Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 1 September.

Europe naphtha outlook murky on softer gasoline, volatile crude
Fundamentals in the European naphtha market are in limbo with several factors at play. Demand for gasoline appears to be losing ground after Hurricane Idalia made landfall, the upstream crude market is more volatile, exports have been dented by soaring freight rates and the macroeconomic outlook has become increasingly uncertain.

INSIGHT: Coal-to-chemicals up to 10 times more carbon-intensive than conventional technologies
Ethylene produced using coal-to-chemicals technology is up to ten times more carbon-intensive than conventional ways of production such as naphtha or ethane cracking, according to analysis by ICIS and Carbon Minds.

Annual eurozone inflation moderates in August with slump in economic sentiment
Annual eurozone inflation stabilised in August, according to flash data released by the EU’s statistical agency, Eurostat, on Thursday.

Europe MA offers undercut Asian offers, some restocking may be seen
European maleic anhydride (MA) prices could be near a bottom, although it remains to be seen how long the uptick or a halt in the downtrend will last given unanimous expectations that underlying demand will be stagnant for the rest of the year.

IPEX: Global weekly spot IPEX up on higher chemical prices across all regions
The global spot ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX) increased 1.2% in the week to 25 August, on the back of stronger prices across all regions, not least northwest Europe.