Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 26 July.

BASF sees slowing electric vehicle sector, pauses Tarragona refinery plans
BASF is moving to “de-risk” its exposure to the electric vehicles sector in response to slowing market dynamics, CEO Markus Kamieth said on Friday, pausing or deciding against several investments connected to the industry.

Dow sees B&C, consumer durables weakness persisting through 2024, rate cuts needed – CFO
Weakness in building and construction, and consumer durables demand is expected to persist through 2024, likely pushing out a meaningful earnings recovery to 2025, Dow’s chief financial officer said on Thursday.

Eurozone private sector momentum slows further in July
Eurozone private sector momentum almost slowed to a standstill in July, dropping to a five-month low as new orders fell and business confidence ebbed.

Africa PE/PP demand to remain flat, supply picture difficult to predict
Little is certain when it comes to African economics but it appears a fairly safe bet that underlying demand in the polymer markets will remain subdued for the second half of the year across the continent.

EU announces provisional ADDs on biodiesel imports from China
The EU has implemented provisional antidumping duties (ADDs) on biodiesel from China after deciding that a recent surge in imports has harmed the competitiveness of Europe-based operations. The European Commission has suggested a provisional tariff between 12.8% to 36.4% starting in mid-August.