Europe top stories: weekly summary

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended Friday 28 July.

Soft MA demand pressures prices lower, Red Sea tensions cap supply
European maleic anhydride (MA) spot prices have softened as availability improved while poor demand slowed orders for July deliveries.

Europe capro supply could be more balanced in July
Following the severe shortages the European caprolactam (capro) market has struggled with over the past few months, supply is expected to be more balanced with demand in July.

Europe orthoxylene sentiment for July stable-to-soft as feedstock costs show a mixed trend
Europe orthoxylene (OX) contract price discussions for July are due to start next week amid persistently weak demand and mixed feedstock xylenes movements.

Covestro to save €400m/year by 2028 through focus on digitalization, AI
Covestro will save €400 million annually in material and personnel costs by the end of 2028 through a transformation programme focused on digitalization and artificial intelligence, it said on Tuesday.

ADNOC and Covestro in concrete negotiations following €11.7bn offer
Covestro and ADNOC have begun concrete negotiations on a possible investment by the Abu Dhabi oil company that would value the German chemical producer’s equity at €11.7bn, Covestro said on Monday.