylene (OX) and PX.
PX is one of the two main feedstocks used to
make polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a
polyester used to make fabric and beverage
bottles.
Thumbnail shows a cup made out of PS, a
derivative of benzene, a chemical for which
South Korea is the top source of US imports.
Image by ICIS.
Gas07-Jul-2025
By Tobey Barnett
European energy company MET Group said on
Monday 7 July it had acquired 100% of gas
storage operator KGE, based in Gronau, Germany.
KGE operates a H-gas storage facility in
Gronau-Epe capable of holding 179 million cubic
metres of natural gas, injecting 150,000
Nm3/h of gas and withdrawing 400,000
Nm3/h at maximum capacity.
This represents around 0.7% of Germany’s total
combined gas storage capacity.
The facility is connected to the German THE
hub.
According to MET CEO Benjamin Lakatos, the
acquisition will “strengthen our position in
the German market” while furthering natural gas
infrastructure in Germany.
According to ICIS price assessments on Friday 4
July, German gas for the coming winter season
was assessed at €36.725/MWh, a rough €3.00/MWh
premium to the Summer ’26.
While not a significant premium in historical
terms, the €3.00/MWh figure does show a
widening of the seasonal spread in Germany in
recent months. As recently as March for
example, the Summer ’25 was priced marginally
higher than the Winter ’26 largely due to
uncertainty over summer injection demand.
In Germany, MET Group has been active since
2020 operating two natural gas storage
facilities at the Etzel and Reckrod sites.
MET is present in 32 national gas markets and
in 44 international trading hubs, trading 140
billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2024.
Polypropylene07-Jul-2025
Brazil’s Novonor, fund seeking to acquire its Braskem
controlling stake notify competition authority
SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Braskem’s controlling
stakeholder Novonor and the potential buyer for
its stake at the Brazilian petrochemicals major
have notified competition authority CADE about
the transaction seeking approval.
In May, Brazilian entrepreneur Nelson Tanure’s
investment fund Petroquimica Verde launched a
non-binding acquisition
offer for Novonor’s 38.3% stake in Braskem,
which gives it however 50.1% of voting rights.
Monday’s move represents the furthest an
acquisition offer for Novonor’s stake has
gotten, after several potential buyers
ultimately ended up backing off.
Braskem’s second-largest shareholder is the
country’s state-owned energy major Petrobras,
with a 36.1% stake and 47.0% of voting rights.
Novonor, formerly Odebrecht, has for years
tried to divest the stake as it aims to
deleverage after the company got embroiled in
the Latin America-wide Lava Jato corruption
scandal in the mid-2010s.
Names such as Abu Dhabi’s oil company Adnoc, US
chemicals major LyondellBasell, or Brazilian
players such as Unipar and J&F made offers
for Novonor’s stake but ultimately backed off.
Most of the potential buyers ended up desisting
because of Braskem’s heavy-weight legacy
related to the environmental disaster caused by
one of its salt mines in the state of Alagoas
in 2018, which left many homeless and/or
displaced.
“NSP Investimentos [Novonor’s parent company],
in Judicial Reorganization, and Petroquimica
Verde Fundo de Investimento em Participaçes –
Multiestrategia notified the Administrative
Council for Economic Defense (CADE) requesting
the authorization of the competition authority
for a potential transaction involving the
shares issued by NSP Investimentos,” said
Braskem.
“Novonor also informed that until this date, no
definitive binding agreements have been
executed in relation to the eventual
transaction, which remains subject to the usual
assessments and confirmations in similar
transactions.”
Braskem’s stock in the Sao Paulo exchange rose
by nearly 1.5% in the early morning following
the announcement, although by midday local time
the gains had moderated and was up nearly
0.50%.
In a written response to ICIS, a spokesperson
for Novonor said the company would not comment
further.
Petroquimica Verde had not responded to a
request for further comment at the time of
writing.
Front page picture: Braskem’s Duque de
Caxias site in Rio de Janeiro; it shares the
complex with Petrobras’ Reduc facilities
Picture source: Petrobras
Speciality Chemicals07-Jul-2025
SAO PAULO (ICIS)–Here are some of the
stories from ICIS Latin America for the
fortnight ended on 4 July.
Brazil’s Petrobras
mulls acetic acid, MEG plants in Rio as part
of $6 billion capex
planPetrobras is mulling
production plants for acetic acid and
monoethylene glycol (MEG) at its site in Rio
de Janeiro as part of its 2025-2029 capital
expenditure plans of Brazilian reais (R) 33
billion ($6.08 billion), the Brazilian
state-owned energy major said this week.
US
Woodside, Mexico’s Pemex joint oil venture
25% complete, remains on budget and
timeWoodside’s Trion crude
oil joint venture with Mexico’s state-owned
Pemex is 25% complete and construction is
running on budget and on time with expected
start-up date for 2028, the US energy
producer said to ICIS.
Brazil’s protectionism
benefits few but ‘suffocates’ plastics
transformers, manufacturing –
AbiplastBrazil’s highly
protectionist model to cushion domestic
producers from overseas competition is
suffocating other parts of the production
chain in a country obliged to import around
half of its chemicals demand, the trade group
representing plastics transformers Abiplast
said this week.
Petrobras eyes 2029 for
Group II production, mulls RRBO
projectPetrobras is
targeting 2029 for first production from its
Group II base oils project at the Boaventura
Energy Complex in Itaborai, Rio de Janeiro
state, Brazil, said Ulysses Donadel,
Petrobras special products commercial
manager, at this week’s 15th Meet the Market
International Conference by Lubes em Foco.
US
Transition Industries signs EPC contract for
Mexico’s methanol project Pacifico
MexinolUS Transition
Industries and its consortium partners signed
this week an Engineering, Procurement and
Construction (EPC) contract for its Mexican
green methanol project Pacifico Mexinol, in
Sinaloa state, although the company is yet to
take a final investment decision (FID).
Dutch chemicals
distributor IMCD acquires Chile’s Apus
QuimicaIMCD is to acquire
Chilean distributor Apus Quimica as it seeks
to strengthen its presence in the Latin
American country, the
Netherlands-headquartered global chemicals
distributor said this week.
Brazil’s move to raise
biodiesel blending mandate to 15% unlikely to
boost short-term glycerine
suppliesBrazilian
regulators’ decision to boost the country’s
biodiesel blending mandate to 15% (B15) in
August is unlikely to boost short-term
glycerine availability, as existing
production continues to lag behind the
current B14 mandate.
Mexico’s Braskem Idesa
to remain under financial pressure as new
terminal relief takes time –
S&PBraskem Idesa is
grappling with deteriorating financial
metrics as the Mexican polyethylene (PE)
producer struggles to recover from the
broader petrochemical industry downturn,
credit rating agency S&P Global said this
week.
Brazil’s chemicals
operating rates keep falling despite
protectionist
measuresBrazil’s chemicals
production posted its worst performance in
over three decades during Q1 2025, with
operating rates at 62% – down from 65% in the
same quarter of 2024 – and production falling
by nearly 4%, chemicals producers’ trade
group Abiquim said on Wednesday.
Solvay’s Peroxidos do
Brasil to expand Chilean hydrogen peroxide
facilityPeroxidos do
Brasil is to invest $12 million in an
expansion of its Chilean hydrogen peroxide
(H2O2) production facility, the subsidiary of
Belgium-headquartered chemicals major Solvay
said on Monday.
Ethylene07-Jul-2025
HOUSTON (ICIS)–Here are the top stories from
ICIS News from the week ended 4 July.
US chem firm warns of unprecedented
destocking in comments to
Fed
An unnamed chemical company warned of
unprecedented destocking in comments to one
of the Federal Reserve’s regional banks,
according to a survey published on Monday.
INSIGHT: US chemical stocks catch a
bid along with cyclicals. Could manufacturing
finally be bottoming?
US chemical stocks have finally caught a bid
to kick off H2 2025, rallying strongly even
with the S&P 500 benchmark index slightly
in the red.
US announces Vietnam trade deal, will
impose 20% tariffs
The US will impose 20% tariffs on imports
from Vietnam and 40% tariffs on
transshipments – while Vietnam will charge no
tariffs on US imports, according to a trade
agreement that the US president announced on
Wednesday.
INSIGHT: Transshipment tariffs of 40%
unclear in US-Vietnam trade
deal
The finer points of US President Donald
Trump’s trade deal with
Vietnam were notably vague, particularly
concerning a 40% tariff targeting “any
transshipping”.
INSIGHT: US-Vietnam trade deal a
template for SE Asia; US PE exports could
benefit
The US-Vietnam trade deal, which includes US
tariffs on imports from Vietnam but exempts
US exports from tariffs, should serve as a
template for potential agreements with other
southeast Asia countries where the US has a
large trade deficit.
Brazil’s Petrobras mulls acetic acid,
MEG plants in Rio as part of $6 billion capex
plan
Petrobras is mulling production plants for
acetic acid and monoethylene glycol (MEG) at
its site in Rio de Janeiro as part of its
2025-2029 capital expenditure plans of
Brazilian reais (R) 33 billion ($6.08
billion), the Brazilian state-owned energy
major said this week.
Petrochemicals07-Jul-2025
LONDON (ICIS)–Click
here to see the latest blog post on
Chemicals & The Economy by Paul Hodges,
which looks at the growing risks in the US
housing market.
Editor’s note: This blog post is an opinion
piece. The views expressed are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent those
of ICIS. Paul Hodges is the chairman of
consultants New
Normal Consulting.
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